FCWelsh

AdoptionInformation GuideAdoption InformationGuide

A Guide for Adopters

AdoptionAn introduction page 03

The children page 03

The process - pre approval page 06

Criteria page 09

The process - post approval page 11

Frequently asked questions page 13

An adopters story page 14

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For more information:North Wales Adoption Service3rd FloorLambpit StreetWrexhamLL11 1AR

Email: adoption@wrexham.gov.ukwww.northwalesadoption.gov.uk

Tel: 0800 085 0774/ 01978 295311

Our logo was designed to represent ADOPTION; derived from

symbols used in the traditional Welsh lovespoon

combining two hearts for ‘LOVE’ and the twist or knot meaning

‘Together Forever’

Contents

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Adopting a child involves becoming a new life-long family for a child, when theirbirth parents are not able, or not safely able, to care for the child.

The process of becoming an adoptive parent involves a period of training and assessment before being considered as an adopter. If approved, the child’s socialworker will identify the needs of a child and then look for a family who can best meet those needs. After a period of introductions and the child moving-in, the adoption order will be granted at court and you will become the child’s legal parent.

The process of approval and waiting for a child can be long, but in North Waleswe have helped many adopters and local children to have a new and happy familylife together. The North Wales Adoption Service is a combined service from localauthority adoption teams in Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwyneddand Ynys Mon. We work together to help find local families for local children inNorth Wales.

The childrenIn North Wales, there are around 40 children adopted every year. The children areusually being “looked after” by the local authorities and living in foster care due toproblems at home. Some parents choose to place their children for adoption atbirth, however this is very rare.

After a period of time, if the home situation has not improved, it will be decidedby the court that the children will not return home and that adoption is the bestoutcome. The process of finding a new ‘forever family’ for the child will begin.Once a family is found, the children will then be prepared for adoption.

The children are usually aged between 0-9 years old. These children can be partof a sibling group with older and younger brothers and sisters. The children mayhave had difficult early life experiences, which may have included abuse or neglect. The impact of these experiences may have affected their health, development and education.

An Introduction

The ChildrenIt is important to give the child information about their birth family (appropriate tothe child’s age). Sharing information about their past can help the child to settle-inwith their new family, begin to accept their situation and move on. In later lifehaving this information may help when they begin to consider their own identityand prepare for adulthood. It is important that, wherever possible, adopters donot change the child's first name especially for children over 1yrs old and over. For most children, it is expected that adoptive parents keep in touch with the birth family, through social services, providing news of the child’s development,usually by sending cards or letters once or twice a year via the confidential letterbox system. The birth family may send a short letter or cards in response. All addresses are kept confidential. This will help adoptive parents to have accessto family medical history and for the child to be aware of birth family news (births, deaths etc) as it occurs.

Some examples of children placed for adoption

Bethany (5), Connor (3) and Nathan (1)

Bethany and her brothers Connor and Nathan have aclose relationship. They are white welsh and have beenliving together in foster care for 6months following concerns of lack of care due to their parent’s alcoholabuse and domestic violence. Bethany is behind herpeers in her education and development. Bethany hasreceived support in managing her feelings and emotions.Connor’s health and development has improved while living in foster care. Nathan is a happy baby meeting hisdevelopmental milestones. They have lived with theircurrent foster carer for 6 months and have a good relationship with their carer’s family.

The children have three older siblings living elsewherewho they will meet face to face once a year. There willbe letterbox contact with birth parents once a year.

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Chantelle (6)Chantelle has lived with a number of different foster carers. Because of thesechanges and her past experiences she has developed strategies to protect herselfand can be very independent and controlling.

Declan (5)Declan is 5 years old and has been looked after by his current foster carers for 6 months following concerns of lack of care. His mother has a learning disability.Declan worries about his mum and has seen her regularly while living in fostercare. There will be direct contact with his birth mother once a year.

Keiran (4)Keiran is 4 years old and the youngest of 6 siblings. Keiran was exposed to sexual material and sexualised activities.

Callum (2)Callum is two years old and has recently undergone a liver transplant. He requires regular medication and hospital appointments.

Harry (16 months)Harry came into care as a result of neglect and poor parenting.

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HOW TO ADOPT - Pre ApprovalExpress an interest

Call, email or go online to contact NWAS�

Receive an information packPlease return the form enclosed with the pack to proceed

�

An information visit takes place at your homeWe will contact you to arrange a suitable date and

time to visit you at home�

Preparation trainingThis is a four day course held at least

six times a year�

Application AcceptedYou will be provided with an application form to complete

�

Police, Health checks and ReferencesYou will be asked to complete some forms and provide ID

�

The Home Study ReportA social worker will visit a number of times to get to

know you and write their report�

Adoption PanelYour social worker will present their report. You can also

attend. The panel will make a recommendationto the head of social services for approval.

The Process

Adoption trainingYour “preparing to adopt” training course iscompulsory and usually 4 full days coveringall aspects of adoption. The course will helpto give you all the information you need, inorder to decide whether adoption is right foryou, and will help to prepare you for the issues that may arise when adopting children. The preparation course forms apart of the assessment process. Issues mayarise during the course which you may wishto discuss further during the home study.

Further trainingTraining is an essential part of the adoptionjourney. There is a range of training available for our prospective and approvedadopters. We are continually developingnew courses and training material to address current issues around adoption andour children.

Background checksAs part of your assessment we conduct checks including:

� Disclosure and Barring Service� Children’s services records

including the Child Protection Register� Education� NSPCC� Probation� And others

You will also be required to have a medicalexamination from your GP to show that youare in good enough health to care for a childinto adulthood.

There is usually a cost to you of approx £75per person for the GP’s medical examination.You will be asked to provide a number ofpersonal references. They should preferablylive locally and should have known you forover five years. The referees will be asked to

complete a form and will be interviewedabout their opinion on your ability to carefor a child.

The Home Study Report / Assessment (Prospective Adopters Report)The purpose of the assessment is to find outabout you and your family, so that togetherwe can decide if adoption is right for you.The assessment involves backgroundchecks, visiting referees & family members. A social worker will visit you at home a number of times to get to know you, discussall aspects of adoption and write a homestudy report. This may feel like a very intrusive process, but by the end of this wewill have a very clear picture of you andyour ability to adopt a child into your family.This will help us to assess your suitability tomeet the specific needs of particular childrenwho need a “forever” family.

The Home Study Report/Assessment will include -

� Views of other children of the house hold or living elsewhere.

� Previous relationships. Previous significant partners will be contacted.

� Your cultural, religious and ethnic identity will be discussed and considered in the matching process.

� Your house and local area will also be assessed for safety, facilities and access to local schools.

� Your family background and life experiences will be discussed in detail.

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The Process

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The Home Study Report / Assessment (Prospective Adopters Report)Continued:� We will look at the nature and stability

of current relationships and your family lifestyle.

� The family income and outgoings will be discussed, to help you assess the costs involved in child care. Any loans and debts may also be discussed. This process may also identify eligibility for financial support.

� Your career history will form part of the assessment as it will tell us about your skills, experience and career gaps/changes.

� The person carrying out your assessment will hold individual discussions with every member of the household to discuss feelings and attitudes towards adoption.

PortfolioA portfolio is a collection of evidence thatyou may be asked to collect. This will showyour skills, experience and your ability tocare for children in a safe home environment, work with the adoption team,learn new skills and ask for support bothnow and in the future.

Adoption panelOnce your assessment is complete your social worker will present their report topanel. You will also be invited to attend. If you choose to attend, the panel may askyou questions in connection with your assessment and also about our service toyou. You will have the opportunity to askthem questions.

Panel is made up of approximately 11 people with experience of adoption (adopted adult or adopters) or child careprofessionals, including a medical advisor.After meeting you, the panel will discussyour application and make a recommenda-tion. The chair will then inform you of theirdecision. If you are not able to attend, you will be informed verbally of the panel’srecommendation within 24 hours.

This recommendation will need to be endorsed by the agency’s decision makerand your approval will be sent to you in writing. In the unlikely, but possible, eventof you disagreeing with the panel’s recom-mendation you will have the right to makewritten representations either for furtherconsideration by the agency’s panel, or a review of the recommendation by an inde-pendent panel convened by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Criteria

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AgeYou must be at least 21 years old, but thereis no upper age limit. We need adopters whohave the physical and mental energy to carefor demanding children, and whose lifestylesuggests they will still have that energywhen the child is a teenager, or young adult.

Marital StatusYou can be single, married, civil partners orliving with a partner. You can be of any sexual orientation. As a couple you will needto show that your relationship is stable andhave been living together for 2 years.

Other ChildrenYou can be childless, have children still livingat home or have grown up children whohave left home. It is preferable that theadopted child is at least 2 years youngerthan the youngest child in the family.

HomeYou need a secure home with a spare bedroom. Children over age 5 will need abedroom of their own. Bedrooms shouldonly be shared where young children are ofthe same sex and similar age.

PetsPets must not pose any risk to a child. The North Wales Adoption Service will notapprove adopters who keep any dog listedunder the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991(amended 2014), or where the prospectiveadopters owns any pet listed in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. Currentlegislation refers to 4 types of dog breedwhich are banned: Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa, Fila Braziliero. Descriptions of banned types, related breedissues. Further guidance is available fromwww.gov.uk/control-dog-public/banned-dogs

IdentityYou can be of any ethnicity or religion. You should either be living in the UnitedKingdom or have your main home in the UK,for one year prior to applying for an Adoption Order. You should be accepting of children of any origin, without discrimination.

Criminal RecordYou must be free of any cautions or convictions against children and other of-fences of a violent or sexual nature.

HealthYou must be in good health and willing toundergo a medical examination. The medicalassessment will determine whether anyhealth issues will affect your ability to parenta child into adulthood. We will not discriminate against anyone with disabilities although the nature of the disability will betaken into consideration when matching witha child.

SmokingThere is sufficient evidence to demonstratethat smoking damages both the health ofthe smoker and the people around them,through passive smoking. Young children areparticularly vulnerable. This includes situations where the smoker smokes cigarettes outside the home.

We have a duty to consider the effects ofsmoking on our children and we will notplace pre-school children (aged five orunder) or those with a heart or chest/respiratory complaint such as asthma, with people who smoke. Information & guidance taken from BAAF’s guidance onsmoking, based on medical advice.

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EmploymentYou can be employed, self employed or unemployed. There may be an expectationfor a parent to be at home for nine monthsfollowing placement, particularly when thechild is under age 5. For further guidance please visit -www.gov.uk/adoption-pay-leave

Birth Family ContactYou must be willing to help the child to know about their family history. Nearly alladoptions include some form of contact withthe birth family, usually via the letterbox system. Contact arrangements can vary fromexchanging cards and letters by post, tomeeting face to face. It can be helpful foradoptive parents to meet the birth parentsduring the initial matching process.

Change of CircumstancesIf a pregnancy or any other major lifechange occurs the assessment will be temporarily postponed until the situation can be reassessed.

Fertility TreatmentWe recommend that you wait for at least 6to 12 months after ending fertility treatment(e.g. techniques such as in vitro fertilisation-IVF) before applying to adopt.The recommended 6 to 12 months period isto allow you time to mourn the birth childrenyou are not going to have. You are likely tohave been through a difficult and emotionalexperience and, while you are still dealingwith the feelings caused by unsuccessful fertility treatment, you may not be able togive adoption the careful consideration thatis need.

Criteria

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� Matching with a child� Introductions and Placement� The Adoption Order

Once you are approved, you may have towait some time before you are matched with a child, depending on your specific considerations and the children we havewaiting. When a child is to be placed foradoption, we will then search for a suitablefamily from our list of approved adopters.The North Wales Adoption Service shares information about children and families tohelp find suitable matches within NorthWales. We also refer adopter & childrenafter a 3month period to the Wales AdoptionRegister which aims to identify potentiallinks for children requiring adoptive placements in Wales. Adopters can lookthrough‘Children who Wait’ magazine/website for potential matches from allaround the UK.

MatchingMatching a child to a prospective adoptivefamily is essential to the success of a child’splacement. When a match is identified, yoursocial worker will visit your home with de-tails of a child. You can then discuss if youwish to proceed. You may have to say ‘no’ ifthe children’s needs are more than you feelyou can offer. This can be both an anxiousand very exciting time, and there may bemany twists and turns before you are finallymatched with a child. As a rule we onlyconsider one family at a time. However onsome occasions we may consider more thanone family. Any decisions made about amatch will be based on the best interests ofthe child. You may be disappointed not to bethe family chosen in the end and this mayhappen a number of times before you aresuccessful.

Family BookYou will be asked to prepare a small photoalbum showing your home and family mem-bers to prepare the child for introductions.

IntroductionsWhen a successful match is made, a periodof gradual introductions will then beplanned. Introductions will involve visitingthe child at the foster carer’s home untileveryone is satisfied that the child is readyfor the new placement to begin. The periodof introductions is geared to the needs ofthe individual child.

PlacementThe child must live with you for a minimumof ten weeks before the court can consideran application for an Adoption Order. The child’s social worker will discuss withyou when the time is right to make yourapplication.

The adoption orderOnce the decision has been made that thetime is right for both the child and the familyto proceed with the adoption, the prospective adopters apply to the court foran Adoption Order. The Adoption Ordertransfers full parental responsibility for thechild to the adoptive parents. The child thenusually takes on the family’s surname, is issued with a new birth certificate in theirnew name (it is recommended that thechild’s first name remains unchanged), anadoption certificate and legally becomes afull member of the adoptive family.

Adoption support serviceSocial workers from your adoption agencywill offer you all the help they can duringthe settling-in period and afterwards. As anadoptive parent, you are eligible for supportservices at any time until the child’s 18thBirthday.

Post Approval

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How long does it take?Everyone goes through the adoption process at a different pace. From your firstenquiry and home visit you will be put on awaiting list for the next available NWASpreparing to adopt training which are heldeveryother month.

Following training, returning your applicationform and completing your statutory checks,we aim to take your approval to panel within6 months. This may take longer if there is adelay in allocating you a social worker orcomplex issues within your assessment.

After you are approved, the time to matchyou with a child varies widely. This usuallydepends on your flexibility with the range of children that you could consider. After approval, you will receive regular reviews todiscuss your matching criteria and anychange of circumstances.

Am I too old?There is no upper age limit for adoptive parents. Much will depend on your outlookand ability to meet the identified needs ofthe child into adulthood.

Will I be competing with other potential adoptive parents?Prospective adopters are carefully considered and matched to meet the needsof each child. There may be a variety of reasons why one family may be more appropriate than another for an individualchild.

Frequently Asked

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Should I tell the children that theyare adopted?Yes! Evidence shows that it is better for thechild when their adoptive parents are openand honest about adoption. Not knowing will cause upset and emotional trauma inlater life.

Once the child is placed, am I on my own?No, the adoption team will keep in touchwith you for the first year of placement toprovide you with support. You can ask forsupport at any time up to the child’s 18thbirthday.

Do the children keep in touch withtheir birth families?Adopters are encouraged and expected togive the children age appropriate information about their birth family as theygrow up. Most children keep in touch withone or more birth family members by cardor letter. Face to face contact will bearranged if it is considered in the best interest of the child. It is vital that adopterssupport these arrangements.

Are there any costs involved?When adopting a child the only costs thatmay be incurred are the costs of a medicalcheck from your GP (approx. £75). The cost of a court hearing for an adoptionorder (approx. £180).

You may need to take extended time offwork during the introduction period andafter a child is placed with you. The lengthof time for introductions will vary accordingto the age and needs of the individual child.The introduction process can be very tiring.Adopters are entitled to adoption leave andpaternity leave from their employers. State benefits are paid from the time a child isplaced in the same way as to any other

parent. Depending on your circumstances,you may be eligible for an adoption allowance.

If you wish to adopt a child from another country, significant costs are involved. More information is available onrequest.

Questions

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We had always wanted to adopt a baby or a toddler so we undertook the adoptiontraining and the long process of assessmentwhich took about 6 months. Then we werematched several times but never chosen.

When Paul reached 50 we were giving up,when, out of the blue we were contacted by our Link Worker, who asked us to consider a 9 year old girl who needed anadoptive home.

She has been with us now for nearly two yearsand we are going from strength to strength.She has direct contact with her mum once a year for about an hour and this helps reassure our daughter that her mum is ok.

Paul & Sarah

We had a meeting at our home and then attended a course which gave a better picture of what exactly was involved in the process.

Our social worker came to visit us to talkabout various topics and then we went topanel. We were apprehensive about the possible outcome, but all went well and we were approved. We were approached regarding adopting a little girl, but it wasn’tto be. We found this difficult at first, butthen accepted that we weren’t the bestmatch in her case.

Our social worker contacted us again, withdetails of a little boy. It’s hard to believe thathe’s been now with us for over 12 months.We’re delighted to have a beautiful, good-natured little boy who has settled remarkably well. It’s difficult now remembering what it was like without him.

Stephen & Caryn

An adoptor’s story

P14Welsh