Birmingham Children's Trust (England)

What Birmingham Children's Trust (England) does

Birmingham Children's Trust is a Community Interest Company wholly-owned by Birmingham City Council, established in 2018 to deliver statutory children's social care services across the city. Its service portfolio comprises the Children's Advice and Support Service (CASS) as the single front-door for safeguarding referrals, adoption services (Adopt Birmingham), fostering, the Youth Justice Service (renamed from Youth Offending Service in December 2024), care leaver support to age 25, the Family Learning Offer, and a Practice Academy for practitioner training. Downstream beneficiaries include children and young people in need of protection or care, looked-after children, families, foster carers, adopters, care-experienced young people, and partner agencies; the Trust cites four primary persona segments (children/young people, families/carers, volunteers and corporate partners, and professional partner agencies).

There is no proprietary technology platform underlying the Trust's service delivery; the offering is human-led social work rather than a software product, and the website is built on the Jadu CMS with Siteimprove for accessibility scanning. No public APIs, SDKs, or third-party AI/ML integrations are offered. The Trust is structurally a publicly funded entity: Birmingham City Council is both sole commissioner and sole owner, services are provided at no direct cost to citizens, and revenue is not publicly disclosed. Operational footprint is restricted to Birmingham in the West Midlands, with no geographic expansion signaled.

A connected independent charity, Bfriends Charity, was established in 2021 to support children in care and care-experienced young people. The Trust maintains several externally validated credentials, including Ofsted 'Good with Outstanding Leadership' for Adopt Birmingham, Ofsted 'Good' for the Fostering Agency, Ofsted Registered Service Provider status for the Youth Justice Service, and double gold awards at the 2025 Social Worker of the Year Awards, alongside King's Birthday Honours recognition for foster carers. Active partnerships include KPMG Birmingham (youth employability), Birmingham Violence Reduction Partnership and BLESST (community safety), and the affiliated Bfriends Charity.

Name

Birmingham Children's Trust (England)

Legal name

Birmingham Children's Community Interest Company

Website

https://birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Birmingham Children's Trust is a Community Interest Company wholly-owned by Birmingham City Council that delivers statutory children's social care services in Birmingham, including safeguarding (CASS), adoption, fostering, youth justice, and care leaver support, serving children, families, carers, and partner agencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Social Care Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Child Welfare, Foster Care & Adoption Services (BPAGAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC), Family & Parent Support Services (Parent Coaching, Advocacy) (EDAJALAK)

Keywords

• Children's social care
• Fostering services
• Adoption services
• Youth justice services
• Care leaver support

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham, West Midlands

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Birmingham Children's Trust is a Community Interest Company wholly-owned by Birmingham City Council that delivers statutory children's social care services in Birmingham. Its core offerings include the Children's Advice and Support Service (CASS) as a single point of contact, adoption services through Adopt Birmingham, fostering placement and support services, the Youth Justice Service (formerly Youth Offending Service), care leaver support, and the Family Learning Offer. Services are commissioned by Birmingham City Council and provided at no direct cost to citizens.

Product overview

Birmingham Children's Trust is a public sector children's social care organization structured as a Community Interest Company wholly-owned by Birmingham City Council. The Trust operates as a unified service portfolio delivering children's social care rather than a technology platform with modular products. The core offerings include the Children's Advice and Support Service (CASS) as the single point of contact, Adoption services through Adopt Birmingham, Fostering services, Youth Justice Service (renamed from Youth Offending Service), Care Leavers Service, Family Learning Offer, and Practice Academy for staff training. The Trust also has a connected charity, Bfriends, and maintains a podcast for community engagement. The services are interconnected, with CASS providing initial triage, directing cases to appropriate social work teams, fostering and adoption teams for placement services, and youth justice for offending prevention.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Adopt Birmingham: Adoption services operated by Birmingham Children's Trust, maintaining Ofsted 'Good with Outstanding Leadership' rating.
• Bfriends Charity
• Birmingham Youth Justice Service

Products and services

• Children's Advice and Support Service (CASS) Single point of contact for professionals and members of the public seeking support or raising concerns about children, providing assessment and triage for child protection and early help services.
• Adopt Birmingham Adoption service for Birmingham, providing adoption assessments, matching, and post-adoption support. Maintained Ofsted 'Good with Outstanding Leadership'.
• Fostering Services Foster care placement services recruiting, training, and supporting foster carers for children in care in Birmingham; received Ofsted 'Good' rating in 2024.
• Birmingham Youth Justice Service Service for young people involved in or at risk of offending, providing intervention, support, and rehabilitation. Renamed from Birmingham Youth Offending Service in December 2024.
• Care Leavers Service Support services for young people leaving care, including personal advisors, accommodation support, and transition to independent living.
• Family Learning Offer Parenting groups and family learning opportunities delivered in community venues across Birmingham.
• Practice Academy Training and professional development academy for social workers and practitioners within the Trust.
• Bfriends Charity Registered independent charity affiliated with Birmingham Children's Trust, supporting children in care and care-experienced young people.

Quantifiable outcome

• Adopt Birmingham maintains Ofsted 'Good with Outstanding Leadership' rating
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• KPMG BirminghamcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 23 February 2025Youth Justice Service partnership through 'Opening Doors to Opportunities' initiative. Young people from Birmingham Youth Justice Service visit KPMG offices to experience professional environments, participate in office tours, observe different departments, and engage in interactive group sessions for skill development including teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving. Partnership aims to raise aspirations and help young people recognize pathways to employment.
• Bfriends CharitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Bfriends Charity (friends of Birmingham Children's Trust) is a registered independent charity set up to understand the ongoing and changing needs of children in care and care-experienced young people. Children in care and care leavers helped choose the charity name and design the logo. The charity supports creation and development of friendships for young people.
• Adopt BirminghamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdopt Birmingham is the adoption service operated by Birmingham Children's Trust, maintaining Ofsted 'Good with Outstanding Leadership' rating. Partners include Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust for health-related services.
• Birmingham City CouncilcoreOthersBirmingham Children's Trust is wholly-owned by Birmingham City Council. The Trust operates under a strategic relationship with the Council as its sole commissioner of statutory children's services.
• MADE CIC (Mentoring Arts & Diverse Education)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerNetwork partner for Birmingham Children's Trust podcast Black History Month episodes. Founder Antonio Henry participates in discussions about need for more black male volunteers to support children and young people.
• The Study of MenminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNetwork partner for Birmingham Children's Trust podcast. Founder Omar Junior contributes to discussions on volunteering and supporting young black men.
• Gordon Brooks Property & Crossroads Housing and SupportminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNetwork partner for Birmingham Children's Trust podcast. Director Michael Gordon contributes to discussions about representation of positive black male role models for children in care.
• Birmingham Violence Reduction PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Birmingham Children's Trust to host first Parent & Carer Conference addressing violence reduction and community support.
• BLESSTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Birmingham Children's Trust Parent & Carer Conference alongside Violence Reduction Partnership for community support initiatives.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Action for Children: National UK children's charity providing fostering, adoption, and family support services across many local authorities. Overlapping service portfolio and beneficiary group but broader geographic footprint than a single local authority trust.
• Barnardo's: One of the UK's largest children's charities, operating fostering, adoption, and child protection services nationwide. Comparable in mission and service mix (fostering, adoption, youth services) but operates nationally and as a charity rather than a local-authority commissioned trust.
• NSPCC: National child protection charity operating safeguarding helplines, therapeutic services, and direct work with children and families. Comparable in safeguarding mission though operating nationally with a charity/government-funded model.

Emerging players

• Coram: UK children's charity group including Coram's fostering and adoption services. Comparable in operating fostering, adoption, and children's services, though structured as a national charity with multiple operating subsidiaries rather than a single local authority trust.
• Catch22: Social justice charity delivering children's services including youth justice, leaving care, and family support across multiple UK local authorities. Comparable service portfolio including youth justice and care leaver support but at broader scale than a single-city trust.

Direct peers

• Bradford Children's Trust: Local authority children's trust in West Yorkshire delivering integrated children's social care. Directly comparable arms-length Trust model delivering statutory services for a major UK city authority area.
• Achieving for Children: Community interest company delivering children's services on behalf of Kingston and Richmond councils. Closely comparable operating model as a non-profit children's services delivery entity commissioned by local authorities in the UK.
• Slough Children First: Local authority-owned company delivering children's services in Slough under a similar CIC/arms-length model. Provides directly comparable statutory safeguarding, fostering, and adoption services for a defined geographic population.
• Sandwell Children's Trust: Another West Midlands-based local authority children's trust established in 2018 following similar service-improvement drivers. Operates the same model of integrating child protection, fostering, and adoption under a single CIC structure commissioned by its local authority.
• Northamptonshire Children's Trust: Local authority children's trust established to deliver statutory children's services following intervention at predecessor councils. Directly comparable as a UK local authority trust delivering safeguarding and care services under single integrated leadership.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/Bhamchildtrust
• Facebookfacebook.com/BirminghamChildrensTrust
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/birmingham-children-s-trust
• Instagraminstagram.com/bhamchildtrust

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Birmingham Children's Trust (England)