4.1.3 Assessment and Approval of Prospective Adopters

AMENDMENT

This chapter was amended in March 2012 as a result of the Adoption Guidance and the National Minimum Standards for Adoption, which became effective from 1 April 2011. In particular, Section 1, Recruitment and Responding to Requests for Information in relation to the recruitment of prospective adopters has been clarified to confirm that enquirers will not be turned away on the basis that their ethnicity and culture is not shared with those children waiting to be placed for adoption or because of their age.

Recruitment and Responding to Requests for Information
Initial Contact and Application
Foster Carers Wishing to Adopt
Checks
References
Preparation Groups
Health
Home Study/Assessment
Presentation to the Adoption Panel
After the Adoption Panel's Recommendation
Representations/Independent Review Procedure
Review of Approved Adopters with no placement

1. Recruitment and Responding to Requests for Information

The adoption agency aims to recruit and assess prospective adopters who can meet most of the needs of children for whom adoption is the plan.

It is not part of the recruitment strategy of the adoption agency to turn away couples or single people because of their status, age or because they and the child do not share the same racial or cultural background as the children requiring adoptive placements.

In relation to every request received, a record will be kept containing the following information:

Full name, date of birth, address and telephone number;
Ethnic origin;
Date of request;
Brief details of request for information including the source of interest;
Family members in household;
Previous experience of child care and details of any other approvals already given.

All requests for information made by telephone or letter will be acknowledged and an Adoption Information Pack sent within 5 working days. This will include information about the nature and implications of adoption, the assessment process, the checks required in relation to the applicant and members of the household, and the likely time-scale involved.

The information will also relate to the preparation and support services available to adopters (made available before, during and after the adoption), the opportunity to talk to other adopters, the role of the Adoption Contact Register and some information about children locally and nationally needing families.

Confirmation that the pack has been sent will be recorded. Enquirers are invited to confirm their interest in adoption by returning a reply form to the Adoption Service.

There are no set geographical constraints on where prospective adopters live but they should live no more than one hour's drive away and be prepared to travel for preparation group meetings, be available for home visits and be able to offer a resource which is needed.

Four weeks after the request for information, if no further contact has been made, a follow up letter will be sent.

Where there has been no response four weeks after the follow up letter has been sent, the request will be regarded as closed. Attempts will be made to contact the person making the request to learn why they decided not to pursue their interest. The reason for the closure will be recorded. All the recorded information in relation to the request will be retained for a minimum period of 2 years.

2. Initial Contact and Application

Those who confirm they wish to proceed with their interest will be assigned a worker from the Adoption Service who will offer an appointment for a home visit within 14 days of receipt of the above confirmation. The home visit must take place within 2 months of the initial contact with the agency.

Information Meetings will be held regularly and prospective applicants will be invited to attend either before or after a home visit.

Prior to the first home visit or Information Meeting, a check will be made of SURFACS and other electronic records to see if the prospective applicant is known.

The purpose of the Information Meeting and home visit is to provide additional information about the adoption process and to offer preliminary advice about the eligibility of the prospective applicants to adopt. Enquirers should not be turned away on the basis that their ethnicity and culture is not shared with those children waiting to be placed with adoptive parents or because of their age – there is no upper age restriction on applying to be adoptive parents.

Prospective applicants will be advised not to pursue an application where they have recently faced significant challenges within their family, such as serious illness, pregnancy, separation or bereavement, or where there appear to be unresolved fertility issues or other significant life issues affecting their preparedness for adoption.

After the initial home visit, where prospective applicants confirm their interest in pursuing adoption, a decision will be made by the Manager responsible for recruitment whether to invite a formal application. The decision will be based on the information obtained on the prospective applicants from the initial visit and the Information Meeting, the recruitment priorities of the adoption service and the needs of the children waiting for adoptive placements.

If there are reasons for not inviting an application, the Manager responsible for recruitment will write to the enquirer setting out the decision of the agency 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, including information about the complaints procedure.

Where it is considered appropriate to proceed, the prospective applicants should be asked to complete an application form (which includes the names of referees) and return it to the Adoption Service. The agency’s application is accepted by the agency, therefore, after the prospective adopter has received an initial visit and attended an Information Meeting, but before checks, references and health reports are sought.

The prospective applicants will then be asked to complete a Criminal Records Bureau Form and confirm their identity in accordance with the requirements set out on the Form. The worker will check the details of the identification against the information on the Criminal Records Bureau Form. (For further information, see Section 4 below).

As well as their current address, they should be asked to provide all addresses where they and adult members of the household have lived since the age of 18, to enable further checks to be made with Early Years OFSTED, the relevant health trust and others as appropriate to ascertain their suitability to adopt.

Once a completed application form has been received, a new Adoption Case Record should be opened for the prospective applicant. Where it is a second or foster carer application, copies of relevant information from other files should be placed on the new Adoption Case Record.

3. Foster Carers Wishing to Adopt

Where a child placed with foster carers is likely to be the subject of an Adoption Plan, the foster carers' fostering social worker and the child's social worker should discuss with the foster carers their intentions prior to the second Looked After Review. If the foster carers' intention is to adopt, this needs to be raised in the second or subsequent Looked After Review. The foster carers' fostering social worker should also request the Adoption Service to send an Adoption Information Pack to the foster carers (minus the reply form), together with a covering letter to the foster carers.

Following the Looked After Review where adoption is confirmed as the Permanence Plan, a Professionals Progress Chasing Meeting must be held, at which the foster carers' fostering social worker and the child's social worker should discuss whether it is appropriate to proceed with the foster carers' interest. The meeting should be chaired by a team manager.

After the above meeting, an initial visit to the foster carers should be undertaken by a social worker from the Adoption Service and the child's social worker.

The outcome of the initial visit should then be discussed at a second Professionals Progress Chasing Meeting, chaired by a team manager and attended by the foster carers' fostering social worker, the Adoption Service social worker (who undertook the initial visit) and the child's social worker.

The team manager will write and inform the foster carers of the outcome of the meeting - if the decision is to proceed with an assessment of the foster carers, they will be advised to write to the team manager confirming their interest. If the decision is not to support their application, the team manager should write to the foster carers explaining this decision and offering the option for the fostering social worker and the child's social worker to visit and discuss further. The foster carers will also be advised to seek legal advice. If the child has been in the placement for 12 months or more, the decision will be that an assessment should be undertaken.

If foster carers write to confirm their interest in adopting, their fostering status will need to be reviewed - see Review of Foster Carers Procedure. The letter will be acknowledged by the manager of the Adoption Service with responsibility for recruitment, with a copy to the Service Manager (Placements) and the child's social worker. A copy should also be placed on the child's and the foster carers' case records. The case will be allocated to a social worker from the Adoption Service to proceed with the obtaining references, undertaking checks and carrying out an assessment as with any application, except that the assessment should be completed within 4 months of receipt of the application.

4. Checks

The Adoption Service worker must ensure that, when an application is submitted, the necessary information and all the necessary consents for checks to be made are given by all members of the household and frequent visitors aged 18 and over.

Once an application form has been received, the checks on the applicant and all members of the household and frequent visitors aged 18 or over are actioned by staff in the Adoption Service who will write to the Criminal Records Bureau (for enhanced checks), the relevant health trust and Early Years OFSTED, and record the date when the requests for checks were sent and replies received.

Where the prospective adopters are the child's foster carers, new Criminal Records Bureau checks must be undertaken if a year has elapsed since the last check.

Where the prospective applicant lives in the area of another local authority, checks will be addressed to the agencies for the relevant area, and will include the Children's Services Department of the relevant local authority.

If the prospective adopters have moved to a new area within the last two years, consideration should be given to obtaining information from the local authority for their previous address in addition to the current one.

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

The worker carrying out the assessment (see section 7 below) will also contact and interview the previous partners of the applicants, where the relationship was significant and/or recent, and all children of the applicant living away from home.

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.

The staff of the Adoption Service will record the dates when replies to checks are received.

The replies to the checks should be placed in the confidential section of the applicant's Adoption Case Record.

Where the checks disclose information as a result of which a person is disqualified, the applicant will be informed in writing that the application cannot proceed, together with reasons. Where the reasons relate to a conviction/caution in relation to a member of the household, details in relation to the conviction cannot be disclosed to the applicant without the permission of the subject.

In addition, where there are any concerns about an applicant's circumstances as a result of information received from the above checks, for example in relation to the applicants' attempt to cover up information about offences, efforts should be made to resolve the concerns and agree a way forward by discussion between the assessing social worker and the applicant or by reference to a manager in the Adoption Service.

Where such concerns cannot be resolved, the applicant may be advised not to proceed with the application. In any such circumstances, the applicant must be informed in writing of this advice, together with reasons.

Where the applicants indicate that they still wish to pursue their application and do not wish to withdraw, a brief Prospective Adopter's Report should be prepared and presented at this early stage to the Adoption Panel for their consideration and recommendation as to the future of the application. The same procedure will then apply as for the presentation of a full Prospective Adopter's Report - see Section 8 below.

5. References

When submitting an application, applicants will be asked to complete a Reference Form, providing the names of two personal referees, who are adults and have known the applicant for at least two years. (This is the case even with foster carers wishing to adopt). The referees must not be related to the applicant. Referees must have known the applicant during different periods of his or her life.

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 applicant's wider family should also be taken up.

A written reference must also be obtained from the applicant's employer where the applicant is or has been employed to work with children in any capacity.

Where applicants have served in the British Forces, references will also be required.

The administrative staff in the Adoption Service will send requests for written references. All references received will be treated as confidential.

As well as providing a written reference, referees will also be interviewed personally midway through the assessment process, (see section 7 below - a pro-forma is available and should be used for this purpose).

Issues for discussion should include the following:

The applicant as a personality;
The stability of the 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 or their family or friends would harm the children in their care.

The staff of the Adoption Service will record the dates when references are received.

The references should be placed in the confidential section of the applicant's Adoption Case Record.

6. Preparation Groups

Applicants will usually be invited to participate in a course of preparation groups. However, some prospective adopters may need less formal or different preparation than others and preparation can be tailored to meet these needs. For example, foster carers applying to adopt a child already in their care will usually be expected to attend preparation groups but an alternative form of preparation may be deemed appropriate, or they may be asked to attend the elements of the preparation that add to their existing knowledge and skill base.

The attendance of prospective applicants at preparation groups will form part of the assessment of their suitability as prospective adopters.

The Adoption Service will set up a series of preparation groups, which will provide a rolling programme of preparation. The groups will be held at various times to ensure convenience for applicants with differing personal needs and commitments.

Preparation groups will usually be planned to enable prospective applicants to have at least 4 weeks' notice of their date and venue.

Written invitations will also be sent out and replies coordinated by an identified worker so that any decisions to postpone can be made and groups rescheduled promptly.

Preparation groups provide an opportunity for the Adoption Service to find out more about the applicants and have a clearer idea of their strengths, areas for further work and any concerns, which need to be clarified as part of the assessment process.

The preparation groups are also aimed at self-assessment in that they enable prospective applicants to find out more about adoption and help them discover their own strengths and weaknesses.

The groups also provide the applicants with the opportunity:

To raise their awareness and understanding of the key issues which need to be addressed by all prospective adopters, including information to enable them, to understand the purpose and importance for the child of maintaining contact with the birth family;
To assist them to consider more thoroughly the implications of adoption and to decide whether or not adoption is right for them;
To assist them to determine the type of resource they can offer to the children needing adoptive placements.

Applicants attending the groups will be asked to complete evaluation forms.

Applicants are expected to attend all the preparation groups offered before being considered for approval as prospective adopters. If they miss more than two sessions they will normally be expected to repeat the entire course. If they miss only one session and have shown a good understanding of the issues covered in the other sessions it may be possible, if the manager agrees, for this material to be covered in the remaining home assessment.

Those running the preparation groups will arrange a time for debriefing shortly after the groups take place and information from the meetings, including the applicants' evaluation forms, will be shared and form part of the assessment.

A report by the facilitators of the meetings will be included in the Prospective Adopter's Report presented to the Adoption Panel.

7. Health

All applicants must have a full medical examination and agree to a written report being obtained from the GP on their health and any other relevant health issues. The GP must be specifically requested to review the applicant's full medical history and address any matter relevant to the applicant's parenting or caring capacity. The applicants are expected to meet the cost of the medical.

The applicants should have been seen in the three months prior to the medical report having been completed, and the report must have been written within the 6 months prior to the Adoption Panel meeting considering the application.

Written advice from the Medical Adviser to the Adoption Panel should be obtained and referred to in the Prospective Adopter's Report on 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 at an early stage and the implications fully discussed with the applicant and in the report. It may be necessary for reports from other health professionals also to be obtained and presented to the Adoption Panel.

Where there are serious concerns about an applicant's health, the applicant may be advised not to proceed with the application. In any such circumstances, the applicant must be informed in writing of this advice, together with reasons.

8. Home Study/Assessment

A social worker from the Adoption Team will be allocated to carry out a home study/assessment of the applicant.

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

The start of the assessment process should be recorded on SURFACS.

The assessment will comprise a series of interviews with the applicants and the areas covered in interviews will cover the following 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;
Stability and permanence of relationship of joint applicants;
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;
The applicants' learning from preparation groups and any issues identified that require to be clarified.

As part of the assessment:

A chronology of key events in the applicant's life must be compiled, showing his or her educational, employment, marital and relationship history and addresses. Any gaps and/or unusual patterns should be explored;
All information provided by the applicant must be independently verified where possible;
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 adequacy and safety of the prospective adoptive home and transport will be assessed.

The time taken to complete the assessment and present the report to the Adoption Panel after a formal application has been received will generally be no more than eight months unless the need for additional work with the prospective adopters is identified or recommended by the Adoption Panel or unless the application is made by foster carers wishing to adopt a child in their care, in which case the assessment should be completed within four months. Where the timescale is not met the Adoption Panel will record the reason.

The home study/assessment can run in parallel with the applicant's attendance at preparation groups, although it is more usual practice for the assessment to take place after attendance at preparation groups has been completed.

Each applicant and all the children of the family must be seen separately on at least one occasion (subject to the child's age and understanding).

As part of the assessment, personal referees will be interviewed and further references taken up as appropriate as set out in section 4 above.

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-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.

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 Coventry, the social worker should ascertain the extent of any support services identified as necessary in their local area.

The BAAF Forms: 'Assessment of Prospective Needs for Adoption Support Services' and 'Post-Adoption Contact' should be completed and attached to the Prospective Adopter's Report.

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.

The completed Prospective Adopter's Report, signed by the assessing social worker and his/her manager, should be shared with the applicant. The manager will check the report is accurate, up to date and contains evidence- based information before it is presented to the Adoption Panel. This gives the applicant the opportunity to make any comments, for example, by expressing disagreement or support for the recommendations. The applicant will be given 10 working days in which to make any written observations and comments on the contents of the reports or asked to sign a disclaimer stating they do not wish to take 10 days to comment.

The applicant should also be advised of their right to attend the meeting of the Adoption Panel, which considers the application. They should be provided with information about the Adoption Panel process.

9. Presentation to the Adoption Panel

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

All the relevant information (incorporating a Front Sheet, the Prospective Adopter's Report, Adoption Support Plan, Post-Adoption Contact Form, the applicant's comments (and their disclaimer if appropriate), references, a full report on visits to the referees, full information about all the statutory checks, the Medical Adviser's report and a Form in relation to the applicant's attendance at Panel) should be sent to the Panel Administrator 14 days before the date of the Adoption Panel, which will consider the application. The Panel Administrator will require 13 copies of the reports.

The assessing social worker should also complete a Monitoring Form in respect of the timescales, for sending to the Chair of Adoption Panel.

At the Panel meeting, the information will be presented by the assessing social worker or a substitute with adequate knowledge of the applicant and the assessment.

The applicants will also be invited to attend if they so wish.

Whether or not the applicants attend Adoption Panel, their views and wishes must be presented fairly and accurately to the Panel.

The Panel will consider the Prospective Adopter's Report together with all the supporting documentation and any additional information presented verbally, and make a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker regarding the outcome of the assessment. Where approval is recommended, the Panel must consider and may also give advice as to the number of children the prospective adopter may be suitable to adopt, their age range, sex, likely needs and background.

The recommendation and any advice will be recorded in writing.

Reasons for the recommendations and any advice given will also be recorded in the Panel's minutes.

The assessing social worker will advise the applicant of the Panel recommendation within 2 working days of the Panel meeting. This will be by telephone or, where appropriate, a home visit.

10. After the Adoption Panel's Recommendation

After the Adoption Panel has considered the report and made a written recommendation, the reports considered and the Panel minutes will be sent to the Agency Decision Maker who will make a decision as to the approval of the applicant based on the Panel's recommendation. The decision must be made within 7 working days of the Panel meeting and must be recorded, together with reasons. Where advice has been given by the Panel, the Agency Decision Maker may also express a view on such advice.

Where the Agency Decision-Maker is minded to disagree with the Panel recommendation, he or she should discuss this with a senior officer with the relevant experience and who is not a Panel member, and record this discussion, before arriving at a decision. The record of the discussion should be placed on the prospective adopters' Adoption Case Record.

Notice of the decision will be sent orally to the applicants within 2 working days. Written notice of the decision will be sent to the applicant by the staff of the Adoption Team within 5 working days of the decision.

Where the decision differs from the recommendation of the Adoption Panel, a copy of the Panel minute will also be sent.

All successful applicants will be allocated an adoption worker whose task is to support the adopters through the period of waiting for a placement, consider any potential matches and discuss any such matches with the approved adopters before any formal meetings take place.

The outcome of the assessment should be recorded on SURFACS.

All approved adopters will receive a regular newsletter from the Adoption Service and be placed on the Prospective Adopters' Mailing List.

11. Representations/Independent Review Procedure

If a decision is made to refuse an application for approval, 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 (run by BAAF). N.B. Applicants can decide which representation procedure to choose - they cannot choose both.

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

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 written representations are made within the period, the matter must be referred to the Adoption 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.

Where an applicant wishes to make representations in person, the Panel Chair should consider the Panel meeting as a smaller quorate sub-group.

After considering the representations, the Panel or Sub-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. 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.

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 and the applicant 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.

The outcome of the Representations/Review Procedure should be recorded on SURFACS.

12. Review of Approved Adopters with no placement

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

Approved adopters will be asked to be available for children from the local authority area 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.

Prospective adopters’ details may be passed to the Adoption Register immediately after their approval (if they consent) if it appears unlikely that there will be a placement with a child in their area or if no locally identified match is being actively pursued at the latest by 3 months.

An Adoption Team manager will review the adopters' approval at least annually to ensure that he/she remains suitable to adopt.

If, as a result of the review, the manager considers that the prospective adopters no longer remain suitable to adopt a child, they should be notified that their case will be referred back to the Adoption Panel. In these circumstances, the link worker must prepare a Prospective Adopter's Review Report for this purpose. 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 Sections 8 and 9 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 10 above.

End