The Adoption England central team is led by Sarah Johal, National Adoption Strategic Lead, and is made up of a range of project managers, senior social workers, marketing and communications professionals and business support staff. We work together with Regional Adoption Agency leaders and a range of professionals and people with lived experience to deliver our key priorities as part of the government's adoption strategy.
Find out more about the central team working nationally below:
Sarah Johal MBE
National Adoption Strategic LeadSarah has been the National Adoption Strategic Lead working with Regional Adoption Agencies since September 2021. Prior to taking up this post, Sarah was the Head of One Adoption West Yorkshire, the first Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) in England. Sarah has over 30 years’ experience as a social worker and has worked for Leeds City Council developing fostering, adoption and kinship services. Sarah is a firm believer in restorative practice and developing services based on research and evidence of what works well. Key to this approach is hearing from those with lived experience so they can influence decisions and services that affect their lives.
There are experienced social workers and RAA leaders working with Sarah regarding the progression of practice issues within the strategy as well as supporting the involvement of and voice and influence of experts by experience.
Eva Booth
Programme ManagerEva is responsible for the implementation of Adoption England's programme of work with regional adoption agencies. She works directly with regional adoption agency leaders and other partners to strengthen the adoption practice and support provided across the country, as well as managing a team of project managers working to improve specific areas of adoption practice and policy.
Eva started her career in the social care sector as a qualified social worker in Finland and has over 20 years' experience working within improving processes and procedures. Eva is committed to improving the lives of vulnerable children, young people and their families. She works tirelessly to make improvements within the adoption sector and ensures the work delivered is consistent with our strategic priorities and aims, with the best interest of the children waiting to be adopted in mind.
Emma Holroyd
Project ManagerPrior to joining the Adoption England team as a project manager leading on adoption support, Emma worked within local government as a Learning and Organisational Development Manager within children’s services for over a decade. Emma has over 20 years' experience working within specialist developing intervention teams to support vulnerable children and families, including in offender learning, youth offending workforce development and trauma informed care.
Emma and her husband Steven are loving parents to their two children, who they adopted in 2014 and 2015. Emma’s family were also one the first to adopt through the process of Early Permanence. Her son has additional needs due to his early start in life which has enhanced Emma’s knowledge in the journey of adoption and the support some families may need. She is a passionate advocate for improving adoption services for children, adopters, adoptees, and practitioners.
Helen Stevens
Project ManagerHelen has worked within children and family services for more than two decades and has extensive experience in improving outcomes for children, originating in business advise for childcare and early years professionals and then latterly specialising in the commissioning of children and family services. She is a passionate advocate for children and family rights and is committed to improving adoption services so every child with a plan for adoption can have the safe and loving home they deserve.
Within the Adoption England team, Helen’s work is largely focused on supporting and coordinating the matching workstream to ensure children with a plan for adoption are placed with the right adopters for them as quickly as possible.
Helen Thomas
Project ManagerHelen is responsible for managing the Early Permanence workstream, which helps place children with prospective adopters on a fostering basis while the courts decide whether they can safely return to their birth family or may need to be adopted. This approach reduces the number of moves children experience and lessens the uncertainty that often comes with being in care. By offering stability and a sense of permanency as early as possible, Early Permanence is widely recognised as being in the best interests of children. Alongside this, Helen also leads on adoption support, ensuring that families have the guidance, resources and long-term help they need before, during and after adoption. She is committed to promoting Early Permanence practice across England and works closely with adoption agencies to increase the number of children placed through these arrangements, while also strengthening the support available for adoptive families.
Prior to joining the Adoption England national team, Helen worked within local authority services, specialising on improving activities for children and young people with SEND. She works tirelessly to ensure all decisions are made with the best interests of children in care in mind.
Ruby Shah
Practice and Development ManagerRuby is a qualified social worker with over twenty five years of experience of working with children and families, of which twenty years is within adoption services.
Ruby joined Adoption England National team in October 2022, and is the national lead on family finding and matching for children with a plan of adoption. She has an extensive understanding of family finding and matching practices and has actively been contributing to the development of strategic programmes of matching initiatives across England. Ruby works closely with stakeholders across the sector to support, develop and promote innovative and evidence-based family finding practice nationally. She says “being part of Adoption England team motivates me in striving to achieve excellence. I am keen and committed in influencing and improving practice in matching to help minimise delays and progress matches for children."
Vicky Swift
Practice and Development ManagerVicky is a qualified senior social worker who joined the Adoption England national team in June 2022.Vicky is skilled in working with vulnerable children and families and is committed to promoting the experiences and voices of birth families and relationships important to children pre adoption. Vicky leads on our maintaining relationship workstream, focused on finding ways for adopted children to have safe relationships with the people who were important to them pre adoption.
Vicky is passionate about exploring new ways of modernising adoption and the way that adopted people maintain links and connections to their birth identity. She works on several projects with adoption agencies and partners looking at improving services for birth relatives and also adopted people’s experiences of accessing their records and post adoption support. Vicky Says "I really feel passionate about listening to the voices of people who experience services to drive forward the change we hope to achieve."
Steph Sewley
Marketing and Communications Strategic LeadSteph joined the Adoption England team in June 2024 having previously worked in local authority marketing and communications for 12 years. She worked alongside Leeds children and families services for five years prior to joining Adoption England, and is passionate about applying her marketing and communications expertise to organisations and projects that aim to improve the lives of children and families.
Steph is responsible for the delivery of national adopter recruitment marketing and campaigns, National Adoption Week, Adoption England communications and stakeholder engagement, and raising the profile of modern adoption.