When you first decide to adopt, you begin a journey to discover if it’s the right choice for you and what kind of parent you might be.
On average, the adoption process takes less than eight months with Together for Adoption. However, every application to adopt is treated individually so sometimes it may take longer than this.
Enquiry
You can make an enquiry with us through our website, or by phone. We will gather some basic information from you, such as your name, date of birth, and address.
One of our friendly duty team will then give you a call and take some further information from you. This information will just be an initial conversation about your enquiry, an overview of your personal circumstances, and any health issues, or big life events coming up that we need to be aware of.
We can answer any questions you might have and offer advice around the adoption process. We will also invite you to attend one of our virtual information sessions.
Information session
We run information sessions twice a month – one in an evening and one in an afternoon. These are mainly held virtually but we do have some face-to-face sessions if you would prefer that. After your chat with our team, you will be asked to sign up for one of our sessions via Eventbrite (external link).
This information session will give you an overview of the adoption process, the needs of our children, our expectations of our families, and what you can expect from us as your adoption agency. You will also be able to ask any questions.
Initial visit
If, after making an enquiry and attending our information session, you would still like to begin your adoption journey, we will arrange for one of our team to visit you at home and complete an initial visit. If you are in a couple, both of you will need to be present for this visit.
This is a chance for us to start to get to know you, ask your questions, discuss what adoption means for our children, and ask about your motivation and reasons for considering adoption. We will have brief discussions around your health, lifestyle and life experiences, both as an adult and child. However, please be aware that this is not an assessment. This is a conversation to understand your circumstances a bit more and to be able to offer you appropriate advice.
We will also ask to see around your home.
At the end of the visit, we will talk with you about whether we believe this is a good time to go forward with the adoption process or if there are things we feel you should consider before making your decision. We will write up a report of our visit, which is shared with our team managers and we will then send this to you, with our recommendations about beginning your adoption journey.
If you decide to proceed further, we will ask you to complete a registration of interest to enter stage one which is the formal start of the assessment process.
Stage one
This stage of the adoption assessment is ‘adopter-led’. As an agency, we will be conducting relevant safeguarding and background checks, such as Disclosure and Barring Service checks, medical assessments, financial assessments, pet assessments (if relevant), and seeking references from your personal references, employers, and counsellors (where relevant). There may also be other checks we need to complete, such as SSAFA checks if you have been in the armed forces or reserves, and overseas checks if you have lived abroad for more than 6 months during your adult life.
During this stage, you will be asked to complete a number of pieces of work, including:
- A self-assessment
- A chronology of your life
- Various learning logs
- An eco map of your support network
Your social worker will let you know what is needed and advise you on when these need to be completed.
This is also the stage where you will be expected to attend our preparation to adopt training, which is 4 days over 2 weeks.
You will have around 3 visits with your allocated social worker during this stage and it should take around 61 days, although timescales may be extended depending on circumstances.
Stage two
This part of the assessment process will be very in-depth and led by your social worker as they get to know you. At the beginning of stage two your social worker will give you a plan, which outlines the dates and times of visits, and what will be discussed during the assessment visits. You can usually expect between 8 and 10 assessment sessions with your social worker. If you are in a couple, some of these sessions may be held individually. These will look at various topics, such as your experience of being parented as a child, your relationships (current and previous), your motivation to adopt, your support network and your understanding of the needs of adopted children. These assessment sessions will all contribute to your prospective adopters report (PAR), alongside your references, learning and assessments from stage one.
In stage two, we will also hold a support network meeting with the family and friends who are going to be your support through your journey as adoptive parents. This will be led by your social worker and will be an opportunity for your support network to ask any questions about adoption.
If your social worker has any concerns or feels like more assessment work needs to be completed, they will be open and honest with you about this. Stage two will take around 121 days, however, this may be longer dependent on individual circumstances.
Once your social worker has written your PAR, they will share it with you, prior to attending approval panel and you will have an opportunity to make any comments you wish.
Approval panel
At the end of your assessment, you will be invited to attend an approval panel. This is a formal opportunity for our panel to consider your application to become an adopter and make their recommendation. The panel is independent of the adoption agency and is made up of a range of people who have professional or personal experience of adoption. The panel members will have read your PAR before you attend and your social worker will attend with you
The panel will have questions for your social worker about their work with you during the assessment. They will also ask you some questions about your journey, and your social worker will support you with this.
At the end of the panel, they will make a recommendation, which can be:
- Recommended as suitable to adopt
- Not recommended as suitable to adopt
- Deferred for further information
You will then have to wait for the agency decision maker (ADM) to make their formal recommendation after they have reviewed the panel recommendation and the minutes of the meeting. This takes 10 business days from when the final minutes are received. When this decision is made you will be informed by your social worker and you will be officially approved to adopt.
Matching
Matching is the process where we find families for our children.
During your stage two, your social worker will talk to you about your matching criteria, what you feel you can and cannot manage in terms of children’s backgrounds and needs as well as how you are able to support a child through to adulthood and beyond. Together, you will consider where your strengths lie, and these will be individual for each person adopting.
Based on this information, your social worker will share information with children’s social workers about your strengths and your assessment, and they will be considered alongside the needs of our children. If it is felt that you are a good match for the child and will be able to support them throughout their lives, your social worker will share more information about the child for you to consider.
If you agree that you are the right match for the child, then you will be invited to a number of meetings, such as with the child’s social worker, their foster carer, and the agency medical advisor, so you are able to gather as much information about the child as you need before you make your decision.
Matching panel
When you have met with the child’s social worker and all the relevant professionals in the child’s life, you will be invited to matching panel. This is the panel that considers the match between the child and you as the adopter/s and will give their recommendation in the same way as for your approval. You will be supported by your social worker at the meeting, and the child’s social worker will also attend to advocate for the child.
As with approval panel, you will be given the recommendation on the day, however, there is a short wait for child’s agency decision maker to officially ratify the decision. Once this is received, then transitions stage can begin.
Transitions
The local authorities we work with are following the UEA model of Moving to Adoption as it is best practice for children and supports adoptive families to get off to the best start in their lives together.
This model includes three stages of helping a child move from their foster carers to their adoptive home and help them feel safe throughout the process.
Stage 1 - Getting to know you
This is an opportunity for our adopters to meet with the foster carers and begin to build a relationship with each other. There will also be opportunities during this stage for the adopters to meet up with the foster carers and the child in an informal way. During this stage, the focus is everyone beginning to build relationships and get to know each other in a less intense, more relaxed way.
Stage 2 - Making the move
This is the more formal stage of 'introductions'. This is the time when the adopters will begin to meet the child at the foster carer’s home, observing routines, and slowly taking over the routines so the child becomes more familiar with them. The child will also begin to spend time at the adopter’s home, so they become used to their new home and environment. Stage 2 will culminate in ‘move in day’ where the child officially moves in with their adoptive parent(s).
Stage 3 - Supporting relationships after the move
This stage recognises the importance of the foster carer relationship for the child and allows children to understand that people don’t just leave them when they move to their adoptive home. Stage 3 allows children to continue building their relationships and attachment with their adopters, but also allows them space to experience the grief and loss of their foster carers. Meetings between the adopters, child and foster carers will be arranged during this time.
Applying for an adoption order
Once a child has been living with you for 10 weeks, you are able to apply for an adoption order. This will then be sent to the courts and allocated a judge. Birth parents will be made aware that an application has been applied for. There will then be court proceedings that the adopters will not usually attend, as the judge considers the application for adoption and makes their decision.
Once the adoption order is granted, an adoption certificate will be issued, and the child will legally become the child of the adoptive parents.