Adoption
Adoption is a permanent, legal arrangement where a child joins a new family when the court decides it is not possible for them to be raised by their birth parents or within the birth family. Adopters assume parental responsibility for the child who takes the surname of the new parents and becomes a permanent member […]
Top 10 tips for foster carers
Through a series of participation groups, young adopted people exchanged their views and experiences in order to help future adopters and professionals dealing with adopted children and young adults. During initial workshops, they devised a list of top 10 tips they wanted to pass on to adopters to help them make a positive difference to […]
National Adoption Week
The Adoption Passport: A support guide for adopters
Children adopted from care can have ongoing needs, and you and your child may benefit from support. The Adoption Passport gives an overview the support adopters in England may be entitled to. For your child Schools are asked to give all children adopted from care priority access to schools, which means that your child should […]
Creating your adopter profile
Once you have been approved to adopt you start the ‘matching’ process. Many prospective adopters choose to produce an eye catching flyer to send to agencies. You can find contact details for local authorities on our agency finder. This flyer should communicate all the important information about you and the child you are looking for. […]
What you can do while you are waiting for a match
For some adopters matching happens quickly, but others may find they wait longer; it is entirely dependent on the children needing families at the time you are approved, and the range of children you would be considered a good match for. The numbers of children with an adoption placement order granted by the courts does […]
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund: Q&A for local authorities
Applications How does a local authority make an application to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund? Applications can be made via the online portal on the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund website at www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf. The site includes guidance notes as well as completed anonymised examples. I have some questions, who should I contact? Local […]
Blog
Views from various people involved in the adoption process. Subscribe to our Blog feed
Finding adopters for sibling groups
With 61% of children awaiting placement and needing to be placed with their siblings (often just one other brother or sister), finding adopters for this group is key to closing the gap. In October 2013 a guidance note was published to stimulate discussion amongst children’s teams and adoption teams, support those involved in marketing and […]
Finding adopters for older children
76% of children adopted in 2012–2013, were under 4 years of age and it is a recognised challenge to find families who will consider older children. The Adoption Register (now Adoption Match) Annual Report 2012 – 2013 notes that in the past “older children” who were considered hard to place were 6 – 7 years […]