Not-for-profit adoption agency, ARC Adoption North East, and regional adoption agency, Adopt Coast to Coast, are launching a new appeal to find a loving home for a six-year-old girl who has complex health needs, alongside her four-year-old sister.
Working in partnership, ARC Adoption North East and Adopt Coast to Coast are urging people to find out more about the young girls and consider whether they could adopt them, enabling them to grow up together.
The girls whose names have been withheld to protect their identity, are currently living with foster carers in Tyne and Wear, and we are looking for a family who can give the children much-needed stability and passionately advocate for them going forward.
The eldest sister suffers from a type of cerebral palsy, as well as epilepsy. She needs a lot of help from her carers, and she attends a special school. Despite her challenges which include being unable to walk or speak, she is a very happy little girl who responds really well to affection and interaction from those around her and loves to give it back. She communicates with a special device as well as with facial expressions and giggles when she is happy, and unhappy sounds and cries when she’s not. Her foster carers say that her gorgeous smile can light up a room.
The younger sister is a friendly, chatty little girl with strawberry blonde hair. She is very inquisitive and her favourite word seems to be ‘Why?’ She is also very caring, which she demonstrates when playing with her favourite dolls, as well as when around her sister and her friends at school. She hates to see them looking sad and will offer them a cuddle to make them feel better. Whilst being a little livewire, one of her favourite things to do is to lie next to her sister on a big cushion on the floor, so they can listen to stories and music together on their Tonies box.
“The two sisters have experienced a difficult start in life, suffering loss at a very young age, and we are desperate to find them a loving, permanent family where they can live happily and grow up together. They have been the only constants in each other’s young lives and it would be heartbreaking for them to be separated now.
Lorraine Jefferson, Assistant Director at ARC Adoption
“It is understandably daunting for people to consider adopting more than one child, especially when one child in particular has a high level of need, but we know from experience that some of the most challenging things in life are also the most rewarding.
“At ARC we specialise in providing high quality post-adoption support for families. We want anyone who thinks they might be able to help the girls to know that we will be with them every step of the way, and that they should come and talk to us.”
The sisters are currently cared for by Vera and Derek who have been foster carers for 17 years. They have developed a close relationship and Vera and Derek talk passionately about their wish to see the sisters living together within a family who can support them long-term.
“All of the children we have looked after have been special but because of the circumstances around these two and the eldest’s additional needs, it has made them even more precious. I can’t stress enough how much we want to see them happy and settled within a family of their own.
Vera
“We understand people may be nervous of supporting the health and care needs of the older sister, especially when she has a full-on younger sibling too, but we want people to know that if we can do it, they can do it. We had a wealth of knowledge of looking after able-bodied children but no experience of special needs. It’s been a learning curve, we’ve learnt a lot as we’ve gone along, and there’s been people along the way we’ve been able to ask for help and advice.”
“It might feel like diving off the deep end and not being able to swim but you’ve got to have faith in yourself. These girls deserve someone who is brave enough to take that initial plunge. There’s so much happiness they will bring you in return for keeping them safe, and you’ll get so much pleasure from seeing them do well. We’d say to go for it. You won’t regret it.”
Derek
Family finders are looking for a caring and resilient two-parent household, who realistically have the time and space in their lives to be able to tend to all of the girls’ needs. It would be preferable that there are no other young children within the household. Adoptive parents will need to be fit and able to manage the different physical care needs of both girls too – a quick and active four-year-old, and a growing six-year-old who requires help to move around the house, with lifting and carrying.
A home for the children will need to have space for their belongings, which includes special chairs for the eldest sister, as well as two bedrooms ideally. Their current foster home is a regular two-storey house with no special adaptations made to it, but prospective adopters will want to consider adaptations they could make in the future to support the ongoing care and mobility of the eldest sibling as she grows. The ability to drive and a family car will also be needed.
ARC Adoption North East has a dedicated Therapeutic Adoption Support Service which is available to all adoptive families linked to the agency for life. For the sisters specifically, a specialist support plan will also be developed and led by Adopt Coast to Coast as the regional adoption agency with statutory responsibility for adoption support. A means-tested monetary-based adoption allowance may also be available to help support their needs, as well as funding for therapeutic support should this be identified through an assessment of support needs.
This adopter recruitment initiative is funded through a collaborative project involving the partnership of Adopt Coast to Coast and ARC Adoption North East, to find loving families for children who may otherwise wait a long time to be adopted.
More information and a video of the foster carers talking about life with the girls is available to view on the ARC Adoption North East website:
https://www.arcadoptionne.org.uk/News/could-you-provide-a-loving-home-for-two-sisters
If you think you may be the family we are looking for, please get in touch with us for an informal chat via:
• Web enquiry form: https://www.arcadoptionne.org.uk/forms/make-an-enquiry-about-the-sisters
• Email: info@arcadoptionne.org.uk
• Phone: 0191 516 6466
