Adoption
What is the adoption process?
Information gathering and making your decision
We know that many people take a while to make the first steps, and you have probably been thinking about adoption for a while.
While you are considering adoption, it is helpful for you to gather as much information as you can. Our website has a host of valuable information about our services to help you make and informed decision.
The adoption process has 10 stages in total.
1. Initial Enquiry
After you submit your enquiry a member of our team will be in touch within 24 – 48 hours to arrange a suitable date and time for an initial enquiry telephone call to take place.
The purpose of this call is to gather information about your personal and home life, and we will also speak about the reasons that you are looking to adopt.
You can begin your enquiry here.
2. Home Visit
The home visit is an opportunity for us to learn more about you and your circumstances. It also allows you to ask any questions you may have. No questions are too silly!
The enquiry discussion is used to help both yourself and Kibble Adoption consider the next steps.
3. Preparation Group
You will be introduced to our online digital platform to begin your learning journey. You will also be invited to a 3-day preparation class which will give you lots of information to help you make up your mind.
At the prep groups you will meet other prospective adopters as well as meeting people who have already completed their adoption journey. They will be able to answer some of the questions that you may have before you complete your application and officially begin your journey to adoption!
4. Application & Assessment (Tier 1 & 2)
When completing your application, you will also be asked to complete the checks and references which are necessary to complete this process including
- Four to six personal references – people who know you well and can talk honestly and knowledgeably about you. Three of them must not be relatives.
- Employee references if you are employed.
- PVG
- Medical
- A local authority check
- Social media checks
- Former partners and adult children
- School/nursery reference (if you have children of this age)
- Reference from previous work with children or vulnerable adults
- A certificate of conduct from any other countries in which you may have lived. You are responsible for obtaining and paying for this check.
- A health and safety check on your home
- A pet owner’s questionnaire
- We may seek additional references based on information shared with us
Some people may not have the childcare experience that is required in adoption, so you may be asked to volunteer or seek some experience with children.
Throughout stage one you are supported by a social worker who is there to assist you and help you with any questions you may have.
5. Approval Panel
Upon successful completion of stage one and all your checks and references, Kibble Adoption will allocate you an assessing social worker who will be an experienced practitioner to complete the PAR-S. This is the Prospective Adopters Report (Scotland) and includes all the information gathered by your social worker and a detailed assessment of you as a potential adoptive parent including all your checks and references. It is this report that is presented to the Adoption Panel.
During this time your social worker will come and meet you at your home and at the office on a number of occasions to talk in detail about you, your life and your motivation to adopt. This is an honest look at what you want out of adoption, and what it is that you have to offer a child. Your social worker will also give you clear information about adoption and the children that are waiting in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
It is really important to be completely honest. Often, this can mean revisiting things from your past that can be painful or uncomfortable to talk about, but our adoption social workers are experienced and trained, and will take you through the process step by step. If you have any existing children either in your home or living elsewhere, be they adults or children, the assessment will involve them.
Building a trusting relationship with your social worker is key as they will build up a thorough profile of you to ensure we understand your strengths and your weaknesses. Adoption is a lifelong commitment, so we need to make sure that you are right for the role of an adoptive parent.
The Approval Panel
Kibble’s Adoption Panel is an independent body made of people who have experience of adoption including professionals, adopters and adoptees as well as a medical advisor and a legal representative. After reading your PAR-S they will have the opportunity to meet you before making a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) about whether they are going to recommend you as an adoptive parent. This decision takes place within 10 working days of Panel.
6. Linking & Matching
Once you are approved, your worker and you will look at linking and matching you to a child or children. Your allocated social worker will offer you advice and support when considering if a child is right for you.
Kibble Adoption works with every local authority in Scotland as well as England, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure that we can correctly match the needs of children to prospective adopters.
In Scotland the Scottish Adoption Register uses an online platform known as Link Maker to ensure that all children and who are approved for adoption are visible online. This is a secure platform which can only be accessed by those in your adoption agency.
When considering if a child or children is right for your family, several key documents are shared with you to give you more information. Your social worker will help you read through the information and explain any trauma and lived experiences the child/ren has had and help you think about whether you can meet their needs.
Information is exchanged between the child’s social worker and the Kibble social worker including both the child’s form, medical and history of care experience. Your Par-S will also be sent to the child’s social worker before a number of meetings take place. You will have the chance to meet the team around the child including their carers and if appropriate their own family.
The paramount purpose of the matching process is to achieve the right match for every child.
When everyone agrees that you are the right adopter(s) for a child or children, then the proposed match will be presented to the Adoption Panel.
7. Matching Panel
If the match is agreed by all you will attend the child’s local authority panel. This is known as the matching panel and the ADM will require to verify it.
8. Transitions to meet your child
Transitions are an extremely integral part of this process, and they must be carefully planned to ensure the Childs interest is always at the heart of all decisions. At Kibble Adoption, we use the university of East Anglia Moving to adoption model which is based on 6 key principles. You will be introduced to the transitions worker at this stage who will support and guide you along the way. You must work closely with the child’s foster carer during introductions and after a period of time, your child will move into your home. The model is underpinned by a framework for providing therapeutic caregiving in foster care and adoption.
It is important to remember that you are not on your own, you always have your social worker and the extended support team.
9. Bring your child home
The Adoption Order
You can only apply for an adoption order after your child has lived with you for at least 13 weeks. There are several different legal routes that children who are placed for adoption can go through and some of this will depend on what part of the country your child is from. Your Child’s social worker and your own social worker will complete a report for the courts detailing why an adoption order should be granted.
10. Adopt – Your story begins!
Everyone’s adoption journey is different, and it will bring with it challenges, joy, highs and lows. However, always focus on the main goal as there is nothing more special and magical than the day when your adopted child joins his / her forever family.
Dad to 3 children
Start your adoption journey with Kibble today