We love this new book about Dennis the duckling and his siblings!

In the first two books, Dennis and his little sister have to leave their parents and be looked after by a foster duck family. This new book recaps the story, before following Dennis and his siblings as it is decided they need to live apart, in different duck families.

The book also contains a booklet with brief guidelines intended to aid and facilitate discussion and to help children express their thoughts and feelings about transitions.

Find out more and order copies on the CoramBAAF website.

Colleagues are being invited to sign up for an online workshop on 17th July.

The workshop will bring together stakeholders from the Netherlands, England, Scotland, and Wales to exchange knowledge, compare approaches, and develop a shared framework for improving sibling placements in care at both the local and national levels. It will run from 10am-11.30am.

The workshop will:

• Listen to emerging recommendations around sibling placement in care, which were co-produced with stakeholders in England
• Hear a short reflection from each nation on the main takeaways from the findings and recommendations in their own policy and practice context
• Facilitate a policy panel discussion on the barriers and facilitators to applying the research findings and recommendations in policy and practice, including what further evidence, collaboration, or support may be needed
• Explore cross-border shared principles for improving sibling placements in care

To register, please fill in this form.

To mark National Siblings Day (Friday 10 April), the Community of Practice has published its latest newsletter.

The spring edition contains a round-up from the recent online session in March which included insightful inputs from Fiona Di-Duca, Quality Assurance Review Officer, South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership on the Family Compass Framework and the Scottish Lifelong Links and Connections Network.

This issue also contains more information about our next in-person event in May.

Read the latest edition.

On National Siblings Day (Friday 10 April) we are pleased to share a blog from Scotland’s Adoption Register (SAR).

In August 2025, SAR held an activity day where a wonderful sibling group of three met their adoptive family. This blog contains the perspective of the agency who supported the children throughout their journey, the worker of the adoptive family and the adoptive parents themselves.

A huge thank you to SAR for sharing this beautiful story.

Read the full blog on the SAR website.

Scotland’s Good Practice in Permanence Guides have officially been published.

The Association for Fostering, Kinship & Adoption (AFKA) Scotland are delighted to share three Permanence Guides to support you in practice. The easily accessible and useable guides promote, support and safeguard the wellbeing of children and young people moving towards permanent family settings of Kinship Care, Foster Care and Adoption.

The three guides are:

• Building and Nurturing Connections
• Supporting Birth Families and;
• Supporting Families Providing Permanent Care.

The guides provide evidence informed practice guidance from early intervention, through permanence processes, obtaining a permanent order and supporting families beyond the order.

The guides emphasise the value and importance of sibling and sibling-like relationships for children and young people.  They provide guidance for practitioners involved in the permanence process to support the early identification of important relationships for children, including specifically sibling and sibling-like relationships, and how to incorporate assessment, review, and support of these relationships into permanence planning and support.  Sections include ‘Local authorities’ duties in respect of siblings’, ‘Plans for sibling contact when living apart’, and ‘Keeping in touch with siblings and sibling-like relationships’, amongst many others.

After 2 years in the making, and with the support of Scottish Government, we are delighted to announce that these guides are now available and can be viewed and downloaded via the AFKA website.

Natalie Don-Innes MSP, Minister for Children, Young People and the Promise,  said: 

“The Promise is clear that all children and young people in Scotland should receive the love, care and support to enable them to live happy and fulfilled lives. When children cannot remain at home, Scotland’s approach to permanence emphasises that kinship care, foster care and adoption all play vital and valued roles. As Minister for Children, Young People and the Promise, I welcome the publication of AFKA Scotland’s three Good Practice in Permanence Guides, developed collaboratively with the sector. These Guides offer clear, practical support for practitioners working with children and young people who need permanence, and I am grateful to AFKA Scotland and all those involved in developing them.”

The Guides can be accessed via the AFKA Scotland website, and we encourage you to share these guides with your colleagues.