Staffing, relevant qualifications, and experience of team members

The adoption team will be made up of a number of staff each of whom brings a range of experiences and knowledge to MFC Adoption. The staff team currently comprises:

The Adoption Manager
The Adoption Manager has responsibility for the strategic planning and development of the adoption service and for the operational management of the whole team. Along with the Management Group the Adoption Manager is responsible for ensuring that the team meets the aims of MFC Adoption.

The current Adoption Manager is Vlasta Novak who is a qualified social worker (CQSW) with a first degree in Sociology and an M Sc in Psychiatric Social Work. She has worked in Child Care for over 30 years and has previous experience of managing both a local authority and a voluntary adoption service. She has worked for 10 years as an inspector of child care provision during which time she had lead responsibility nationally for the inspection of adoption services. She played a key role in the development of the National Standards and the National Minimum Standards for Adoption.
She is currently working part time to establish the service.

The Adoption Manager is based at Lynstock House, Lynstock Way, Lostock, Bolton BL6 4SA.

Social Workers
The team intends to recruit a number of qualified social work staff with a wide range of experience in children and families work. They will be responsible for the recruitment, training and assessment of prospective adopters and for their support if they become approved adopters and have children placed with them.
Additional qualified and experienced workers will be recruited as the work increases.

Project Worker
The team will have a project worker responsible for adopter recruitment including advertising and publicity and making the need for Asian and dual heritage families and the aims of MFC Adoption known across Asian communities in the North West.
Additional project workers will be recruited as the volume of work increases and may have responsibility for the practical support of approved adopters 

Administrative Officer
The Administrative Officer will be responsible for the day to day management of administrative systems and processes which support the overall process of the recruitment of adopters. The Administrative Officer is responsible for organising and minuting the Adoption Panel and for ensuring that records are appropriately maintained and stored.

The above posts are based at Lynstock House.