About Us

Our membership and code of practice

Membership of CIAA is open to all agencies accredited by the Adoption Authority of Ireland, and to Tusla Child and Family Agency. Accredited agencies who are members of CIAA are as follows: Cúnamh, Clarecare Adoption Services, Adoption Society, St Mura’s Adoption Society, Pact, Here2Help, Barnardos,& Helping Hands Mediation Agency. Our members are all social work practitioners working in the area of Information and Tracing, Domestic and Inter-country Adoption.

CIAA’s Publication, an Ethical Framework for Adoption In Ireland, and launched in December 2009 promotes best practice in adoption and provides an ethical context for CIAA’s recommendations on adoption legislation and adoption practices. This publication also endorses as a core principle the following: ‘that for children who, for whatever reason, cannot be reared by their birth/natural parents ‘adoption provides the strongest legal guarantee of permanence.’

Adoption agencies are required to designate a social work professional to represent their individual adoption agency at Council and or Executive meetings. CIAA aims to encourage through research, provision of relevant adoption information and continuous professional development workshops that all its members operate to the highest professional standards. CIAA is a member of the Irish Association of Social Workers.

CIAA regards adoption as a service for children and that the interests of the child in adoption should remain as the first and paramount consideration.

Our Client Group

The Council’s focus is on providing adoption practitioners with opportunities to work together towards best practice in adoption. As a result adopted adults, adopted parents and birth families that avail of these adoption services will benefit from the social work practice which is underpinned with best practice.

Training Days

Training days/ workshops for adoption practitioners in 2014

  • Solution Focused Post Adoption Support Groups; 12.03.14
  • BAAF Training on Complexity and Matching in Adoption Assessments;11.06.14
  • Exploring Ways of helping Adoptive Parents Sharing difficult or no Information. 15.10.14

Training days/ workshops for adoption practitioners in 2015

  • Learning from a Model of Attachment’ 18.03. 15
  • Parenting Strategies for Children without Attachment 10. 06. 15
  • Counselling Skills for Information and Tracing  21.10.15

Officers

Hazel Douglas, Chairperson ( Principal Social Worker, Pact )

Sandra Merity, Vice Chair  (Principal Social Worker, Tusla)
Julie Kerins, (Principal Social Worker, Cúanmh)

Ann Shanahan (Social Worker Tusla)

Julianne Barry (Social Worker, Helping Hands)

Kathleen Brosnan ( Social Worker Tusla)

Mary Farrell (Social Worker Tusla)