The Just Right State Programme for Adoptive Parents, Special Guardians and Foster Carers

Helping adoptive parents, special guardians and foster carers understand their child’s sensory and emotional needs — so they can support them to feel just right

6 sessions • Hybrid (4 virtual from our office base, 2 in-person in Sutton Coldfield) • 12 places • Every Thursday from 9th October to 20th November 2025 with a half-term break

For families: It can be difficult to know how to respond when your child is finding change hard and finds their senses overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of daily life. As part of bespoke therapeutic support tailored to your family's needs, The Just Right State Programme supports you to help your child with emotional self-regulation, learning what feels 'just right' in terms of movement and the senses to help them manage everyday life's physical and emotional demands.

For professionals: The Just Right State Parents Programme® offers a cost-effective alternative to 1:1 interventions, providing high-quality support to parents and carers in a group setting. Please select NOTES FOR COMMISSIONERS below to find out more.

For Organisations: Looking to support the parents and carers your organisation works with? We’d love to help! Get in touch to commission a tailored programme – we’re happy to discuss your specific needs and create something truly impactful.

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The Just Right State Programme at a glance:

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This programme can form part of a bespoke support package for adoptive and kinship families in the West Midlands and UK, tailored to the needs of the family.

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Suitable for adoptive families and for families receiving SGO support in the UK

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Fully funded at no cost to the parent(s)

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Led by qualified Theraplay® therapists with training in Sensory Attachment Intervention

Beacon Family Services CIC support a wide range of struggling families, including:

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Families who are worried about their child's anxiety, emotional wellbeing or mental health

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Parents / carers struggling with their child's behaviours or Childhood Challenging Violent and Aggressive Behaviours (CCVAB)

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Families experiencing a life change, such as illness, divorce or a bereavement

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Fostering, adoptive or blended families looking for support to develop new relationships

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Families looking for support with neurodivergence, such as Autism or ADHD, or disabilities

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Parents / carers who would like to deepen their relationships and be a more connected parent

If you are struggling with family life, please browse our support services on our Families hub.

Alternatively, you can fill out our contact form and we will get back to you to discuss your family's needs.

Click here to find out more about who we are and what we do.

6 sessions • Hybrid (4 virtual, 2 in-person in Sutton Coldfield) • 12 places • Every Thursday from 9th October to 20th November with a half-term break

Are you finding that everyday experiences with your child can be unpleasant or overwhelming? Does your child find transitions, a change of routine, new textures or tastes, or new situations upsetting and difficult to adjust to?

Many of the children who we see at Beacon Family Services experience sensory difficulties. If you are out of tune with how things feel, managing your emotions can become more difficult. The Just Right State Programme, devised by Eadoin Bhreathnach, can help.

The Just Right State Programme can form part of our overall therapeutic support for your adoptive or kinship family in a way that is tailored to your needs.

The programme helps you and your child progress in addressing emotional states and behaviour.

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Book here

6 sessions • Hybrid (4 virtual, 2 in-person in the Birmingham area)

This programme will run:

Thursday 9 October, 10 -11.30 am in person
Thursday 16 October, 9.30 - 11am virtually
Thursday 23 October, 10 - 11.30am in person

Half term break

Thursday 6 November, 9.30 - 11am virtually
Thursday 13 November, 9.30 - 11am virtually
Thursday 20 November, 9.30 - 11am virtually

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In the fairytale version of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks goes into what seems to be an abandoned cottage and discovers three chairs, three bowls of porridge, and three beds. Two options don't suit her, but in each case, there is one option that is 'just right'.

Getting things ‘just right’ helps us manage our environment and world. As children and adults, we need to understand the way our bodies and brains respond to the sensations, smells, taste, sounds, places and people in our lives. Learning about what feels 'just right' in terms of movement and sensation can help our ability to manage the often competing physical and emotional demands of daily life.

Sensory sensitivities can be overwhelming, and feeling ‘just right’ allows children to feel safe and connected. As an adoptive parent or adult receiving SGO support, you can help your child feel safe and understood when you make space to learn about what makes children feel ‘just right’ and support their sensory needs.

Over 6 sessions, adoptive parents, special guardians and carers attending the Just Right State Programme learn the developmental and attachment principles behind the children’s activities and use of The Scared Gang Books.

During the sessions caregivers discuss their child’s behavioural problems and their goals for their child with the therapists. Parents will also complete a Sensory-Emotional Profile Questionnaire about their child which will help identify their child’s sensory-attachment patterns.

Following each session, parents, carers and special guardians are provided with tailor-made home and outdoor activity ideas for their child’s pattern. Caregivers will be introduced to the therapy ball and its safe use at home.

Parents and carers will also learn basic strategies to manage their own stress levels. The aim of the programme is to enable parents to provide an enriched environment within the home that facilitates the core components of successful parent child engagement – the capacity to self regulate and to mutually regulate.

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With recent reductions to ASGSF budgets, we know that many services are needing to think differently about how they support families. The Just Right State Parents Programme® offers a cost-effective alternative to 1:1 interventions, providing high-quality support to parents and carers in a group setting.

This intervention can be used to:

Support adoptive parents, special guardians and foster carers to develop the sensory regulation strategies that are crucial for the success of subsequent therapeutic interventions, including Theraplay
Offer targeted support to a parent or carer to make sense of their child’s sensory needs and develop coregulation
Extend the reach of support within the constraints of reduced funding

Because the group format promotes shared learning and natural peer support, it often leads to sustainable change without the need for longer-term, more costly input.

This programme is eligible for Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) funding, and we are happy to support families or professionals with the application process.

PRACTITIONERS: Use the booking form below to refer a family on their behalf.

Book here

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Just Right State Programme, you must be:

Living in the UK
An adoptive family, foster carer, or special guardian

How to apply

You can fill in the booking form yourself, and we'll help you contact your social worker. Alternatively you can send this page to your social worker, and they can fill in the form on your behalf.

If you're parent not currently liaising with a social worker but you feel like this programme could be perfect for you, you are welcome to fill in the form and we can help you see what your funding options are.

Information:

Blogs:

Find out more about our therapeutic support for adoptive families:

“Because of the last 8 years of parenting a child impacted by trauma I am dysregulated. Because of these sessions I am now able to stay calm with the behaviour. That is making a huge difference to our relationships."

Adoptive parent on the Just Right State programme

“Listening to you has given me insight I couldn't have got before into how sensory processing is for our children and how hard it can be. That will help me so much.”

Special Guardian on the Just Right State programme

“The Just Right State is unique in its ability to enable the parent and child to begin to make the links between sensory and emotional processing, and how the use of strategies can positively impact on the development of these skills and abilities. Supporting the development of these skills and abilities in children, alongside their parents, can have a profound and positive impact on the long-term outcomes for the whole family”

Chris West, Service Evaluation author for Devon Local Authority's use of the Just Right State Programme

15th August 2025

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Further therapeutic support for adoptive families

We have a range of resources and funded therapeutic groups available to adoptive, foster and kinship families, even if you have no access to further funding and support. We also provide training for professionals. Our therapeutic services are designed to nurture connection, understanding, and resilience in your child. Click a button below to find out more.

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