4.1.4 Placement for Adoption

SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER

This procedure applies to the placing of children with prospective adopters by Coventry City Council, acting as an adoption agency.

AMENDMENT

This chapter was amended in March 2012 to take account of the Adoption National Minimum Standards 2011 and Adoption Guidance 2011. In particular, Section 2, Preparation of Child for Adoption has been updated to include the requirement to provide information to the child prior to the placement about the prospective adoptive home and the proposed contact arrangements with the birth family. Section 6, identification of Adoptive Parents has also been amended to include explicitly the requirements on ethnicity and matching and the areas of support to be provided to the prospective adopters as set out in the National Minimum Standards.

Formal Approval of Adoption Plan for the Child
Preparation of Child for Adoption
Counselling and Support of Parents
Child's Adoption Medical
Post-adoption Contact
Identification of Adoptive Parents
Approval of Matching of Adoptive Parents
Planning the Placement
The Placement
Children Approved for Adoption for whom no Placement has been Identified
Adoptive Placements Abroad

1. Formal Approval of Adoption Plan for the Child

Every Looked After child should have a plan for achieving permanence by the date of the child's second Looked After Review.

See the Procedures in relation to Looked After Reviews, Permanency Planning: Panel Processes and Permanency Panel Arrangements and Guidance on Permanence Planning;
Where the Permanence Plan is for adoption, the following procedure must be followed;
The initial agreement to an adoption plan for an unborn child or a child relinquished for adoption by the parents and not yet looked after must be given at a Planning Meeting. This will subsequently be confirmed in the child's Care Plan, once the child becomes Looked After;
The social worker's manager must approve the adoption plan. The plan must also be referred to the Permanency Panel - see Permanency Planning: Panel Processes and Permanency Panel Arrangements;
As soon as adoption becomes part of the Care Plan for a child, the child's social worker must notify the Adoption Panel Administrator of the plan and ask for a date to be arranged for presentation of the case to the Adoption Panel. The date for the Adoption Panel must be a maximum of 2 months from the date when the initial adoption plan was agreed. Where this timescale is not met, the Adoption Panel should record the reason;
As part of the above notification, the child's social worker must provide the Panel Administrator with the child's full name, date of birth, ethnic origin, legal status and the date of the Looked After Review or other meeting at which the adoption plan was recommended;
The Panel Administrator will send an Adoption Checklist and Adoption Pack to the child's social worker.

The Panel Administrator will add the child's name to the adoption database in the category: "child with adoption plan not yet been to Panel";
The Panel Administrator will also arrange for the child to be considered at a meeting of the Resource Panel, usually the meeting immediately after the Adoption Panel in order to start the process of family finding - see section 6 below for the procedure relating to the Identification of Adoptive Parents. In urgent cases, it may be appropriate for the family finding to begin prior to the plan being presented to the Adoption Panel in which case the Panel Administrator should arrange a date as soon as possible;
The child's social worker must open an Adoption Case Record for the child. Where the plan relates to a group of siblings, there must be a separate adoption case record for each child. The adoption case record will contain all relevant information, including health information, on the child and his or her parents, including copies of relevant information from the child's case file. For a full list of the required contents, see Chapter on Access to Birth Records and Adoption Case Records;
The child's social worker should obtain 2 certified copies of the child's full birth certificate. These will be required for future Court applications and for the prospective adopters;
If there is not already an up-to-date full medical report on the child, the child's social worker should book an adoption medical for the child by sending Form FS79 to the Medical Adviser - Form FS79 is contained in the Adoption Pack;
The child's social worker should give both birth parents a copy of the memorandum "Information for Parents on Adoption" and ask them to sign confirmation of receipt, which should be kept on the child's Adoption Case Record. (See Adoption Pack for information and receipt). If either or both of the birth parents refuse to accept or do not receive the memorandum, this should be recorded, including the reasons, on the child's case file and adoption record;
The child's social worker must seek the birth parents' consent to the disclosure of information on their medical history to facilitate the adoption medical for the child - for detailed procedures, see section 4 below, 'Child's Adoption Medical' and for Forms, see the Adoption Pack;
The child's social worker must complete Form PI (contained in the Adoption Pack) with the parents setting out their views on the adoption plan, and arrange the necessary counselling and support for both of the birth parents (including unmarried fathers) and/or significant birth relatives who have been caring for the child, by sending a Notification Form (contained in the Adoption Pack) to the Adoption Panel Administrator. For detailed procedure, see section 3 below, 'Counselling of Parents'. If either or both of the parents decline or refuse counselling, then this should be recorded, including the reasons, in the child's file and adoption record.

In cases of twin tracking, social workers may wish to make a referral for birth parents to receive counselling where rehabilitation is unlikely to be successful or where the birth parents wish to discuss adoption.
Where one or both of the birth parents cannot be found, the child's social worker must make extensive enquiries as to their whereabouts. Legal advice should be sought about the need to place advertisements in the local and national press;
The child's social worker should ensure that information from the child's health visitor or school health in relation to the child's health and development is included in the medical information on the child;
The child's social worker must contact the child's school or the relevant local education authority for current information in relation to the child's educational needs, including the up-to-date position on progress made under the Personal Education Plan (PEP) and, where relevant, the Statement of Special Educational Needs and Individual Education Plan. (A standard Memo and Report are provided in the Adoption Pack);
The child's social worker must ask the child's carer to complete a report on the child. (A standard Report is provided in the Adoption Pack);
The child's social worker must ensure that the adoption plan addresses the issue of post adoption contact. Practice Guidance for social workers on this issue is contained in the Adoption Pack. This will include a possible meeting between the parents and the adopters, and whether there may be ongoing direct contact or indirect contact via a letterbox system. (Information on the Letterbox Scheme and a Pro-Forma for a Letterbox Exchange Agreement are contained in the Adoption Pack).

Any proposals for post-adoption contact will take account of information already available and assessments already undertaken - see section 5 below, 'Post-Adoption Contact;
The child's social worker must also carry out an assessment of the likely needs for adoption support services in relation to the child (including his or her eligibility for financial support), the birth parents and any other person with a significant relationship to the child. This will build on information already available and assessments already undertaken, and should be recorded on the BAAF Assessment Form (contained in the Adoption Pack). For the detailed procedures, see Chapter on Adoption Support Services;
Within 14 days of the notification of the adoption plan to the Adoption Panel Administrator, an adoption worker will be identified to progress the family finding for the child and a Checklist of the Child's Needs (Form HF4) should be completed (see section 8 below, Identification of Adoptive Parents Procedure);
Using all the information obtained in relation to the above, the child's social worker must prepare the Child's Permanence Report (contained in the Adoption Pack). The Permanence Report must be written by a qualified social worker with suitable experience or a qualified/student social worker in training who is supervised by a qualified social worker with suitable experience (see Section 5, Reports to Adoption Panel, Adoption Panel Procedure).

The following areas must be included or addressed in the Report:
1. Profile of the child, based on the report from the child's current carer as well as other information about the child's personality, nationality, racial origin, religious persuasion, legal status and relationship with his/her birth family;
2. The child’s wishes in relation to the adoption plan and his or her preferred method of communication;
3. A chronology of the child's life since birth;
4. A summary assessment of the parenting capacity of the child's parent or guardian;
5. The preparation work, undertaken and planned, with the child and the views of the child in relation to the adoption plan and future contact with his or her birth family;
6. The views of the Children's Guardian (where possible);
7. The views of the birth family and significant others in relation to the adoption plan and contact and their opportunity to comment on the receive and comment on the report before it is presented to the Adoption Panel;
8. A report of the child's educational history and current needs, including the Personal Education Plan (PEP);
9. Any other relevant specialist reports in respect of the child or significant others, whether or not the authors of the reports support the recommendation for adoption for the child. Consultation by the social worker should take place with Legal Services as to whether the whole report or part of the reports needs to be included;
10. An assessment of the child's emotional and behavioural development;
11. An assessment of the child's needs for post-adoption contact, including with siblings, and the child's and birth relatives' needs for adoption support services;
12. An analysis of the options for the child's future care and the alternatives to adoption considered;
13. Where the child has siblings, whether the decision is to place siblings separately or together and the rationale for the decision
  
  A copy of the whole Report or the relevant sections should be provided to the parents and the child where appropriate;
Presentation to the Adoption Panel

This must take place within 6 weeks of the completion of the Child's Permanence Report.

To enable the Adoption Panel to consider whether the child is suitable to be placed for adoption, the child's social worker must present the following reports/documents:
1. The Child's Permanence Report (including the Medical Adviser's comments) signed by the child's social worker, the manager and the parent (if willing), and a photograph of the child;
2. Legal advice about parental consent and the option of seeking a Placement Order;
3. Adoption Support Plan for the child;
4. A Monitoring Form, completed by the child's social worker, in respect of the timescales for the case, for sending to the Chair of Adoption Panel.
  
  Where the social worker is seeking a recommendation in relation to the matching of the child to a specific adoptive placement at the same time, the procedure set out in section 7 below, 'Approval of Matching of Adoption Parents' must also be followed.
  
  The child's social worker will send the relevant reports to the Panel Administrator 14 days before the relevant date of the Adoption Panel. The Panel Administrator will require 13 copies of each report.
  
  Copies of the reports should be held on the child's Adoption Case Record.
The child's social worker must also send to the Panel Administrator a completed Form HF4 (Checklist of Needs);
The child's social worker will attend the Adoption Panel meeting during consideration of the matter. (Guidance for social workers attending the Adoption Panel is contained in the Adoption Pack);
The Panel will consider the written reports and any additional information presented verbally. The Panel will make a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker. Where the Panel recommend that the child should be placed for adoption, it must also consider and may at the same time give advice as to future contact arrangements for the child and whether an application for a Placement Order should be made.

The recommendation will be recorded in writing, together with reasons, in the Panel's minutes. A copy of the relevant minute must be held on the child's Adoption Case Record;
After the Adoption Panel

After the Adoption Panel has made a written recommendation, the Panel Administrator will send the recommendation to the Agency Decision-Maker, who will make a decision based on the Panel's recommendation within 7 working days. The decision will be recorded in writing.

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 the appropriate experience, who should not be a Panel member. This discussion must be recorded and placed on the child's Adoption Case Record.

The Panel Administrator will advise the child's social worker, who will convey the decision orally to the parents within 2 working days.

The child's social worker will send written notice of the decision, signed by the Agency Decision Maker, to the parents within 5 working days. This letter should normally be hand delivered. Where this is considered inappropriate, the letter should be sent by recorded delivery post. The method of delivery of the letter must be recorded.

The child's social worker will inform and explain the decision to the child in a timely way according to the child's age and understanding;
Where a decision has been made to seek a Placement Order in relation to the child, the child's social worker should consult Legal Services in order to prepare the Court application;
Where the parents wish to give their consent to the child's adoptive placement and/or the child's adoption, and the child is more than 6 weeks old, the child's social worker must arrange for a written request to be sent to CAFCASS to appoint an officer to witness the consent. (Where the child lives in Wales, the request should be sent to the National Assembly for Wales);
The child's social worker should send to the CAFCASS office closest to the parents' address, a certified copy of the child's birth certificate, the name and address of the parent, a chronology of the actions and decisions made by the local authority and confirmation that the parents have received counselling and written information on the legal implications of giving consent to the placement/adoption;
On receipt of the parent's consent witnessed by the CAFCASS officer, the
original must be placed on the child's Adoption Case Record (as it will be required for the future adoption application).

2. Preparation of Child for Adoption

The child's social worker will ensure that Life Story Work with the child continues with the aim so far as possible that:
- The child has an understanding of the reasons for the adoption plan and what adoption will mean;
- The child has an opportunity to express his or her wishes and feelings about the future; and
- The child has information on the child's birth family, which is kept safe for them and provided to the adopters and the child at the appropriate time.
  
  As part of the above, the child will be given a Children's Guide to Adoption (contained in the Adoption Pack) as soon as adoption is part of the child's Care Plan. The Children’s Guide includes available adoption support services for the child and how the child can access them. Any information given to the child should be confirmed in writing and any discussions with the child should be fully recorded. The child’s preferred method of communication should be known and there should be no assumption that a child is unable to communicate.
  
  Where a child's wishes are not acted upon, for example a child's wish to be placed with his or her siblings, this should be explained to the child, with reasons, and should be fully recorded.
  
  See Life Story Work Guidance;
The foster carers' social worker will support the foster carers in playing their part in the preparation of the plan, including careful recording by the foster carers in the Daily Record of any changes in the child's behaviour;
Once an adoptive placement has been identified and approved, the child's social worker is responsible for ensuring the child is properly prepared for the first meeting with the prospective adoptive family and is appropriately counselled during the period of introductions. As part of the preparation of the child for the adoptive placement, information will be provided to ensure that s/he has a proper understanding about the accommodation and others living at the prospective adoptive home, the contact arrangements with the birth family and how to contact his or her social worker See section 8 - Planning the Placement;
The child's social worker will encourage the parents to write a 'Later Life' letter for the child, and to provide information to enable the social worker to write a 'Later Life' letter for the child (to give to the adopters within 10 working days of adoption ceremony, i.e. the ceremony to celebrate the making of the adoption order).

3. Counselling and Support of Parents

The child's social worker must explain to both parents the reasons for the adoption plan, the key stages of the adoption process, including the likely time-scales, and provide them with the memorandum, 'Information for Parents on Adoption'. (See Adoption Pack for memorandum and receipt). If either or both of the birth parents refuse to accept or do not receive the memorandum, this should be recorded, including the reasons, on the child's case file and adoption record;
The child's social worker must arrange independent support for both birth parents (including unmarried fathers). Unless support is refused or declined, the child's social worker should complete and send a Notification Form to the Adoption Panel Administrator. (The Form is included in the Adoption Pack). A separate form should be completed in relation to each parent. The Panel Administrator will immediately arrange an independent counsellor to be allocated, by sending the form to the independent agency contracted to provide a counselling service;
The counselling and support may need to be undertaken by a specialist worker, for example where the parent has poor mental health or learning disabilities. If so, the social worker should discuss this with the Panel Administrator to ensure that an appropriate resource is identified;
The specific needs of parents arising from their ethnic minority groups must also be taken into account. An interpreter must be arranged where English is not their preferred language;
In all cases, the parents must be offered support from a social worker different from the child's social worker;
The purpose of the independent support is to ensure that the parents have an opportunity to express their views in relation to the plans for the child and be involved in planning for the child's future wherever possible;
Both parents must be offered counselling and support irrespective of whether they have parental responsibility unless there are exceptional circumstances, in which case legal advice should be taken and the reasons for not arranging counselling recorded;
It may also be appropriate for members of the extended family to receive counselling and support, where they have played a significant role in the child's life. In these cases, the child's social worker should complete a separate Notification Form and send it to the Panel Administrator so that the adoption service can identify and arrange an appropriate resource;
The counselling and support will cover the following areas:
- Explaining the key stages of the adoption process and likely time-scales;
- Explaining, where appropriate, the procedure for seeking a Placement Order;
- Explaining the parents' legal rights, including the right of the unmarried father to seek a Parental Responsibility Order or a Residence Order in relation to the child;
- Explaining the role of the Adoption Panel;
- Explaining the role of the Reporting Officer or Children's Guardian;
- Explaining the way the Adoption Contact Register works and how an adopted adult may seek information about the birth family in the future;
- Explaining how prospective adoptive parents are assessed;
- Ascertaining the parents' views on the adoption plan, including the selection of the adoptive family, any specific ethnic, cultural or religious needs of the child, and any plan to separate a sibling group. Their views on the adoptive family should be recorded;
- Dealing with grief and loss;
- Where the parents consent to the adoptive placement, explaining that they have the right to withdraw their consent at any time up to the making of an adoption application and the restrictions on withdrawing their consent once an adoption application has been made;
- Ascertaining the parents' views on post-adoption contact including whether they would wish to meet the adoptive family and if so, how they might prepare for this;
- Providing information to the parents on national and local support groups, and other possible sources of help;
- Explaining how the parents may be able to provide information to be passed to adopters, for example, on the child's birth and early life, which may be of benefit to the child.
The parents should be encouraged to seek legal advice particularly where they are opposed to the adoption plan;
The parents and their solicitors, if appropriate, must be sent copies of any written consents and/or recording of their views;
Where the parents refuse or decline to accept counselling and/or support, the child's social worker must record the offers made to the parents and the reasons for their refusal in the child's file and adoption record;
Where the parents are seeking to have an expected child adopted, the counselling must start before the baby's birth. In addition, the child's social worker must cover practical tasks such as the arrangements for the birth, the parents' own contact with the child after the birth, the intended length of the mother's hospital stay and their wishes regarding the timing of the placement.

After the child's birth, the counselling and support must continue. The social worker should then confirm with the parents that they still wish to pursue adoption for the child;
The social worker should arrange for photographs to be taken of the child and, if they agree, of the parents and other significant people and places, for inclusion in the child's Life Story Book.

4. Child's Adoption Medical

As soon as the adoption is the only plan for the child in the Care Plan, unless there is already an up-to-date full health report on the child, the child's social worker should write to the Medical Adviser requesting an adoption medical for the child. (This should be sent using Form FS79 in the Adoption Pack.) The Medical Adviser will book a date in advance allowing time for the relevant Forms M and B (see below) to be completed and returned. The procedure needs to be started without delay; the adoption medical must take place before the child's plan for adoption is considered at Adoption Panel;
The child's social worker must seek the cooperation of both birth parents to provide written consent to the disclosure of medical information by completing Form A, together with Form 8, (Medical report on Birth Parent), including obtaining their consent to the Medical Adviser approaching their GP if necessary, as well as obtaining their written consent on Forms M (Obstetric report on mother) and B (Neo-natal Report on Child);
A separate Form A should be completed in relation to each parent. The Forms are in the Adoption Pack;
The completed Form A's and Form 8's should be forwarded to the Medical Adviser, with a covering memo. The standard memo is included in the Adoption Pack;
The child's social worker should send Forms M (Obstetric report on mother) and B (Neo-natal Report on Child) for completion by a doctor at the hospital where the child was born, with a request that they be completed and forwarded to the Medical Adviser, with a copy to be sent to the social worker. The standard memo is included in the Adoption Pack;
The importance of the disclosure of medical information must be explained to parents but where the parents refuse to sign consent forms, the social worker must record the attempts made to engage the parents and the reasons for refusal in the child's file and adoption record, and inform the Medical Adviser of the position;
The child's social worker should attend the medical with the child and, usually, the child's foster carer.

5. Post-Adoption Contact

There should be no general presumption for or against contact for children in adoptive placements. The child's needs for contact with their birth parents and other significant people from their past life should be assessed and plans for contact after adoption should be based on the child's needs. This written assessment will take account of the views of the child, the parents, the foster carers and other significant family members, as well as evidence of attachment and the quality of relationships, based on observations of contact and the child's behaviour before, during and after contact. Practice Guidance for social workers on this issue is contained in the Adoption Pack. See also Permanence Planning Guidance;
Where there is a sibling group, each child must be assessed separately and together as a group;
The assessment should determine whether post-adoption contact between the child and the parents and/or siblings and/or significant others would be in the child's best interests, and if so, what form it should take. The nature and frequency of contact will be influenced by the need to maintain attachments and /or long-term identity issues. Contact arrangements may change over time in relation to the needs of the child;
Post-adoption contact may take the following forms:
- Adoptive parents providing non-identifying information about the child to the birth family through letter-box contact organised and maintained by the Adoption Service (one way indirect contact);
- Adoptive parents and the birth family sharing non-identifying information about themselves through letter-box contact organised and maintained by the Adoption Service (two way indirect contact);
- Direct letter box and/or telephone contact between the adoptive parents and the birth family;
- Direct face-to-face contact between the child and the birth family, which may be organised and maintained by the Adoption Service, where such continuing support is appropriate.
  
  Photographs and/or videos can be included in letter box contact but consideration should be given to risks associated with this in relation to the use of the internet.
  
  (Information on the Letterbox Scheme and a Pro-Forma for a Letterbox Exchange Agreement are contained in the Adoption Pack).Any proposed post-adoption contact should be in line with any Court Orders.
Any proposed post-adoption contact should be in line with any Court Orders;
Where post-adoption contact is considered to be in the child's interests, it should be part of the information shared with prospective adoptive parents during the matching process - see section 6, 'Identification of Adoptive Parents' and also part of the planning of the placement - see section 8, Planning the Placement.

6. Identification of Adoptive Parents

The overall time-scale for matching a child with a prospective adoptive family is:

Proposed placement to be recommended by the Adoption Panel within 6 months of the agency's approval that the child is suitable to be placed for adoption, except where the following applies;
Where parents request adoption for a child of less that six months of age, the proposed placement to be recommended by the Adoption Panel within 3 months of the agency's formal approval of the adoption plan.

As soon as the child's social worker notifies the Adoption Panel Administrator of the child's adoption plan, the Panel Administrator will arrange for the child to be referred to the Resource Panel for consideration of the availability of in-house approved prospective adopters to meet the child's needs. Usually this will be the Resource Panel immediately after the Adoption Panel at which the adoption plan for the child was considered. In urgent cases, it may be appropriate for the family finding to begin prior to the plan being presented to the Adoption Panel in which case the Panel Administrator should be asked to arrange a date as soon as possible;
Where the adoption plan is part of the Care Plan as a result of Twin Track Planning, the family finding has to be guided by the progress and likely success of the child achieving permanence within the birth family. However, the identification of potential adoptive parents as part of a Twin Track Plan is important wherever possible to avoid delay in achieving permanence, should the rehabilitation plan break down;
The child's social worker will prepare in conjunction with the child's carers, a profile of the child (medical information, legal status, wishes and feelings, identity and attachment issues, contact arrangements, behaviour, personality, work carried out so far in preparation for adoption and likely need for future support) and a Checklist of the child's needs (Form HF4 - contained in the Adoption Pack). This will be sent to the Adoption Panel Administrator at the same time as the Child's Permanence Report is sent - see Section 1, paragraphs 22 and 23;
A social worker from the Placement Service (usually the social worker linked to the foster carers where the child is currently placed) will convene and chair Progress-Chasing Meetings on a monthly basis to identify a suitable adoptive family for the child during the early stages of permanence planning until such time as the Adoption Panel has recommended and the Agency Decision Maker has decided that the child should be placed for adoption; the progress chasing meetings then become Home Finding Meetings and a manager from the Adoption Service will act as Chair;
Those invited to attend progress-chasing meetings and home finding meetings will be the child's social worker, the foster carers, the foster carers' social worker and any other person who has a relevant role with the child, for example a worker undertaking life-story work with the child;
The Chair of the meetings will be responsible for ensuring minutes are written and circulated;
The first such meeting will give preliminary consideration to the Checklist of the child's needs (Form HF4) and consider the characteristics of the adoptive family to meet those needs, having regard in particular to any views expressed by the parents and the child about characteristics they would like. This will include any proposals for post-adoption contact;
The information will be forwarded to the Adoption Team, who will consider the Checklist (Form HF4) against the list of approved prospective adopters;
If there is no suitable in-house prospective adoptive family available, a home-finding worker will be appointed by the Adoption Team to plan a recruitment campaign. The child's social worker will be asked to prepare referrals to the West Midlands Consortium or other agencies such as BAAF, as advised, and/or the National Adoption Register. Information about the child may also be included in publications such as 'Be my parent' or 'Adoption Today', and also may be circulated individually or included in a home-finding booklet sent to other adoption agencies. Whether the child is or is not the subject of a Care Order, written permission for publicity must be sought wherever possible from all those with Parental Responsibility. Where the child is the subject of ongoing proceedings, the permission of the Court will also be required and the social worker should ask the local authority's legal representative to make the necessary Court application;
Ethnicity must not be placed above everything else when identifying potential adopters for children. It is unacceptable for a child to be denied adoptive parents solely on the grounds that the child and the prospective adopter do not share the same racial or cultural background. If a prospective adopter can meet most of the child’s needs, but, for example they do not share the child’s racial or cultural background, the core issue is what qualities, experiences and attributes the prospective adopter can draw on and their level of understanding of the discrimination and racism that the child may be confronted with when growing up. For placement of children abroad, see Section 11, Adoptive Placements Abroad';
If to the prospective adopters do not share the same racial, cultural or religious background as the child, therefore, the prospective adoptive family should be committed to promoting links with the child's racial, cultural or religious heritage;
The Adoption Team will send the child's social worker information (including the Prospective Adopter's Reports) in relation to possible prospective adopters who may provide a suitable match for the child;
These potential families will be considered at the monthly home-finding meetings and prospective families will be selected as potentially suitable matches (using Form HF5 - contained in the Adoption Pack). Where families are not considered suitable, the social worker should return the relevant Prospective Adopter's Report to the Adoption Team immediately;
The child's social worker will then convene a Matching Meeting (Pro-Forma HF5 available) to consider the child's checklist of needs in relation to the available prospective adoptive families. A manager from the Adoption Team will chair the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to determine which family would best meet the child's needs and who should be visited;
The selected prospective adopters' social worker will arrange visits to them with the child's social worker, to discuss the child's specific needs and to provide them with full information about the child's background history. This will include the Child's Permanence Report, the child's profile, a full description of the birth family including any siblings and the reasons for any decision to place the child separately, the child's medical history (including the birth details), the carer's report on the child, the current school reports and the child's PEP. The exercise of parental responsibility and the legal status of the potential adoptive placement (i.e. whether it will be made with a Placement Order or Parental Consent) will also be discussed. The prospective adopters should be asked to sign confirmation of receipt of this information (Form AD1 is in the Adoption Pack). NB Full access to the child’s Adoption Case Record will be provided to the prospective adopters’ social worker;
Generally, only one family will be visited at this stage, but where more than one family are visited, all the families will be advised of the fact that other families are being considered;
Each family visited will be asked to consider the information and advise their social worker within 10 days whether they wish to proceed;
A further Matching Meeting (Pro Forma available) should be held after the visits to prospective adopters have taken place to confirm a preferred match;
The meeting should consider any outstanding issues considered at the first Matching Meeting and:
1. The preparation of the child, the present carers and the prospective adopters for the proposed placement, including the sharing of information with the prospective adopters;
2. The preparation of the birth family and the information to be given;
3. The allocation of preparatory tasks for the introductory work;
4. The proposed Adoption Support Plan and any proposed contact arrangements;
5. The designated roles and responsibilities for completing the Adoption Placement Report and the Proposed Adoption Support Plan.
Once the Matching Meeting considers a prospective adoptive family suitable, the child's social worker will notify the prospective adopters verbally and in writing;
The child's social worker must arrange for the child's foster carers, and where appropriate the Medical Adviser, to meet the prospective adopters to advise them about the child's needs and daily life;
Where any new information is received relevant to the child's checklist of needs, this must be added to the checklist (Form HF4) and the Matching Meeting must be reconvened;
The child's social worker and the prospective adopters' social worker should then prepare an Adoption Placement Report (Form and Guidance contained in the Adoption Pack) giving details of the families considered, evaluating how each may or may not meet the child's needs and identifying the family considered the most suitable, together with reasons, (by reference to Forms HF 4 and 5);
The child's social worker should also prepare, in conjunction with the prospective adopters' social worker, an Adoption Support Plan (contained in the Adoption Pack), setting out the proposed adoption services to be offered to the child, adoptive family and birth parents, including any proposed financial support, where appropriate. This will include the support to be provided to the prospective adopters to promote the child achieving and enjoying their educational potential and participating in leisure activities both in and out of school; to help the child develop positive relationships; and to manage any challenging behaviour which the child may display, This will include helping the prospective adopters to understand the impact of the child’s previous experiences on the child’s current behaviour. The support plan will also include arrangements for contact including how to prepare and support all those involved in the adoption process with unauthorised or unmediated contact through online social networking sites;
The child's social worker, the prospective adopters' social worker and their respective managers should sign the Adoption Placement Report. A copy should then be sent to the prospective adopters advising them that they have 10 working days in which to send any comments;
The child's social worker should also contact the Adoption Panel Administrator to arrange a date for the Adoption Panel to consider the proposed placement;
Where a prospective family has been visited but is not the preferred family, the child's social worker or adoption link worker as agreed must advise the family verbally and in writing of this decision, together with reasons, as soon as possible;
The child's social worker will keep the parents and child informed of progress.

7. Approval of Matching of Adoptive Parents

The overall time-scale for matching a child with a prospective adoptive family is:

Proposed placement to be recommended by the Adoption Panel within 6 months of the agency's approval that the child is suitable to be placed for adoption, except where the following applies;
Where parents request adoption for a child of less that six months of age, match to be recommended by the Adoption Panel within 3 months of the agency's formal approval of the adoption plan;
Where these timescales are not met, the Adoption Panel should record the reasons.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel:

The child's social worker must present the following reports to the Adoption Panel:
- Child's Permanence Report (updated as necessary);
- The Panel minute recommending that the child is suitable to be placed for adoption;
- BAAF Form F/Prospective Adopter's Report on the identified prospective adopters;
- The Panel minute recommending approval of the prospective adopters;
- The Adoption Placement Report, including information on the prospective adoptive families considered and which family appears to best meet the child's checklist of needs. This should include any preference as to choice of adoptive family expressed by the parents;
- The proposed Adoption Support Plan;
- The proposals regarding post-adoption contact;
- The views of the adopters on the Adoption Placement Report and the proposed contact;
- The views of the Children's guardian, if known.
The child's social worker will send the relevant reports to the Panel Administrator 14 days before the date of the Adoption Panel. The Panel Administrator will require 13 copies of the report;
Unless reports on the adoption plan and the prospective adopters are being presented at the same time, the Panel Administrator will arrange for the Panel minutes in relation to the approvals of the adoption plan and the prospective adopters to be circulated to Panel members, with the reports;
Copies of the reports should be held on the child's Adoption Case Record;
The child's social worker and the social worker linked to the adopters will attend the Adoption Panel during consideration of the matter;
The Panel will consider the written reports and any additional information presented verbally, and make a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker regarding the proposed placement.

The Panel must also consider and may give advice in relation to the provision of adoption support, the arrangements for contact and the exercise by the prospective adopters of Parental Responsibility, and whether and how this should be restricted;
The recommendation and advice will be recorded in writing, together with reasons, in the Panel's minutes. A copy of the relevant minute must be held on the child's and the prospective adopter's Adoption Case Record;
In appropriate cases, the child's social worker will convey the Panel's recommendation orally to the parents within 2 working days. The child will be informed in a timely and age appropriate way;
The prospective adopters' adoption worker will convey the Panel's recommendation orally to the prospective adopters within 2 working days;
After the Adoption Panel

After the Adoption Panel has considered the report and made a written recommendation, this will be sent to the Agency Decision Maker who will make a decision based on the Panel's recommendation within 7 days. The decision will be recorded in writing.

If the Panel has given advice in relation to adoption support, proposed contact and/or the exercise of Parental Responsibility by the parents/prospective adopters, the Agency Decision-Maker may express a view on such advice.

Where the Agency Decision-Maker is minded to disagree with the Panel recommendation, he/she must first discuss the case with another senior manager with the appropriate experience, who should not be a Panel member. This discussion must be recorded and placed on the child's and the prospective adopter's Adoption Case Record;
The child's social worker will convey the decision orally to the child (depending on age and understanding) and the parents within 2 working days;
The prospective adopters' adoption worker will convey the decision orally to the prospective adopters within 2 working days;
The child's social worker will send written notice of the decision, signed by the Agency Decision Maker, to the child (depending on age and understanding) and the parents within 5 working days. This letter should normally be hand delivered. Where this is considered inappropriate, the letter should be sent by recorded delivery post;
The Adoption Panel Administrator will send written notice of the decision, signed by the Agency Decision Maker, to the prospective adopters within 5 working days.

The method of delivery of the letter must be recorded.

8. Planning the Placement

Once the matching has been approved, and the legal position allows it (i.e. parental consent to the adoptive placement has been given or a Placement Order has been made), the child's social worker should make arrangements for the prospective adopters to meet the child. This meeting can take place before a Placement Planning Meeting takes place. It will usually take place in the child's foster home with the social worker and foster carer present;
Where the adopters are approved by Coventry, the prospective adopters' social worker will convene a Placement Planning Meeting to take place as soon as practicable after the matching has been approved and the legal position allows the placement planning to start;
Where the prospective adopters are from a different agency, the child's social worker will convene the meeting;
The Placement Planning Meeting will usually take place in a Social Services office and not the foster home nor the prospective adoptive home;
A manager or senior practitioner from the Adoption Service will chair the meeting;
The child's social worker and prospective adopters' social worker should liaise with the Adoption Panel Administrator to ensure that the Chair is sent the following 7 days before the meeting:
- The Adoption Placement Plan, completed so far as possible by the child's social worker and the prospective adopter's social worker in advance of the meeting;
- The Child's Permanence Report, plus the relevant Panel minute;
- The Prospective Adopter's Report, plus the relevant Panel minute;
- The Adoption Placement Report, plus the relevant Panel minute;
- The proposed Adoption Support Plan;
- Any other relevant reports.
Those attending the Planning Meetings will be the social worker, his/her manager as appropriate, the foster carers, the social worker linked to the child's foster carers, representatives of the health trust (where appropriate), the prospective adopters and their social worker, and any other worker engaged in direct work with the child;
The child's social worker must ascertain the child's views and report these to the meeting;
The purpose of the meeting is to complete the Adoption Placement Plan.

The Adoption Placement Plan should include:
- Whether the placement is under a Placement Order or with parental consent;
- The proposed date of the placement;
- Who will be present when the placement takes place;
- The Adoption Support Plan*;
- Whether and how the exercise of Parental Responsibility by the prospective adopters is to be restricted (for example in relation to the change of the child's name or matters like the child’s health);
- The arrangements for the supervision of the placement (including contact details during office hours and out of hours);
- The date when the life story book and any Later Life letters will be passed to the prospective adopters – in relation to the Life Story Book, this will be done in stages, and in relation to the Later Life Letter, this will usually be within 10 working days of the adoption ceremony, i.e. the ceremony to celebrate the making of the adoption order;
- The date and arrangements for the first review;
- Any post-placement contact between the child and members of his or her birth family and/or the child and the foster carers; and
- Clarification of who will make the necessary notifications of the placement (see Section 9 below, 'The Placement').
  
  *NB The support to be provided to the prospective adopters will include provision in relation to promoting the child’s educational achievements and participation in leisure interests. Support in relation to helping the child to develop positive relationships and to help to understand and to manage challenging behaviour will also be provided.
  
  It will also set out the steps required leading up to the child's placement with the prospective adopters, including the first meeting between the child and the prospective adoptive family, the programme of and detailed arrangements for their introductions (dates, times, venues, transport and accommodation), the reimbursement of any expenses of the introductions, any other financial assistance to enable the placement to occur and, where appropriate, a meeting between the parents and the prospective adopters.
  
  As part of the preparation of the child for the adoptive placement, information will be provided to ensure that s/he has a proper understanding about the accommodation and others living at the prospective adoptive home, the contact arrangements with the birth family and how to contact his or her social worker.
The Adoption Placement Plan will also address when the prospective adopters will be supplied with all relevant written information about the child, the form this will take (for example the inclusion of a 'Later Life letter) and who will provide it;
The Chair will ensure that the draft Adoption Placement Plan drawn up at the meeting is distributed to all those in attendance and to the Independent Reviewing Service;
In the case of a placement with prospective adopters approved by a different adoption agency, Form BAAF H1 will also be completed. This form will set out the agreement between the agencies in relation to the placement.;
The Placement Planning Meetings should ensure that the workers involved are clear about their respective roles and responsibilities in the implementation of the Adoption Placement Plan, and what should happen in the event of difficulties. The workers involved are expected to be in regular and frequent contact with the child, foster carer and prospective adopter during the period of the introductions and share information with each other also on a regular basis, at the frequency identified at the Planning Meeting;
The child's social worker will advise the parents of the plan whilst maintaining the confidentiality of the placement, as appropriate;
Several Placement Planning Meetings during the introductory period may be required. At a minimum there should be a mid-way Placement Planning Meeting to review how the introductions have gone, to confirm that the timing of the placement is appropriate and to finalise arrangements for the placement. Any such meeting will consider the following:
- The progress of the Adoption Placement Plan - has the necessary action identified at the previous meeting been taken, and the Plan been followed - if not, why not;
- The views of each participant as to the above;
- The identification of the positives;
- The identification of any difficulties;
- The development of the next stage of the Plan.
A further Placement Planning Meeting can be called by any of the parties if issues of concern arise. All such Planning Meetings should have the same people invited and take place at a venue accessible to all parties;
Where the child is to be adopted by his or her foster carers, there will be no need for a plan for introductions but the social worker should still convene a Placement Planning Meeting, in order to complete the Adoption Placement

Plan to cover the areas as set out above and to specify the date when the placement is to be regarded as an adoptive placement;
All parties to the Adoption Placement Plan should sign and copies should be distributed to all those present at the Matching Meeting. The prospective adopters must confirm in writing that they wish the placement to proceed and that they agree to the Adoption Placement Plan. (This will usually be done after the first Placement Planning Meeting). A copy must be retained on the child's and prospective adopter's Adoption Case Record;
Where contact is part of the adoption plan, the proposals must be drawn up in a written agreement to be signed by the birth parents and the prospective adoptive parents prior to the placement. The agreement must specify the form and timing of the contact and the arrangements for putting the contact in place. The agreement must also specify that the arrangements may change dependent upon the wishes of the child. All parties must sign and retain a copy of the agreement. The agreement should also include how the prospective adopters should deal with unauthorised or unmediated contact through online social networking sites;
The Adoption Placement Plan cannot be amended without the agreement of the Chair of the Placement Planning Meeting. If the Adoption Placement Plan is amended, the prospective adopters and the child (depending on age and understanding) must be informed;
If the Adoption Placement Plan is terminated, the parents must be informed;
If the Plan is terminated, the manager of the Adoption Service should consider the best way to conduct a disruption meeting - see Chapter on Disruption of Placement;
In this event, the child's social worker must re-start the process of identifying a suitable prospective adoptive family (depending on the outcome of the Disruption Meeting) or review the plan by reconvening a Looked After Review for the child.

9. The Placement

Once the placement of the child has been approved by the Agency Decision Maker, the agency has obtained authority to place the child (either through a Placement Order or parental consent), the plan of introductions of the child to the adoptive family successfully completed, the Adoption Placement Plan drawn up and the prospective adopters have confirmed in writing their agreement to the placement, the placement can go ahead. A social worker must be present when the placement takes place;
Prior to the placement, the child's social worker must ensure that all the following written information about the child has been provided to the adopters, with a copy to the child (depending on the child's age and understanding):
- The Child's Permanence Report (updated in last 6 months) (or Form E if the adoption plan was approved before 30 December 2005) - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- Medical information including birth details (time, place, weight, term, type of delivery, with Forms M and B), Form C (if child under 5) or Form D (if child 5 or older) and any medical reports on the child - - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- Authority to consent to medical and dental treatment;
- The child's 'Red Book' and NHS Card;
- A 'Later in Life' letter from the birth parent;
- A 'Later in Life Letter' from the social worker;
- The child's passport (if applicable);
- Carers' report including the child's daily routine, likes and dislikes, advice on behaviour management and factors indicating distress - - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- Health report (prepared for Adoption Panel) - - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- Current school reports and PEP - - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- Any letters, photographs or mementos from the birth family, and the Life Story Book;
- The child's profile for home-finding - - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- Details of siblings and the reasons for any decisions made to place the child separately - - this will have been provided before the placement is recommended to the Adoption Panel;
- A written plan of the contact arrangements pre and post adoption with the birth parents and any previous carers;
- A Leaflet on Benefits and Tax;
- The Adoption Support Plan, including financial support if applicable and a named post-adoption social worker;
- The Adoption Placement Plan including arrangements for support and visits by the child's social worker and their own social worker;
- Any other relevant information, including specialist reports (subject to the author's and, where necessary, the Court's consent)
  
  The prospective adopters should be asked to sign confirmation of receipt (Form AD1 is in the Adoption Pack). Where the information is provided at different times, the prospective adopters must sign and date confirmation of receipt on each occasion.
Also, in all cases prior to the placement (including where the prospective adopters are the child's former foster carers), the child's social worker must notify the present and new GP, the local social services authority (where the adoptive family live outside Coventry), the relevant Health Trust and, if the child is at nursery or of school age, the relevant local education authority. This notification is still required prior to the adoptive placement where the prospective adopters were previously the child's foster carers;
The Medical Adviser should be requested to send a medical report on the child to the child's new GP and the adopters;
Where the child's foster carers are the prospective adopters, the foster carers' social worker must confirm in writing to the prospective adopters the date from which the placement is to be regarded as an adoptive placement or, where the foster carers are from a different agency, confirmation must be given by a manager from the adoption service;
The child's social worker must inform the parents of the date of the placement unless the parents stated at the time when consent was given that they do not wish to be kept informed. No identifying information about the placement should be conveyed to birth parents or relatives;
The child's social worker should ensure that the computer record system does not show the placement address but identifies that the child is placed for adoption;
The child's social worker will inform the Panel Administrator of the date of the placement as soon as it is made;
The social worker for the prospective adopters will advise the Social Services Finance Section once the placement has been made, so that the payment of the financial supports can commence.

10. Children Approved for Adoption for whom no Placement has been Identified

Each individual child will be the subject of monthly Home-Finding Meetings - see section 8 above, Identification of Adoptive Parents;
The child will also be the subject of regular reviews, chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer. See Adoption Reviews Procedure;
The Adoption Panel Administrator will arrange for a six-monthly report to be presented by the relevant child's social worker to the Adoption Panel on the children who have been approved for adoption but are still awaiting placement, the social worker in each case identifying the length of the delay, the reasons and the steps being taken to address any difficulties, including consideration of a review of the adoption plan and/or a possible change to long-term fostering/ separation of siblings.

NB The child’s details should be passed to the Adoption Register if no locally identified match is being actively pursued at the latest by 3 months after the decision by the Agency Decision Maker that the child should be placed for adoption.;
The Adoption Panel may request an earlier progress report on an individual case where there are particular concerns about delay;
Cases will be also considered by the Permanency Panel where the agency has authority to place a child and the child has not been placed in an adoptive placement at their first six month review (i.e. nine months after the authority to place was obtained). The Permanency Panel will consider:
- The reason why the child has not been placed for adoption;
- What further steps should / could be taken.

The child's plan will be reviewed quarterly through the Permanency Panel until permanency is achieved.

Please see Permanency Planning: Panel Processes and Permanency Panel Arrangements.

11. Adoptive Placements Abroad

Where an adoptive placement outside the UK appears to be a viable option, and consultation with the child (if old enough) supports this, the proposal must be considered at a child's Looked After Review before becoming part of the child's Care Plan.

The child may be considered for an adoptive placement with known prospective adopters in which case it will be for the adoption agency to satisfy itself that the prospective adopters are suitable to adopt the child. Otherwise, the child may be referred to the Department for Education for a suitable linking to be identified, (see below).

In either circumstance, the case must be referred to the Adoption Panel for a formal recommendation that the child should be placed for adoption and that adoption outside the UK is in the best interests of the child.

The Agency Decision Maker must consider the recommendations and make a decision in accordance with the usual procedure.

Where a decision is made to pursue the option, the child's social worker should consult with Legal Services in order to prepare the Placement Order application.

Where no Prospective Adopters have been identified

Where such a decision is made, the child's social worker must notify the Department for Education of the following:

The child's file reference number;
The child's name;
The child's date of birth;
The gender of the child;
The reasons why the decision has been made that adoption outside the UK may be suitable for the child;
The date of the Placement Order (if granted).

The Department for Education maintains a list of children waiting for inter country adoption.

If a decision is made after the child's name is placed on the list that an inter country adoptive placement is no longer appropriate, the child's social worker must inform the Department for Education so that the child's details are removed from the list.

Where the Department for Education receive an application from a foreign country, it will check that the prospective adopters have been assessed as eligible and suitable, and that they meet the age and marital status of the UK law, and if so, consider whether there are children of the age and gender to match the prospective adopters' approval. Where there are children on the list who appear, on the face of it, to match the prospective adopters, the Department for Education will send the relevant papers on the prospective adopters to the local authority looking after the child.

Upon receipt of the papers, the child's social worker in conjunction with the Adoption Team will consider whether the prospective adopters would meet the child's needs. Where necessary, the child's social worker will request additional information from the overseas authority via the Department for Education.

Where it is decided that the prospective adopters are not suitable, the Department for Education should be notified and the papers returned.

Where it is decided that the prospective adopters are suitable, the Department for Education should be notified and the proposed placement referred to the Adoption Panel for consideration in accordance with the usual procedure. Included in the papers to be presented to the Adoption Panel must be the report on the prospective adopters by the foreign authority.

The child's social worker must notify the Department for Education of the decision made.

Where the decision is to proceed with the placement, the child's social worker must send the Child's Permanence Report, together with the Placement Order and a recent photograph of the child, to the Department for Education for onward transmission to the overseas authority and the prospective adopters.

Where the prospective adopters decide to go ahead with the placement, they will be required to travel to meet the child.

The placement planning procedures will then apply as for any other potential placement - see sections 7, 8 and 9 above.

Placement Planning Meetings should be convened in accordance with the usual placement procedures to plan the prospective adopters' first meeting with the child, introductions and where the placement goes ahead, regular reports should be required from the relevant overseas authority after the placement.

If the prospective adopters still wish to go ahead and the Placement Planning Meeting confirms that the placement meets the child's needs, the child's social worker must inform the Department for Education, who will contact the overseas authority to confirm that they are content for the placement to go ahead and that the child will be permitted to enter and reside permanently. In these circumstances, the Department for Education will enter the necessary agreement with the overseas authority.

The child's social worker can then arrange for the placement to go ahead.

The prospective adopters will need to seek independent legal advice about the need to apply for a Convention Adoption Order in the UK (which will require the child to be with the adopters for at least 6 months) or a Section 84 Order from the High Court granting them parental responsibility to take the child outside the UK for the purposes of adoption (which will require the child to be with the adopters for at least 10 weeks).

In either case, the Court will request a report from the adoption agency. See Chapter on Court Reports in Adoption/Special Guardianship for a full list of the required contents of the report.

The prospective adopters will need to arrange for the foreign authority to monitor the placement as required by the Adoption Placement Plan.

Where Prospective Adopters have been identified

It will be for the adoption agency to satisfy itself that the prospective adopters are suitable to adopt the child. The assessment should usually be carried out in the prospective adopters' country and then sent to the adoption agency in the same way as for any other prospective adopter.

The matching and placement planning procedures will then apply as for any other potential placement - see sections 7, 8 and 9 above.

The prospective adopters will need to seek independent legal advice about the need to apply for a Section 84 Order from the High Court granting them parental responsibility to take the child outside the UK for the purposes of adoption (which will require the child to be with the adopters for at least 10 weeks).

When such an application has been made, the Court will request a report from the adoption agency. See Chapter on Court Reports in Adoption/Special Guardianship for a full list of the required contents of the report.

The child's social worker will need to arrange for the foreign authority to monitor the placement as required by the Adoption Placement Plan.

End