Placement for Adoption

With effect from July 2014, there is a duty (under s. 22C of the Children Act 1989 (amended by the Children and Families Act 2014)) imposed upon local authorities that where:

• They are considering adoption for a child (this can be at an early stage, and can be before a decision has been made by the Agency Decision Maker that the child should be place for adoption); or
• They are satisfied that the child ought to be placed for adoption, but do not yet have authority to place the child for adoption (either by way of parental consent or by way of Placement Order);
• Then the local authority MUST consider placing the child with:
  • (Firstly) a relative, friend or Connected Person who is also a local authority foster carer; or
  • Where they decide that a placement with such a person is not the most appropriate placement for the child, they must consider placing the child with a local authority foster carer who has been approved as a prospective adopter (a 'dually approved carer').

• Prior to 1 September 2012 the Adoption Agencies regulations 2005 required that, whenever an adoption agency is considering adoption as the permanence plan for the child, the case must be referred to the Adoption Panel for recommendation as to whether the child should be placed for adoption;
• With effect from 1 September 2012, not all cases will be referred to the Adoption Panel;
• Cases where the criteria apply for the local authority to apply for a Placement Order i.e. the child is the subject of a Care Order or the threshold criteria for a Care Order are ratified, or where there is no parent or guardian, will not be referred to the Adoption Panel for a recommendation, but will be referred directly to the Agency Decision Maker for a decision;
• All other cases (i.e. where the parents have given consent and there is no application for a Placement Order) will continue to be referred to the Adoption Panel for a recommendation, which the Agency Decision Maker will take into account in making a decision;
• As soon as adoption is part of the plan for the child, the child's social worker must:
  • Refer the case to the Adoption Team Manager for a date to be arranged for presentation of the case to the Agency Decision Maker or to the Adoption Panel, whichever is appropriate. This date must be a MAXIMUM of 2 months from the date when the adoption plan was ratified at the Child Looked After Review, Where this timescale is not met, the reason should be recorded.
• Continue to provide counselling for the child - see Section 3, Preparation of Child for Adoption;
• Make a referral to the Adoption Service for a family finder to be identified. Adoption social work staff will be identified to undertake family finding.

he child's social worker should give both birth parents information on Adoption and the potential implications for them and ask them to sign confirmation of receipt. The provision of information should be recorded on the Adoption Case Record.

The child's social worker must ensure that the adoption plan addresses the issue of post-placement and post-adoption contact and discuss this with the family finder. 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 - see Section 6, Post-Adoption Contact.

Using all the information obtained in relation to the above, the child's social worker must prepare the Child's Permanence Report. The Child's Permanence Report must be written by a qualified social worker with suitable experience (see Adoption Panel Policy).

The following areas must be included or addressed in the Report:

• Profile of the child, based on a 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;
• The child's wishes in relation to the adoption plan and his or her preferred method of communication;
• A chronology of the child's life since birth;
• 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;
• The views of the Children's Guardian;
• The views of the birth family and significant others in relation to the adoption plan and contact and their opportunity to receive and comment on the report before the report is presented to the Adoption Panel;
• A report of the child's educational history and current needs, including the Personal Education Plan PEP;
• Any other relevant specialist reports on the child. This will include any available expert reports prepared for court proceedings whether they are supportive of the adoption plan or not;
• An assessment of the child's emotional and behavioural development;
• An assessment of the child's needs for post-placement and post-adoption contact, including with siblings, and the child's and birth relatives' needs for adoption support services;
• An analysis of the options for the child's future care and the alternatives to adoption considered;
• Where the child has siblings, whether the decision is to place siblings separately or together and the rationale for the decision.

The child's social worker will receive advice and guidance from their manager/supervisor in compiling/writing the Child's Permanence Report.

A copy of the Report or the relevant sections of the Report should be provided to the parents and the child where appropriate. When shared the parents should be asked to sign the Report to confirm they have seen it and have had the opportunity to provide any written comments they wish to make.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel:

See Section 2.1 for circumstances when the case will be referred to the Adoption Panel or directly to the Agency Decision Maker.

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:

1. A front sheet stating what is being reported, the reports included, the recommendations sought and who will be attending Adoption Panel;
2. 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, together with the parents' written comments (if any);
3. The child's health report and the health information obtained in relation to the parents (where the Medical Adviser so advises);
4. Legal advice about parental consent and the option of seeking a Placement Order;
5. All specialist reports prepared for or on behalf of the court should be requested and obtained by the Social Worker from the Legal Section. A full copy of each such report should be submitted to the Adoption Panel.

The child's social worker will send the completed Child's Permanence Report and accompanying documents to the Panel Administrator by the Panel deadline for Panel papers (at least 5 working days prior to Panel).

The child's social worker together with his or her manager if appropriate will attend the Panel meeting during consideration of the matter.

(N.B. Where the social worker is seeking a recommendation in relation to a proposed placement of the child with particular prospective adopters at the same time, the procedure set out in Section 9, Approval of Matching of Adoption Parents must also be followed).

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 recommends that the child should be placed for adoption, it must consider and may give advice as to future contact arrangements for the child and whether an application for a Placement Order should be made.

After the Adoption Panel

After the Adoption Panel, the Panel Administrator will send the written recommendation and advice, together with the reports considered by the Panel, to the Agency Decision Maker, who will make a decision based on these documents within 7 working days. The decision will be recorded in writing, with reasons.

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

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

The Panel Administrator will write to the parents informing them of the decision and pass the letters to the child's social worker for sending to the parents within 5 working days. The child's social worker will also ensure that the child is informed of the decision in a timely and age-appropriate way.

Referral directly to the Agency Decision Maker:
where cases are to be referred directly to the Agency Decision Maker for a decision, a time should be booked with the Agency Decision Maker for the decision to be made and this should be at a maximum of 2 months from the date when the adoption plan was ratified at the Child's Looked After Review. In order for this decision to be made within the timescale, the ADM should be sent the same reports and information as would be submitted to the Adoption Panel, as set out in Paragraph 2.14, Presentation to the Adoption Panel.

The child's social worker will send the relevant reports to the Agency Adviser at least 7 working days before the relevant date booked with the Agency Decision Maker.

The social worker's Team Manager will be responsible for quality assurance of the reports before they are submitted to the Agency Decision Maker.

The Agency Adviser is also responsible for checking the quality of the reports before they are submitted to ADM.

In making the decision the ADM may discuss the case with the Agency Adviser, legal adviser and medical adviser. However, there is no provision for adjoining the decision to allow time for taking advice.

As set out in the Protocol with CAFCASS, the 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.

• 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 his or her birth family, which is kept safe 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 as soon as adoption is part of the child's Care Plan. 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. An interpreter should be arranged where necessary to ensure that there is effective communication with the child.

The social worker should specifically ensure that the child's wishes in relation to adoption, religious and cultural upbringing and contact with his or her birth family are ascertained.

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.

If either or both of the birth parents refuse to accept or do not receive the written information, this should be recorded, including the reasons, on the child's case file and Adoption Case Record.

1. Explaining the key stages of the adoption process and likely time-scales;
2. Explaining, where appropriate, the procedure for seeking a Placement Order;
3. Explaining the parents' legal rights, including the right of the unmarried father to seek a Parental Responsibility Order or a Child Arrangements Order in relation to the child;
4. Explaining the role of the Adoption Panel;
5. Explaining the role of CAFCASS in witnessing consent or acting as the Children's Guardian;
6. Explaining the way the Adoption Contact Register works and how an adopted adult may seek information about the birth family in the future or register a wish not to be contacted;
7. Explaining how prospective adoptive parents are assessed;
8. 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 these issues should be recorded;
9. Dealing with grief and loss;
10. Where there is Parental Consent to Adoptive Placement, explaining the process for giving their written consent to an adoptive placement or advance consent to the adoption (including the role of CAFCASS), their right to state that they do not wish to be informed of an adoption application, and that they have the right to withdraw their consent to an adoptive placement at any time up to the making of an adoption application, but the restriction of their rights to do so after an adoption application has been made;
11. Ascertaining the parents' views on post-placement and post-adoption contact including whether they would wish to meet the adoptive family and if so, how they might prepare for this;
12. Providing information to the parents on national and local support groups, and other possible sources of help;
13. 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 assessment should determine whether post-placement and post-adoption contact between the child and the parents and/or siblings 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.

1. 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);
2. 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);
3. Direct letter box and/or telephone contact between the adoptive parents and the birth family;
4. 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.

The following people may be named in an Order:

• Any person who (but for the child's adoption) would be related to the child by blood (including half-blood), marriage or civil partnership;
• Any former guardian of the child;
• Any person who had Parental Responsibility for the child immediately before the making of the Adoption Order;
• Any person with whom the child has lived for a period of at least one year (this period need not be continuous, but must be within the last 5 years);
• Any person who had a previous order for contact under Children Act 1989, which Order ceased to have effect upon the agency being authorised to place the child for adoption;
• Any person who had a Child Arrangements Order (previously Residence Order) immediately before the agency was authorised to place the child for adoption;
• The adopters or the child may apply without the leave of the court, whilst any other person, including the child's birth parents and other birth relatives (e.g. grandparents or siblings), would need the court's leave to apply.

In deciding whether to grant leave to apply, the court must consider:

• Any risk there might be of the proposed application disrupting the child's life to such an extent that s/he would be harmed by it (within the meaning of the 1989 Act);
• The applicant's connection with the child; and
• Any representations made to the court by the child and/or the adopter/prospective adopter.

Orders may contain directions about how they are to take effect, or may be made subject to such conditions as the court thinks appropriate.

The circumstances in which a birth parent, relative or other person are most likely to seek the court's leave to apply for an Order for contact after adoption are where an agreement for some form of continuing contact had been made, but was not adhered to.

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

• The match is to be identified, recommended by the Adoption Panel and approved within 121 days of the agency's formal approval that the child is suitable to be placed for adoption, except in the following cases:
• Where a parent requests adoption for a child of less than six months of age, the match is to be identified, recommended by the Adoption Panel and approved within 3 months of the agency's formal approval that the child is suitable to be placed for adoption.

1. The preparation of the child's profile and to identify any other information about the child, which is needed in order to identify a suitable family;
2. To consider who should undertake the preparation of the child, and to determine how the child may be involved in and express views about the process of finding a family;
3. To discuss parental involvement in the placement process;
4. To agree that the social worker will keep Legal Services informed of developments and seek the Court's leave to advertising where Court proceedings are ongoing;
5. To consider whether or not the child's current carer would be appropriate as a prospective permanent placement - if so, see paragraph 7.7;
6. To plan the family finding work, giving consideration to the availability of in-house approved families, the opportunity of an inter-agency placement, and advertising for families in the national, local and ethnic media. To agree time-scales for the family finding work including the holding of progress meetings.

At the meeting those present will start to identify the child's needs in relation to a new family, including ethnicity, culture, religion, language, contact with the birth family and existing networks, education, health, other special needs and location, and the qualities required in the adoptive family, based on the child's identified placement needs.

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 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 the child may be confronted with when growing up, at both an individual and institutional level. A prospective adopter can be matched with a child with whom they do not share the same ethnicity, if they can respect, reflect or actively develop a child's racial identity from the point they are matched and as they develop throughout their childhood. The prospective adopter needs to demonstrate that they fully understand that having a child from a different ethnic group will present a number of challenges, not least that there may be visible differences that can affect a child's self-esteem and increase their possible feelings of difference, for example, the child may have to deal with questions from their peers about why they are 'different' to their family.

With effect from July 2014, by virtue of the Children and Families Act 2014, adoption agencies no longer have to give due consideration to a child's religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background when matching a child and prospective adopters.

When a child has developed a sense of his or her culture or religion, and where he or she has already begun to speak a language other than English, it is important to find prospective adopters who, while not necessarily sharing any of these, are willing and able to help the child develop these important elements of their future identity.

This Adoption Plan should address how the child and parents may be involved in and express views about the process.

The family finder should add the information to the child's case file.

The child's social worker, current foster carer and the adoption social worker will complete the child's profile, identifying the child's needs in relation to a new family, including ethnicity, culture, religion, language, contact with birth family and existing networks, education, health, other special needs and location, and the qualities required in the adoptive family, based on the child's identified placement needs. The profile should identify which needs are essential and which preferred.

(Note: Additionally, if the prospective adopter can meet most of the child's needs, the social worker must not delay placing a child with the prospective adopter because they are single or older than other adopters.)

The family finder will consider whether there are any potentially suitable in-house approved families (including families going through the assessment process) by sharing the child's profile with the Adoption Service and reading copies of any available Prospective Adopter's Reports.

Where foster carers express an interest in adopting a child they are looking after, and there is an adoption plan for the child, they will be ordered to put this request into writing to the Adoption and Foster Service Manager. The family finder will talk to them about the implications of adoption and will convene a Meeting involving the child's social worker, his or her team manager and the foster carers' supervising social worker (with his or her manager where appropriate). If the outcome of the meeting is that the foster carers appear to be able to meet the child's essential needs, the case will be allocated for an assessment of the foster carers as adopters to proceed (see Assessment and Approval of Prospective Adopters Procedure

).

If they are approved as adopters, the requirements set out in Section 9, Approval of Matching of Adoptive Parents as to the approval of the matching and in Section 11, The Placement as to the provision of information and notification of the placement must be followed.

If the outcome of the meeting is that the foster carers are not able to meet the child's essential needs, the recruitment of adopters as set out in the preceding and following paragraphs of this chapter will apply. The foster carers' supervising worker will provide support and counselling to the foster carers as appropriate.

Inter Agency Placements

The Adoption Team Manager will ensure that consideration is given to all options for placement which will include referrals to the Regional Consortium, Adoption in Merseyside (AiM) and Inter Agency Placements according to the identified needs of the child.

Where recruitment of adopters from another agency has been authorised, the adoption social worker will undertake the following:

• Check that either the parents (for an Accommodated child) and/or the child's social worker's manager have signed the Consent to Publicity Form and/or the Court's leave has been granted where Court proceedings are ongoing;
• Arrange for professional photographs to be taken of the child for publicity purposes;
• Agree with the child's social worker which publications are to be used for publicity purposes, and draw up suitable profiles;
• Arrange for a DVD to be made.

Responses from families not yet approved should be dealt with as follows:

1. Take details of the family;
2. Give limited, anonymised information about the child, in order to help the caller decide whether this is a situation they wish to pursue;
3. Give general information about the adoption and family finding process, bearing in mind that the caller has not gone through the assessment and preparation process;
4. Arrange a more appropriate time to hold or continue the discussion, as appropriate;
5. If, on the basis of the discussions held, it is not considered appropriate, having regard to the needs of the child, to pursue the response, the caller should be advised of the decision, with reasons, and provided with contact details of other agencies which may be of help to them.

Responses from already approved families should be dealt with as follows:

1. Take details of the family;
2. Give limited, anonymised information about the child, in order to help the caller decide whether this is a situation they wish to pursue;
3. Give general information about how the family finding is being conducted, bearing in mind that the family's own agency may approach this in a different way;
4. If, on the basis of the discussions held, it is not considered appropriate, having regard to the needs of the child, to pursue the response, the caller should be advised of the decision, with reasons;
5. If the family is considered suitable, their details and the names of their agency and adoption social worker should be taken. The family should be asked to inform their adoption social worker of their approach to the borough and that the family finder will contact the adoption social worker;
6. The family finder should then contact the family's adoption social worker and share information about the child and the family. Where it is considered that the match is not appropriate, the family's adoption social worker should be asked to discuss this with the family and the family finder need take no further action;
7. If it is considered that the link should be pursued, the adoptive family's link worker and the adoption social worker should agree to exchange the Prospective Adopter's Report and the Child's Permanence Report, with a follow up discussion after they have been read;
   
   The family finder should also forward to the adoptive family's link worker information about the borough's adoption support;
8. The adoptive family's link worker may wish to visit the family to go through the Child's Permanence Report, and should be asked to indicate as soon as possible whether or not the family wish to proceed.

The family finder will convene the matching meeting, The purpose of the matching meeting is to consider:

• All the relevant information concerning the child, including educational and health needs;
• All the prospective adopters information and how they can meet the child's needs;
• The proposed Adoption Support Plan and any proposed contact arrangements;
• The designated roles and responsibility for completing the Adoption Placement Report, and draft Adoption Placement Plan;
• The allocation of preparatory tasks for introductory work;
• The preparation of the birth family and the information to be given.

The meeting will be chaired by the Adoption Team Manager and attendees will include the child's social worker, the adopters social worker, the foster care and the foster carers social worker.

The minutes of the meeting will be included in the documentation for matching panel.

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

• The match is to be recommended by the Adoption Panel within 121 days of the agency's formal approval that the child should be placed for adoption, except in the following cases:
• Where a parent requests adoption for a child of less than six months of age, the match is to be recommended by the Adoption Panel within 3 months of the agency's formal approval that the child should be placed for adoption;
• Where the timescales are not met, the Adoption Panel must record the reasons.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel:

The child's social worker and the adoption social worker for the adopters (and the adoption social worker if an inter-agency placement) must present the following reports to the Adoption Panel:

1. A list stating what is being reported, the reports included, recommendations sought and who will be attending Adoption Panel;
2. The panel minutes recommending that the child should be placed for adoption or Agency Decision that the child should be placed for adoption;
3. The Child's Permanence Report which has been updated no longer than 6 weeks prior to panel (with an update medical report no more than 6 months old);
4. The Prospective Adopter's Report, updated as necessary, on the identified prospective adopters and a recent medical (in the last 2 years);
5. The panel minutes recommending the prospective adopter are suitable to adopt;
6. The Adoption Placement Report;
7. The proposed Adoption Support Plan;
8. Draft Adoption Placement Plan;
9. The proposals regarding post-placement and post-adoption contact;
10. The views of the prospective adopters on the Prospective Adopter's Report and the proposed contact arrangements.

After the Panel has considered the reports and made a written recommendation, the minute and reports considered by the Panel will be sent to the Agency Decision Maker who will make a decision based on this information within 7 working days of the Panel meeting. 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 prospective adopters and/or the birth parents, the Agency Decision Maker may express a view on such advice.

The purpose of the first Placement Planning Meeting is to draw up a proposed Adoption Placement Plan.

The Adoption Placement Plan should include:

• Whether the placement is to be made 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 including the support to be provided to the prospective adopters to promote the child's educational achievements and participation in leisure activities; to help the child develop positive relationships; and to manage any challenging behaviour which the child may display;
• Whether and how the exercise of Parental Responsibility by the prospective adopters and/or the birth parents is to be restricted, including the delegation of decision making to the prospective adopters about the child's health needs and under what circumstances consent to medical treatment needs to be obtained;
• The arrangements for the monitoring and supervision of the placement (including contact details of key support staff 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 (usually 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 Adoption 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 11, The Placement).

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.

However, all workers involved must be clear about their respective roles and responsibilities in the implementation of the plan, and what should happen in the event of difficulties. Changes to the Adoption Placement Plan can only be made with the agreement of the child's social worker or the Adoption Team Manager and must be notified to the prospective adopters in writing.

1. The progress of the introductions - has the necessary action identified at the previous meeting been taken, and the plan been followed? - If not, why not?
2. The views of each participant as to the above;
3. The identification of the positives;
4. The identification of any difficulties;
5. The development of the next stage of the plan;
6. The finalisation of the arrangements for the placement.

Prior to the placement, the child's social worker must ensure that all the following information/items have been provided to the prospective adopters:

1. Authority to consent to medical and dental treatment;
2. Parent-held Child Health Record;
3. Any letters, photographs or mementos from the birth family, including a 'Later in Life' letter from the birth parent if possible, and the Life Story Book;
4. The child's passport (if applicable);
5. A written plan of the contact arrangements pre and post adoption with the birth parents and any previous carers;
6. The Adoption Support Plan, including a named post-adoption social worker;
7. The Adoption Placement Plan including arrangements for support and visits by the child's social worker and their own social worker;
8. The child's birth certificate;
9. A copy of the Care Order, if applicable, Placement Order, if applicable and any other court orders that exist;
10. A copy of the Parental Consent to Adoptive Placement, if applicable;
11. Any other relevant information, including specialist reports (subject to the author's consent).

The outcome of any reviews by the Adoption Panel should be notified to the child (if old enough), the birth parents (in appropriate cases) and any other relevant person.