‘People who are interested in becoming adoptive parents, and prospective adopters, are treated fairly, without prejudice, openly and with respect.' (Department for Education, Adoption National Minimum Standard 10, 2011)

The following information outlines the different steps in the adoption and permanent fostering process. This ‘step-by-step' account shows the typical sequence you will follow in Brighton and Hove.

Step 1. Initial Enquiry to the Adoption and Permanence Team
Step 2. Information Meeting
Step 3. Prospective Adopter Questionnaire
Step 4. Application
Step 5. Preparation Group
Step 6. Prospective Adopter's Report
Step 7. The Adoption and Permanence Panel
Step 8. Matching You to a Child
Step 9. Adoption and Permanence Panel - Proposing a Placement
Step 10. Introductions - When you and the Child Meet
Step 11. The Adoption Order

Timescales
Prioritising Assessments
Complaints and Representations

Step 1. Initial Enquiry to the Adoption and Permanence Team

Following your initial enquiry to our team you will receive an information pack within 5 working days. You will then be contacted by a duty social worker who will discuss issues such as your motivation to adopt and your current thoughts on the number and ages of children you are interested in adopting. You will be given a lot of information during this discussion and it may raise many more questions for you. The duty social worker will encourage you to discuss the information further with your family and members of your support network.

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Step 2. Information Meeting

The information meeting is an opportunity for prospective applicants to find out more about adoption from social workers and adopters. You will be able to talk to adopters about their experience of the adoption process and what it is like to parent an adopted child. The social worker will discuss with you what you want out of adoption; what you feel you can offer a child.| back to top |

Step 3. Prospective Adopter Questionnaire

Following your attendance at the Information Session if you wish to proceed with your enquiry you will be sent a prospective adopter questionnaire which asks detailed questions about you and your family and seeks to help both you and the Adoption Agency understand your motivation to adopt. It will be used during the assessment process so please consider its completion carefully.

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Step 4. Application

Following submission of the questionnaire you will be contacted to discuss the next stage of the process.  Where appropriate you will be given a formal application to complete. 

This form gives permission for checks to be made by the Criminal Records Bureau and local authority. Having checks made on you may sound daunting, but its worth remembering that we have to carry out these checks to rule out anyone who has committed a serious crime such as violence, or offences against children.

You will be required to provide proof of identity and residency in this country. We also need details of six referees, all of whom will need to agree to be checked against the Child Protection Register. A minimum of three referees will be interviewed by us. We will confirm acceptance of your application in writing and advise you whether we consider it appropriate to begin your adoption assessment.

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Step 5. Preparation Group

After your application has been accepted you will be invited to attend a preparation group with other adoptive applicants. You will be able to ask lots of questions, and do some very important thinking about making a lifetime commitment to a child/young person via adoption. You will be encouraged to consider your motivation to adopt and the process that brought you to adoption, and how you have resolved issues of loss connected to that process.  It is generally accepted that all parties in the adoption process have experienced, or will experience, significant loss.  For adopters it may be the loss of not having a child by birth and the hopes and expectations associated with that.  For adopted children the loss will relate to not growing up with their birth parents or siblings.  For birth parents the loss relates to no longer being involved in their child's life.  Adoptive parents need to be able to manage both their own feelings of loss and those of the children they adopt.  We know that unresolved feelings of loss can severely affect relationships and the ability to parent a child effectively.  Preparation helps applicants be clear that they have satisfactorily resolved these issues and are in the right place to move on to considering parenting a child via adoption. You will receive a lot of information, and spend time focusing on topics such as attachment (the way ‘bonds' are formed between people) and contact (contact between children/ young people and their birth family) in detail.

During the preparation group you will be told about the sorts of children who are waiting for an adoptive family in Brighton and Hove. The preparation group is the beginning of your assessment as a prospective adopter. You will be asked to make a learning log throughout the group so that together we can be clear what it is you have learned and what areas remain outstanding. If you do not feel confident writing, we can help. It is important for us to know what you have learned as it helps us plan the ‘home study' stage of your assessment.

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Step 6. Prospective Adopter's Report

After the preparation group, you will meet regularly with a social worker to undertake a longer period of preparation, training and assessment. You have a crucial role to play in this process. This is a chance for you to take a very honest look at what you want out of adoption and what you can offer a child. You will be helped to think about important issues such as the needs of vulnerable children and what your strengths and weaknesses as an adoptive parent are likely to be and whether you can make the sort of commitment that will really make a difference to a child's life. For more information on the assessment process please see ‘Skills & Qualities' section.

While you are learning about adoption, the social worker will begin to assess your suitability to adopt by building up a profile of you. This will involve meeting with you in your home and at our offices over a period of 4-6 months. The social worker will ask detailed questions about your family background, your childhood and your present circumstances. A key part of the assessment considers the sort of child or children you feel you could adopt. If you are a couple, the social worker will want to see you together and individually. If you have children in your household we will want to meet with them to obtain their views.

Adoption is for life

The assessment is demanding, it can feel intrusive at times and takes time to complete, but there are good reasons whoever is explored in depth with you. Adoption is for life, so we must be sure that you are right for the role and you must be confident that you can make a success of it. If any issues of concern arise during the assessment the social worker will advise you of these. If the issues are such that we are unable to proceed with the assessment we will advise you of this and of your rights to make representations about this decision.  (see 'Complaints & Representations' section).

At the end of the assessment, your social worker will produce a Prospective Adopters Report, which is a detailed assessment of your capabilities and potential to adopt a child or children. You will be notified when the report is to be shared with the Adoption and Permanence Panel and will receive a copy of the report which you can comment on.

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Step 7. The Adoption and Permanence Panel

The Prospective Adopters Report is passed to Brighton & Hove's Adoption and Permanence Panel. The Panel is independently chaired and has representatives from the Children's Services, Health, and Education services, a local councillor and independent people with experience of adoption and fostering. Your social worker will attend Panel and you will be invited to attend too. You may be asked by Panel members to clarify information about yourselves and your circumstances.

Once all the information has been considered, the Panel will recommend whether or not you should be approved as an adoptive parent and providing it has all the necessary information, will let you have this recommendation immediately. The recommendation is then considered by the Agency Decision Maker (a senior manager within Brighton and Hove City Council), who will make a decision as to your approval as a prospective adopter.

This decision will be made within 5 working days of the Panel recommendation. You will be advised of the decision orally within 2 days and will receive written confirmation within 5 working days.

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Step 8. Matching You to a Child

Once you are approved as a prospective adopter, Brighton & Hove's Adoption and Permanence Service will begin to consider whether there are children for whom you might be a suitable match. We are part of a consortium of adoption agencies, which means that after you have been approved for three weeks you can be considered for children outside of the Brighton and Hove area. Your details will be shared with the National Adoption Register if you have not been matched with a child within 3 months of your approval. Once a child or children have been identified as a possible match with you, we will provide full information about their background, and ensure that you have the opportunity to meet key people involved with them.

Your child is very likely to maintain links with their birth family, and this will be fully discussed with you before you decide to go ahead with the match. If the social workers agree that you are the best match for the child, and you wish to proceed, they will write a report proposing the placement of the child with you. This report is called an Adoption Placement Report and is written by your social worker and the child's social worker. It will detail why you are considered to be the most suitable parent/carer for the child and how you will meet the child's needs.

An adoption support assessment will also be undertaken; identifying support needs you might have in order to successfully care for the child. This will be written up in the form of an Adoption Support Plan. Social workers will also begin to consider the extent to which you may exercise parental responsibility for the child until such time as an Adoption Order is made. Further discussions around this issue will be necessary after the Agency has made a decision about the proposed placement but initial considerations will be detailed in a draft Adoption Placement Plan which will also be provided for Panel's information and comment. You will receive a copy of all 3 reports alongside written notification that the proposed placement is to be referred to the Adoption and Permanence Panel. Your comments will be invited.

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Step 9 - Adoption and Permanence Panel - Proposing a Placement

The Adoption Placement Report, Adoption Support Plan and draft Adoption Placement Plan are then passed to the Adoption and Permanence Panel.  The Panel must consider the proposed placement and make a recommendation as to whether the child should be placed for adoption with you.  You, your social worker, and the child's social worker, will attend Panel to answer any questions Panel members may have.  Providing Panel has all the necessary information, the Panel chair will advise you of Panel's recommendation immediately. 

This recommendation will be passed to the Agency Decision Maker who will decide whether the child should be placed for adoption with you.  This decision has to be made within 5 working days of the Panel decision.  You will be advised of the decision orally within 2 days and obtain written confirmation within 5 working days.

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Step 10 - Introductions - When You and the Child Meet

Once the Agency has decided that the child should be placed with you for adoption a Placement Planning meeting will be held to consider the proposed arrangements for the placement. The meeting will consider how best to introduce you to the child, clarify support and contact issues (where contact between the child and their birth family is considered to be in their best interest) and the extent to which you can exercise parental responsibility for the child.

The draft Adoption Placement Plan will be revised and finalised and a copy given to you. After a period of gradual introductions between you and the child you will be asked to notify the Agency in writing that you wish the placement to proceed. The Adoption Placement Plan contains a section for you to complete which serves as this notification. If everyone agrees, the child will come to live with you and become part of your family. Remember you are not on your own now – the child will still have a social worker who will need to visit regularly to see her/him and talk with you about how she/he is doing.

Your social worker and the child's social worker will be responsible for providing you with advice and support as to how best to meet the needs of the child. The local authority continues to hold lead parental responsibility for the child and the social workers will be responsible for monitoring her/his progress until the Adoption Order is made. An Independent Reviewing Officer will review the placement after 4 weeks, 3 months and every 6 months until such time as an Adoption Order is made. The review will look at how the child is doing and what support needs there might be and whether these are being addressed.

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Step 11 - The Adoption Order

Once the child has successfully settled into your family you will be encouraged to apply to the court for an Adoption Order.  Once the order is made, all rights and responsibilities for the child transfer to you.

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Timescales

In accordance with Adoption National Minimum Standards 2011, Brighton & Hove Adoption Agency will aim to:

1. Provide an information pack following your initial enquiry within 5 working days
2. invite you to an Information Meeting if appropriate within two months
3. Make a recommendation about your approval as prospective adopter within 8 months of the Agency accepting your application
4. Advise you of the Agency Decision orally within 2 days and in writing within 5 working days.

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Prioritising Assessments

We may need to prioritise assessment of applicants who are interested in adopting older children, or sibling groups, due to the particular needs of children we have waiting for adoptive families.  This may result in delay for applicants interested in adopting very young children.  There may also be times when the aforementioned timescales are not met as a result of individual circumstances where applicants feel that a slower assessment pace is required.

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Complaints and Representations

We will ensure that all applicants are made aware of the council's complaint's
procedure. If at any stage you feel dissatisfied with the service you have received from us we would encourage you to use this procedure. If we assess that it is not appropriate to accept your application you may make representation to the Service Manager and request that this decision be reviewed. If, having accepted your application, we decide that we are unable to recommend you as a prospective adopter you may request for your assessment to be presented to the Adoption and Permanence Panel for consideration.

If after considering the recommendation of the Panel the Agency Decision maker is minded not to approve you as prospective adopters you may apply to the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) for consideration of your assessment. BAAF operates the firm on behalf of the Department for Education, Schools and Families, via independent review panels. The IRM will take a fresh look at your application and make a recommendation to our Agency Decision Maker who is required to take account of the recommendations of both the IRM and our Adoption and Permanence Panel in arriving at their final decision.

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