PAC-UK is the country’s largest independent Adoption Support Agency. From offices in Liverpool, Leeds and London we reach out to families and professionals from the Scottish borders to the south coast.

Family Action and PAC-UK formally merged on Saturday 1 December 2018.

Our vision is that all those affected by adoption, Special Guardianship and other forms of permanent care are supported and enabled to live their lives to the full. We have built our expertise over a 38 year period, starting out as Post-Adoption Centre in 1986. In recent years we have combined with other specialist providers to produce a more robust organisation with a wider reach and a more comprehensive range of services.

Entering adoption, Special Guardianship or another permanent placement is an important step forward in a child’s life. At PAC-UK we understand that this is the beginning of a life-long journey, not just for the child, but also for the adoptive/permanent care family and the birth family left behind. Our support extends to all these groups, and includes adults adopted as children who continue to find difficulties arising on their own life journey. We also offer advice to professionals working with these families in different contexts – in particular adoption social workers, school teachers and virtual school staff.

We offer the following key services:

• Advice Line staffed by qualified and experienced PAC-UK counsellors who can provide advice and information on all aspects of adoption and other forms of permanent care;
• A range of Adopted Adult Services for adults adopted or otherwise permanently placed as children, including advice, counselling, access to adoption records, searching and intermediary services;
• A Birth Parent & Birth Relatives Service providing a range of advice, counselling, intermediary services and groups for birth parents and other birth relatives;
• A Child & Family Service offering support, counselling and therapy to adoptive families or those with a permanently placed child, including Special Guardians and Kinship Carers;
• A Child to Parent Violence Service offering a broad range of specialist CPV services for parents, carers and professionals;
• An Education Service working with children, parents and schools to improve the educational experience of adopted/permanently-placed children;
• A Private Intermediary Service providing specialist support to adult adoptees, their descendants and birth relatives who wish to reconnect with their relatives;
• A Training Service offering a comprehensive training programme focussing on topics specific to adoption and permanent placement. Some of these workshops and seminars are for professionals only, and some are specifically for parents and carers.

We have partnerships with 78 local authorities stretching from Northumberland and York in the north to Haringey and Hertfordshire in the south; and in total more than 100 local authorities benefit from our expertise every year.

PAC-UK brings together a multi-disciplinary team of staff and volunteers with an extensive range of skills and expertise in working therapeutically with children, adoptive families, other permanent carers, adopted adults and birth parents.

PAC-UK was rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2022.