Adoptionplus - Building Positive Futures

Adoptionplus is aware that a number of children who need adoptive families have had highly traumatising early parenting experiences. A consequence of this is that these children need adoptive parents who can understand and meet their often complex needs. The assessment process at Adoptionplus helps us identify whether people have the skills and abilities to provide this particular style of parenting. It is also a process to help adoptive parents decide whether this area of adoption is for them.

People over the age of 21, who are interested in becoming adoptive parents will be welcomed without prejudice, responded to promptly and given clear information on recruitment, assessment and approval procedures.

People will be treated fairly, openly and with respect throughout the adoption process.

If you are interested in finding out more you can phone us, write to us or email us. On receipt of an initial adoption enquiry we will arrange for you to meet with a senior social worker. The purpose of this first information sharing session is to gather some basic information about you and also to answer any questions you have about adoption. We will also share with you some information about the ages, profiles and needs of children needing adoptive families today.

If this meeting goes well, we will visit you a second time to interview you about your support networks and relationships and to talk a little bit about your history. The tools we use for this are called the Attachment Style Interview and the Reflective Functioning Assessment. They are conversational style interviews that take between 1 and 2 hours per person.

Following this meeting, if you want to proceed you will need to complete an initial application form. We would then take up references and undertake checks with statutory agencies that we are required to by law. We need to try and ensure that people who adopt children are able to provide them with a safe family environment.

At this point if you wish to adopt with Adoptionplus you will need to submit a formal application form.

When all the checks and references are returned to us and are deemed satisfactory we will start our formal assessment. This is likely to be an intense period of time for you and would involve your attendance at training courses, one of which will be over a weekend. We need to use the time to really get to know you. The better we know you, the more able we will be to match you with the right child/children for you; the more able we will be to provide you with the right support, at the right time, and in a way that suits your needs.

During this period, we will also use this time to share information with you that will help you to prepare for becoming adoptive parents. The training will include:-

Additionally, we will also provide a training session for your family and friends. The people who you tell us are your support and who you want included. Their support will be vital to you over the coming years. It is important that everyone really understands about adoption and what they need to do to be helpful and supportive. We believe when people work together, the whole is bigger than the sum of each individual part. But to work together well, people need to be clear about what they need to do.

Once your training and assessment has been completed, the assessment report written by the social worker will be shared with you. At this point you will be asked to add any comments you may have. (The report will then be checked by the agency advisor).

Once your assessment report has been completed and signed you will be asked to attend an adoption panel meeting. The panel is an advisory group of people who have considerable knowledge in the field of adoption. We understand that this part in the process can be anxiety provoking and we plan to do all we can to make it as easy for you as possible. Your social worker will have an information sheet about all the panel members so that you can see who they are and what they do before you meet them.

The panel considers the information provided by your social worker in the assessment report and recommends whether or not you should be approved as adopters. Within 7 days of the panel meeting, the agency decision maker makes the final decision. You will be informed by phone either that day or the next working day. We will also confirm the decision in writing within 5 working days.

The next step is finding the right child or children for your family. There are different ways of finding out about children who need adoptive parents. You will be able to look through Adoption UK’s publication called “Be My Parent” or the online – “Children Who Wait”. Additionally local authorities may contact Adoptionplus directly to see if we have parents who are suitable for particular children.

During this time you are likely to see information about lots of children who need families and your social worker will support you in identifying which of them may be the right match for you. This can be a very emotional time, and your social worker will understand this.

Once a child has been identified and the local authority responsible for the child believes that you might be a good match, you will receive a considerable amount of information about the child and his/her background. Your social worker will again help you to look through this and understand the implications of what is recorded. In addition, Adoptionplus will undertake additional assessments on the child or children to ensure that we have as much information as possible. We believe the best decisions are informed decisions, and as such we believe it is important to understand the child and his/her short term and long term needs prior to any final decision being made. This level of information also helps us identify what post placement support services might be helpful to you and your child/children.

Once you, your Adoptionplus social worker and the child’s social worker believe that the child is a good match with you, then all the assessment papers, both yours and the child’s, go to the local authority adoption panel. This panel considers whether you can meet the needs of the child and whether any additional support is required. The local authority decision maker makes the final decision and you will be informed shortly after this. This is usually no longer than a week after the panel meeting.

Before your child comes to live with you we believe it is helpful to spend some time thinking about and discussing what behaviours the child might bring and how these may impact on you both practically and emotionally. By doing this we can start to think of strategies for managing certain behaviours or situations and identify what support is available to you should you require it.

The detailed information we have obtained regarding you and your child/children will form the basis of a tailor made consultation session to help you prepare to welcome your child into your home in the most positive and sensitive way for you all.

Once the local authority has agreed the match with a child, a placement planning meeting will take place.

This meeting is attended by the many people in the child’s life – their foster carer, social worker, yourselves and your social worker.

Once your child comes to live with you, you will all need a period of time to get to know each other and settle down to family life. These first few weeks are precious and can be overwhelming for the child so is good if at first you keep family and friends away. This can be difficult as understandably they all want to meet the new family member. However spending time alone together so that you really can get to know each other, is the priority at this time.

Once your child has been living with you for a few weeks we will offer you all 12 sessions of Theraplay. This is a play based therapy which promotes nurturing attachment relationships.

If your child is school age we will also offer to provide your child’s school with training and information about trauma, attachment, adoption and learning.

In addition to this your social worker will be available for you to obtain advice and guidance.

Adoptionplus believe that access to good adoption support services are vital to new families. Subsequently we have a team of therapists and consultants who have considerable understanding of the need of adopted children and their families.

As well as understanding about adoption, attachment and trauma issues, our therapists also have additional skills and qualifications. These include:-

Adoptionplus families will have access to these services when their child or children have been placed with them.

These adoption support services are available for the first 3 years following your child coming to live with you.

As well as social work support and therapeutic services, Adoptionplus also offer additional support services for adoptive families. These include:-

It’s all very well offering all of these services, but what if you don’t need them in the first 3 years? What if you need support later on, maybe your child moves school or reaches adolescence? Adoptionplus recognise the importance of flexibility in our services provision.

The courts make the final decision about adoption. Your adoption application can be made after your child or children have been living with you for at least 10 weeks. However, many families wait for a longer period before applying to the court. As with everything else, each family is different and it has to feel like the right time for you.

When the adoption order is granted, your child legally becomes a full member of your family.

Legally, adoption is a way of providing a permanent family to children who can not live with their birth parents. But in reality, adoption is a whole lot more….

Adoption today is less about babies and more likely to be about caring for a child who has been hurt and neglected. These experiences affect the way children view themselves and the people around them. Parenting a child who has been hurt like this, is a different kind of parenting. It requires understanding, compassion, patience and a sense of humour. Adoptive parents who can do this provide a traumatised child their best hope for the future.

Adoptionplus is a voluntary adoption agency that aims to find families for children between the ages of 4 and 10 who have been significantly hurt by their parents.

We believe that central to the success of adoption is understanding the child and appropriately supporting the adoptive parents.

Adoptionplus provide additional assessments of children in order that the agency and the parents are clear about the children’s needs prior to placement. We believe that it is essential that when making important decisions about matching children with parents as much relevant information as possible is obtained. Additionally we use this information when deciding on appropriate support services for the family once the child is placed.

We believe that adoptive parents are central to all of our support services and all of our therapies are based on this belief. We provide families with access to a team of creative therapists who are all trained in attachment and trauma models of therapeutic intervention.

We also employ a consultant clinical psychologist and a consultant paediatric occupational therapist to assist in the provision of our therapeutic services.

Children need all kinds of families and there are very few things, in themselves, which would make it impossible to adopt. However, providing the developmental parenting required to enable a hurt child to make an attachment to you is a lifelong and challenging commitment. Adoptive families need to be flexible and have space and time to take this commitment on. It is preferable if the main carer of the child can take at least a year off work as investing time in the early stages will promote healing.

You need to be over the age of 21 to adopt. There is no upper age limit although adopters need to be active and be able to manage an energetic child.

No. If you are in a relationship, it needs to be stable, committed and enduring but you don’t have to be married. We also welcome enquiries from single adopters and same sex couples.

We ask that you are honest from your initial contact with Adoptionplus and disclose any criminal convictions, cautions, cases pending and allegations. Many offences do not preclude you from adoption, although we need to ensure that children are kept safe and any offences will be thoroughly looked into. Any offences against children will rule out an application.

Children who are placed through Adoptionplus may well have previously been hurt by adults. It is our responsibility to safeguard them against abuse and as a result each adult in the adoptive home will need to have a satisfactory enhanced CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check as well as a range of other checks and references.

You do not necessarily have to be in employment or own your own home. You don’t need to be ‘rich’ but you must be able to provide stability for a child.

Children are likely to be over 4 years old. They may need to be placed with siblings or they may need to be placed on their own. They could be from any ethnic group and are likely to have a range of additional needs as a result of their previous experiences, such as special educational needs, difficulties trusting adults and difficulty understanding and managing their emotions. Children may have had frightening and confusing experiences in their pasts and will need help making relationships and understanding their past. As part of the process we will prepare and support you for many of these challenges.

Children need to be placed with families who can meet their long term needs. Children will have bundles of energy and your health needs to be good enough to be able to cope with this. There are very few medical conditions that in themselves would preclude you from adopting. Your health will be considered as part of the process and you will need a medical report from your GP. Lifestyle issues such as weight and smoking will be taken into account.

If you currently smoke (even if you smoke outside your home), we advise that you consider getting support to give up as this can have an impact on the health of any child placed with you.

You are not expected to contribute to the cost of your assessment. As part of the process you will need a medical report from your GP and they will charge you between £50 and £90 for this.

Some children have quite specific needs and the local authority is required to consider whether providing financial support to the adopters is necessary. Any financial support will be assessed in relation to your income. Financial Support may come in the form of a lump some or a regular payment.

You will be entitled to claim child benefit from the day the child moves in with you. You may also be eligible to child tax and working tax credit, depending on your situation.

Families with or without children already can adopt. There needs to be at least a four year age gap between your youngest child and adopted child. The adopted child needs to be the youngest child in your family.

Due to the backgrounds of the children that we place, they require extra parental attention. The impact of this on your existing children will be considered as part of the process. If you are unsure please call and have a discussion.

Parenting any child is a challenging task but parenting a hurt child requires extra time, patience and resilience. We will be here to provide support in many forms for the whole family. This may be in the form of therapeutic support with our varied range of skilled therapists or it may be through support groups for parents and children. You will also have access to the support and advice of a skilled senior social worker.

If you have any further questions please phone us on 01908 218251 or e mail Enquiries@adoptionplus.co.uk you will be under no obligation.