Services for professionals
Over 70 local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies subscribe to IAC and as a result benefit from access to all IAC services at preferential rates and access to some services which are exclusive to them.
You can find out about the benefits of subscribing on the Why subscribe? page.
Although subscription brings many benefits some of our core services are accessible to any professional. IAC believes that the professional is at the heart of service delivery and our aim is to support professionals working within the intercountry field by offering advice, support and education through Training and Professional Consultation as well as Advice, Information and Publications.
If you are a professional new to our site then check out the Adopters and Adopted Adults link to see what services we offer to prospective and established adopters and to birth family members through the Birth Relatives page.
Professional links overseas
IAC has built many links with professional workers overseas also involved in intercountry adoption work. These include agencies and Central Authorities. These links enable IAC to keep abreast of developments in other countries which may add to practice within the agency. One such link is with a Belgium agency VCOK with whom we have been working collaboratively since 2004. Together the two agencies worked with a group of adoptees from both the UK and Belgium to make a film of their experiences in being an intercountry adoptee. The film 'Adopted is who I am' is used not only at the Information Day and Preparation Course but also whenever the agency trains professionals. The value of hearing directly from the adoptees themselves is immense and we are grateful for their willingness to share their stories.
IAC and VCOK staff with some of the adoptees at the House of Commons launch in 2006
International Conference on Adoption Research 2006
IAC were asked to present a poster at the 2006 ICAR conference at the University of East Anglia. The paper entitled Dedicated Intercountry Adoption Preparation Courses ; the prospective adopters' perspective, was based upon the outcomes from questionaires sent to all prospective adopters who had accessed the IAC three day preparation course from 2001 to 2005. The study looked at their views on the usefulness of the course, what aspects of the course had been most useful,the stage prospective adopters were in the process at the time of the questionnaire and if their plans had changed since preparation.