British Association for Adoption and Fostering

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) (until 2001, British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering) was a membership association formed in 1980 and a registered charity. Membership was open to organisations and individuals concerned with child adoption and fostering. Corporate members included local authorities, independent fostering agencies, voluntary adoption agencies, NHS trusts, law firms and voluntary organisations. Individual members included social workers, health professionals, law professionals, adopters and foster carers. BAAF's 2013-14 annual review reported a corporate membership of more than 450 and 1400 individual members.

On 31 July 2015 the board of trustees announced the immediate closure of the charity. In a vague explanation it cited "significant changes and prevailing economic conditions" as the reasons for the surprising and sudden closure. The charity was insolvent and in administration. Some of BAAF's functions in England were transferred to the children's charity Coram, with a new entity to be created named CoramBAAF Adoption and Fostering Academy.

Following the closure a former chief executive and acting chief executive, and a group of former staff members made separate requests to the Charity Commission for an investigation. According to the Civil Society Governance web site "The (former) letter is believed to suggest that the regulator’s guidance for struggling charities was not adhered to in the months before the collapse, and that more could have been done to keep the BAAF from closing".

According to the Children & Young People Now publication Anthony Douglas, the chief executive of CAFCASS who chaired the BAAF board of trustees, "declined to comment" on his board's decision to close the charity.

Until its closure BAAF was a membership association, publisher, training provider and advisory service. In cooperation with Sage Publications it published the academic journal Adoption & Fostering. Post-qualifying training was delivered in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University in England, with Stirling University in Scotland and with QUB in Northern Ireland.

BAAF also ran the Be My Parent family-finding service consisting of the www.bemyparent.org.uk website and Be My Parent newspaper. Both Be My Parent services featured children who need an adoptive or permanent foster family. The website also offered information, articles and real-life stories about adoption and fostering.

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