5.6.3 Assessment and Approval of Agency Adoptive Parents

This Chapter is currently under review

Responding to Initial Enquiries
Initial Visit/Information Meeting
Preparation Groups
Checks and References
Home Study/Assessment
Prospective Adopter’s Report
The Panel Recommendation
After the Panel Recommendation
Representations/Independent Review Procedure
Review of Prospective Adopter’s Approval
Criteria for Prospective Adopters

1. Responding To Initial Enquiries

All members of the public who make an initial enquiry by telephone should be sent an information pack in relation to the adoption process, Placement Order, information about the children requiring adoptive placements (including their age ranges, background and characteristics), the Habitual Residence and Domicile requirements for adoptive parents, the assessment process and timescales (including the checks, references and preparation), matching, support, the Independent Review Mechanism (see Section 9, Representations/Independent Review Procedure below) and the Complaints procedure. The information pack must be sent within 5 working days of the initial enquiry. The pack should include a Response Form, which the enquirer should be asked to complete and return to the Adoption Service if they wish to attend an information meeting or receive an initial visit.

An Initial Enquiry Form should be completed in relation to each enquiry received and information pack sent. If the enquirer is responding to publicity for a specific child, the person taking the enquiry should complete a Response Form and this should immediately be passed to the worker with responsibility for family finding for the child concerned. See Placement for Adoption Procedure.

Foster carers who are requesting to adopt a child they are currently looking after should be visited by the child’s social worker and an adoption social worker and should be asked to put their request in writing. The request should specifically outline how they would meet the child’s long-term needs.

The procedure for any enquirer requesting a second placement will be the same as for new applicants.

The Adoption Service Manager will consider those who confirm they wish to proceed with their interest by returning the Response Form and, depending on whether they appear to meet the criteria (see Section 11, Criteria for Prospective Adopters below) and the priority needs of the service, a decision will be made about whether to pursue or refuse the offer. If so, the case will be allocated to a social worker to carry out an Initial Visit or the enquirer will be invited to an Information Evening (see Section 2, Initial Visit/Information Evening below).

The decision will be communicated to the person concerned and recorded.

Where it is decided to proceed, a new Adoption Case Record for the prospective applicant will be opened (including where it is a second or foster carer application, in which case copies of relevant information from other files should be placed on the new Adoption Case Record.)

2. Initial Visit/Information Meeting

The Adoption Service Manager will decide whether to allocate a social worker to make an initial visit and/or to invite the enquirer to a group Information Meeting.

If an initial visit is to be undertaken, an appointment must be sent within 2 months of the initial enquiry being received.

If it is proposed to hold an Information Meeting, written invitations must be sent within 2 months of the initial enquiry being received.

Prior to making the initial visit or holding the Information Meeting, a standard letter will be sent outlining the areas to be covered.

The purpose of the visit/information meeting is to explain further the procedures (including the need to complete a course of Preparation Groups), and to ensure the applicants wish to proceed and that there are no obvious factors that would adversely affect their application. The needs of the children currently waiting for adoptive families will be outlined.

On an initial visit the social worker should also check that the accommodation is acceptable and discuss with the prospective applicants why they wish to adopt and the type of child they would wish to consider.

If any factors emerge which may have an adverse effect on an application, appropriate advice will be given about making early checks. Prospective applicants should be specifically asked to identify anything that they know may preclude them from adopting.

The social worker should record the outcome of the visit and/or Information Meeting on the Adoption Case Record.

The Adoption Service Manager will decide whether it is appropriate to proceed with the application. The decision will be based on the information obtained so far in relation to the prospective applicants and the needs of the children waiting for adopters, taking into account the resources currently available within the existing pool of approved adopters.

Where a decision is made to proceed, the enquirer will be sent an application form and invited to attend Preparation Groups. The case will be allocated for a full assessment to a qualified social worker with suitable experience (see Section 5 of Adoption Panel Procedure).

If there are reasons for not inviting an application, the Adoption Service Manager will write to the enquirers setting out the decision not to proceed and the reasons. Advice should be given of any steps they may take in order to meet the criteria or of how they might pursue their interest elsewhere, if appropriate, or of steps they may take if they disagree with the decision.

If there appear to be issues of concern in relation to the prospective applicants’ health, the Medical Adviser should be consulted for advice before a decision is made. Where advised by the Medical Adviser, the prospective applicants should be requested at this stage to obtain a medical report from their G.P.

Dependent on the outcome of the health information received and the medical advice from the Medical Adviser, the Adoption Service Manager will decide whether to proceed with the application and the decision will be communicated to the enquirer in writing with reasons.

3. Preparation Groups

All prospective adopters will be required to complete a course of Preparation Groups.

The Groups are an integral part of the application process, and all applicants are expected to attend all sessions.

The objectives of the Groups are:

To raise awareness and understanding of the key issues which need to be addressed by all prospective adopters
To assist applicants to consider more thoroughly the implications of adoption and to decide whether or not adoption is right for them
To assist applicants to determine the type of resource they can offer to the children needing adoptive placements.

Where issues emerge during the Preparation Groups as a result of which the Adoption Service Manager decides that it is not appropriate to proceed with the application, the applicants should be visited by a member of the Adoption Service and notified in writing of the decision, with reasons. Advice should be given of any steps they may take in order to meet the criteria or of how they might pursue their interest elsewhere, if appropriate.

Where they disagree with the decision and/or are not willing to withdraw, a brief Prospective Adopter’s Report on the application should be presented to the Adoption Panel and the procedure to be followed should be the same as if the report was a full report on the Prospective Adopters (see Section 7, The Panel Recommendation, Section 8, After the Panel Recommendation and Section 9, Representations/Independent Review Procedures below).

4. Checks and References

4.1 Checks

Applicants will be asked to complete application forms for the necessary checks to be undertaken for all members of the household aged 18 and over.

On receipt of the completed forms, the following checks will be taken up on all adult members of the household aged 18 and over: Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) (enhanced criminal record certificates will be sought), Probation, NSPCC, Health Trust, Education Authority, Children’s Social Care Services. Where the applicants live outside the borough, the checks must be made with the local authority and health trust where the applicants live.

Where applicants have recently moved to the UK (within the last 10 years), checks will also be made through International Social Services and/or the relevant Consulate on all members of the household aged 18 and over.

Where there are concerns about an applicant’s circumstances as a result of the information obtained from the above checks, for example as a result of a conviction which means the applicant or a member of the household is a Disqualified Person (Adopter), the applicant will be advised not to proceed with the application.

A further visit may be arranged to the applicants to explain the decision not to proceed. The applicants must always be notified in writing of the decision, with reasons.

If the information leading to this decision relates to a previous conviction of a member of the applicant’s household, the details of the offence can only be disclosed to the applicant with the consent of the relevant person; without such consent, the applicant can only be informed that the reason relates to information obtained from the checks but no details can be given.

Where the applicants are not willing to withdraw, a brief Prospective Adopter’s Report on the application should be presented to the Adoption Panel and the procedure to be followed should be the same as if the report was a full report on the Prospective Adopters (see Section 7, The Panel Recommendation, Section 8, After the Panel Recommendation and Section 9, Representations/Independent Review Procedure below).

4.2 References

Where an application is accepted, applicants will be asked to provide the names of two personal referees, who are adults, have known the applicant for at least two years and are not related to the applicant. Referees should be people who know the applicants well in a personal capacity, and it is desirable that the referees have direct experience of caring for children, either in a personal or professional capacity.

Where there is a joint application, referees should know both applicants, or additional referees will be required.

A third reference from a member of the prospective applicant’s wider family should also be taken up.

A written reference must also be obtained from each applicant’s last/current employer where they work or have worked with children or vulnerable adults. Further references from previous employers may need to be considered.

Where the prospective applicant has made a previous application to foster or adopt, the relevant agency must be asked to confirm in writing the outcome of the application and provide a written reference.

The allocated adoption social worker will send requests for written references.

The referees should be asked to comment on the following:

The length of time the referee has known the applicant, in what circumstances, how they met and how regularly they are in contact.
Where there is a joint application, the couple’s relationship including its stability and quality, the couple’s strengths and ways of coping with stress and how mutually supportive the couple is.
The applicants’ general physical and emotional well being.
How the applicants relate to children, with examples, and what experience the applicants have of caring for children.
How the applicants have adjusted to childlessness if this is the case, how they have prepared to become adoptive parents, how much they have shared with the referees and how open they are in talking about the issues surrounding adoption.
If the applicants have children of their own, how the referee thinks a child from a different ethnic background will impact on the other children in the family.
Any reservations the referee has and whether the referee wholeheartedly supports the application

As well as providing a written reference, referees will also be interviewed during the home study part of the assessment process.

At the start of the interview, the referee should be informed that the written report of the interview will not be shared with the applicants but that any issues arising during the interview may be discussed with them.

Issues for discussion include the following:

The applicant as a personality
The stability of the couple’s relationship (if a joint application)
The referee’s impression of the applicant’s general physical and emotional well being
The referee’s opinion on the applicant’s ability to relate to children, and the basis of the opinion
The referee’s opinion on whether adoption is appropriate for the applicant
Any reservations the referee may have to express about any aspect of the application
Whether the referee wholeheartedly supports the application.
What support the referee is able to offer the prospective adopters.
Whether the referee has any reason to believe the applicant would harm the children in their care

The assessing social worker will also contact the previous partners of the applicants, where there were any children of the relationship or where children were cared for jointly, the social worker will arrange to interview them face-to-face wherever practicable. All children of the applicant(s) living away from home will also be contacted. Where former partners have not jointly parented or cared for a child with the prospective adopter, they should generally not be approached unless there is a specific reason for doing so.

In addition, as part of the assessment, where the applicant has school age children, the relevant school(s) will be contacted, with the permission of the applicant, for information regarding the applicant’s ability to promote the child’s education.

4.3 Health

The applicants will also be asked to arrange for an adoption medical examination and report from their G.P. on Form AH (if this has not been done at an earlier stage), unless the Medical Adviser does not consider such a medical examination is necessary, for example where the applicant is a foster carer and a health report is already available.

Form AH should then be sent to the Medical Adviser, together with a covering letter providing a pen picture of the family, their life-style and the sort of child they are considering.

The GP’s report must have been written within the 6 months prior to the Adoption Panel meeting considering the application.

Where the applicant’s GP has expressed concerns or where clarification of the implications of any health issues is required, detailed advice must be sought from the Medical Adviser and the implications fully discussed with the applicant. It may be necessary for reports from other health professionals also to be obtained and presented to the Medical Adviser and the Adoption Panel.

Where there are concerns about an applicant’s circumstances, for example where there are concerns about their health or about the information obtained from referees, the applicant may be advised not to proceed with the application. Any such advice must be confirmed to them in writing and the reasons explained.

Where the applicant disagrees with the decision and/or is not willing to withdraw, a brief Prospective Adopter’s Report on the application should be presented to the Adoption Panel and the procedure to be followed should be the same as if the report was a full report on the Prospective Adopter (see Section 7, The Panel Recommendation, Section 8, After the Panel Recommendation and Section 9, Representations/Independent Review Procedure below).

5. Home Study/Assessment

The assessment must be carried out by a qualified social worker with suitable experience (see Section 5, of Adoption Panel Procedure).

The assessment will comprise a series of interviews, the majority of which will take place in the applicants’ home. Applicants should be interviewed at least once both individually and with their partner, and all other members of the household will also be interviewed, including the children.

The areas covered in interviews will follow the subject areas:

Individual profiles of all members of the household, including racial origin and religious persuasion
Information about the home, the local community and the neighbourhood
Details of education and employment - past and present
Income and expenditure
Details of past and present relationships
Motivation to adopt/childlessness
Parenting capacity, experience of being parented and experience with children
Support network, including wider family network
Expectations of the placement, including understanding of issues from the preparation course
Attitudes to birth families and approach to openness in adoption

As part of the assessment:

A family tree and chronology of key events in the applicant’s life must be compiled, showing his or her educational, employment, marital and/or relationship history and addresses for the previous 10 years; any gaps and/or unusual patterns should be explored.
All information provided by the applicant must be independently verified wherever possible by checking it against other sources such as referees. See Preparing and Assessing Prospective Adopters, Practice Guidance, Chapter 2.
Where an applicant has been divorced or separated, factors contributing to the breakdown of the relationship must be verified. This applies equally to significant relationships between couples who are not married.

The time taken to complete the assessment after a formal application has been received will generally be no more than eight months from the receipt of the application unless the need for additional work with the prospective adopters is identified or recommended by the Adoption Panel.

If the assessment is of foster carers wishing to adopt a child in their care, the assessment should be completed by the social worker and the draft Prospective Adopter’s Report submitted to the manager within four months of the application prior to being submitted to Panel.

The assessment will consider the likely need for adoption support services of the prospective adopters and any member of their family - see Adoption Support Services Procedure. As part of this, the family’s finances and the criteria for financial support should also be discussed.

Where the prospective adopters live outside the borough, the social worker should ascertain the extent of any support services identified as necessary in their local area.

The assessment will also cover the applicants’ willingness to notify the adoption agency if the adopted child dies during childhood or soon afterwards, their views on post-placement and post-adoption contact and their willingness to pass on information to birth parents about the progress of the adopted child. These issues should be specifically reported on to the Adoption Panel.

If, during the course of the assessment, any issues emerge which cast doubt upon the likelihood of the applicants being approved, such issues should be discussed openly with the applicant at the time, and the advice of the Adoption Panel may be sought at any stage.

6. Prospective Adopter’s Report

The information gathered during the assessment, the Preparation Groups and the checks and personal references, will form the basis of the Prospective Adopter’s Report. The report will also include a summary by the Medical Advise of the health report obtained on the applicant/s.

Reports should address anti-discriminatory practice issues. It should contain a summary of the assessed strengths and weaknesses of the applicants, together with an opinion of the type of placement likely to be provided successfully. Potential risk factors should be highlighted.

Once the assessing social worker has completed the report, it should be submitted to the manager for approval. If there are any issues of concern raised in the assessment or there are issues which require clarification, the manager should obtain a second opinion on those issues from another experienced practitioner, before approving the report.

When the Prospective Adopter’s Report is finalised, a copy should be sent to the applicants. The applicants should be asked to sign and return the report, if agreed, and/or send their comments in writing to the assessing social worker. It should be explained to them that they have 10 working days to do this, (or they can be asked to sign a disclaimer stating they do not wish to take 10 days to comment) and that any written comments they make will be circulated to Adoption Panel members, with the report. Any disclaimer should be kept on their adoption case record.

The applicants should also be advised of their right to attend the meeting of the Adoption Panel, which considers their application. They should be provided with written information about the Panel process, its membership, who will attend and their respective roles. If the applicants know a particular Panel member, the applicants may request that the Panel member stand down. (Panel members are in any event expected to declare an interest in these circumstances - see Adoption Panel Procedure).

Applicants should not be shown any comments made by referees or any other third party information.

The social worker will then send the Prospective Adopter’s Report, the applicants’ written comments (if any), a full health report, the report on the interviews with the referees, the report from the local authority for the area where the applicant lives (if outside the borough) and any other relevant documents, to the Panel Administrator at least 10 working days before the relevant Adoption Panel meeting.

The date of the Adoption Panel meeting will be communicated to the applicants as soon as possible, together with an invitation to attend the Panel during consideration of the report.

7. The Panel Recommendation

The Prospective Adopter’s Report should be presented to the Adoption Panel within 6 weeks of its completion.

The assessing social worker will attend the Panel meeting (and his or her manager where appropriate), together with the applicants if they so wish. The decision to attend rests with the applicants and a wish not to attend will not prejudice consideration of their application.

Applicants who decide they wish to attend should be fully prepared as to the procedure prior to their attendance (see Section 6, Prospective Adopter's Report above).

The Panel will consider the Prospective Adopter’s Report together with all the supporting documentation (see Section 6, Prospective Adopter's Report above) and any additional information presented verbally, and make a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker regarding the suitability of the applicant to adopt a child.

The recommendation will be recorded in writing and, where approval is recommended, the record will include any advice given about the number of children the prospective adopter may be suitable to adopt, their age range, sex, likely needs and background.

Reasons for the recommendations and any advice as set out above will also be recorded in the Panel’s minutes.

The adoption worker undertaking the assessment will advise the applicant of the Panel recommendation within 24 hours of the Panel meeting. This will be verbally, by telephone or, where appropriate, a home visit.

8. After The Panel Recommendation

The Agency Decision Maker will make a decision as to the suitability of the applicant, and express a view on any Panel advice given, based on the reports presented to the Adoption Panel and the minutes detailing the Panel’s recommendation and advice.

Where the Agency Decision Maker is minded to disagree with the Panel recommendation, he/she must first discuss the case with another senior officer with relevant experience, who must not be a Panel member, before arriving at a final decision. This discussion must be recorded and placed on the child’s and the prospective adopter’s Adoption Case Record.

The decision must be made within 7 working days of the Adoption Panel meeting and must be recorded, together with reasons.

The Panel Administrator will arrange for the applicants to be sent oral notification of the decision within 2 working days and written notice of the decision, signed by the Agency Decision Maker, within 5 working days of the decision.

Where the decision differs from the recommendation of the Adoption Panel, a copy of the Panel recommendation will be sent to the applicant/s with the written notification of the decision.

9. Representations/Independent Review Procedure

If a decision is made to refuse an application, the applicant will be advised that if he or she wishes to challenge the decision, representations should be submitted within 40 working days either directly to the agency or they may request a referral to the Independent Review Mechanism. N.B. Applicants can decide which representation procedure to choose - they cannot choose both.

The Panel Administrator must receive notification of the wish to attend or make written representations to the Adoption Panel within 40 working days of the date of the written notice of the decision.

If no written notification or representations are received within this period, the decision to refuse the application can be confirmed.

If a request to attend or make written representations to the Adoption Case Record is made within the period, the matter must be referred to the Panel for further consideration. The Panel Administrator will advise the applicant within 7 days of the date of the Panel meeting when they can attend or their written representations will be considered.

In these circumstances, applicants who wish to attend the meeting of the Adoption Panel can arrange for a friend or supporter to accompany them.

After considering the representations, the Panel will make further recommendations either confirming or amending their previous views, which the Agency Decision Maker will consider before a final decision is made.

Written notice of the final decision, together with reasons, must be sent to the applicant within 7 working days of the Panel meeting.

Where the decision is still to refuse the application, a copy of the report to the Panel, the Panel’s recommendation and the decision, with reasons, must be retained on the applicant’s Adoption Case Record.

If the applicant decides to refer the matter to an Independent Review, the relevant Panel reports, any new information obtained since the Panel meeting, a record of the decision made and reasons, a copy of the written notification of the decision and a copy of the Panel minute, if different, will be sent to the Independent Review within 10 working days of their written request.

The procedure for the Independent Review is carried out by BAAF; the applicant and a representative of the adoption agency will be invited to attend the Independent Review.

After considering the representations, the Independent Review may make a recommendation, which the Agency Decision Maker will consider before a final decision is made.

Written notice of the final decision, together with reasons, must be sent to the applicant within 7 working days of the receipt of the Independent Review recommendation.

A copy of the report to the Panel, the Panel’s recommendation and the decision to refuse an application must be retained on the applicant’s Adoption Case Record.

10. Review of Prospective Adopters’ Approval

All successful applicants will be allocated an adoption link worker whose task is to support the adopters through the period of waiting for a placement, identify any further training needs, arrange updated medical examinations as requested by the Medical Adviser, consider any potential matches and discuss any such matches with the approved adopters before a match is presented to the Adoption Panel. The adoption link worker will visit at least once every 6 months.

Approved adopters will be asked to be available for children from the borough in need of an adoptive placement, after which they will be informed of and referred to the National Adoption Register and/or to the Regional Consortium/other adoption agencies with children waiting for placements, with their consent.

They will also be informed of local support groups and be advised of their responsibility to maintain links with the adoption link worker and keep him or her informed of any significant changes in their situation.

All approved adopters will be subject to Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks every 2 years.

The Adoption Service Manager will review the adopters’ approval at least annually by means of a report from the adoption link worker, together with any comments on the report from the prospective adopters. Where the review identifies the need for a change of approval, the adoption link worker must prepare a Prospective Adopter’s Review Report for presentation to the Adoption Panel. The prospective adopter should be given a copy and given 10 working days to comment before arrangements are made for the report to be presented to the Panel.

The procedure set out in Section 7, The Panel Recommendation and Section 8, After the Panel Recommendation above should then be followed.

If the approval is still considered suitable, the prospective adopters should be notified in writing and a copy of the reports, minutes, decision and notification placed on their Adoption Case Record.

If the prospective adopters are considered no longer suitable, the same procedure should be followed as set out in Section 9, Representations/Independent Review Procedure above.

11. Criteria for Prospective Adopters

11.1 Individual and Joint

Applications will be considered from married couples, unmarried couples or single people. In the case of married and unmarried couples, there is no minimum requirement on the length of the marriage/relationship, but the Panel will need to be satisfied about the stability of the relationship.

11.2 Religion

Applications will be considered from people of any or no religious persuasion.

11.3 Ethnicity

Applications will be considered from people of any race or culture.

11.4 Age

The minimum age for adopters is 21 years. There is no specific upper age limit.

11.5 Gender

Applications will be considered from people of either sex.

11.6 Sexual Orientation

Applications will be considered from people of any sexual orientation.

11.7 Income

Applicants may be in work or not. Whatever the applicants’ income, they will need to consider the financial implications of increasing their family.

11.8 Health

Applicants will be required to have a full medical and undergo any further tests/checks that may be required by the Adoption Panel’s Medical Adviser. The Medical Adviser will advise on the applicants’ ability, from a health point of view, to meet the needs of a child throughout his or her childhood.

It is unlikely that a very young child or a child vulnerable to chest complaints would be placed in a household where one or both parents are smokers.

11.9 Criminal Convictions

A person who is seeking approval as an adoptive parent will not be considered if s/he or any adult member of the household has been cautioned for or convicted of an offence against a child which involves violence or bodily injury (other than common assault or battery), cruelty (to a child under 16), indecency, abduction, the supply of Class A drugs or the importation/possession of indecent photographs of a child under 16 or a sexual offence against a child unless the offence was contrary to sections 6,12 or 13 of the Sexual offences Act 1956 and the person concerned was under 20 when the offence was committed.

Other convictions will not necessarily preclude an application, but this will depend on the seriousness of the offence and how long ago it was committed. In cases of doubt or dispute, the matter will be referred to the Adoption Service Manager who may also consult the Panel Adviser and/or the Agency Decision Maker.

11.10 Accommodation

Applicants may own their own home or live in rented accommodation. They will have to demonstrate that they have a secure home environment in which to bring up a child.

They will need accommodation appropriate to the number and ages of the children they are seeking to adopt.

11.11 Fertility Tests/Treatment

Childless couples wishing to adopt will usually be required to have completed any fertility tests and treatment, and to have had a period of time, probably about 6 months, since completing the tests before an application can be accepted. This is because it is important for couples to have accepted their infertility and grieved before moving on to start the adoption process.

11.12 Applicants who have a Child or Children

Applications will be accepted from people who already have a child, in which case any children should usually be at least two years older or younger than the age of the child an applicant is seeking to adopt. If the intention is to adopt a child in the middle of the family, there should be a three year age gap between the siblings.

11.13 Domicile/Habitual Residence in the British Isles

Applicants do not have to have British Citizenship, but should be Domiciled or have Habitual Residence in the British Isles. Where there is a joint application, only one of the applicants need to be domiciled in the British Isles or both should be habitually resident here. In all these cases it is essential to see all relevant documents in order to fully establish nationality and immigration status.

Where there is doubt, potential applicants should be asked to seek independent advice.

11.14 Location

Applications are welcome from those who reside within the borough or elsewhere.

Applicants must be prepared to travel for group meetings, introductions etc. and be available for assessment and home visits.

11.15 Child Care Experience

It is important that the applicant who is going to be the main carer has some experience of children of the age group in which the applicants are interested.

11.16 Support Network

Applicants will need to demonstrate that they have accessible and established support networks of family and friends who will be in a position to provide support with parenting.

11.17 Post Placement/Post Adoption Contact

Prospective adopters will be expected to comply with arrangements for post placement/post adoption contact with the child’s birth family, where the agency considers it is in the child’s best interests for such contact to take place.

End