4.1.4 Placement for Adoption

When an adoption plan is being considered in relation to a Looked After Child either as the preferred Care Plan or the Parallel Plan, consideration should be given to inviting a representative of the Adoption Service to the relevant meeting. It is important that all other alternatives for the child’s future have been explored. This could include placement with the child’s extended family or the making of a Residence Order or a Special Guardianship Order.

The term parallel planning refers to the possibility of agreeing an adoption plan whilst simultaneously exploring a fostering plan, rather than exploring these options one after the other. There are compelling pragmatic reasons for adopting dual planning in appropriate cases. In the first place it may shorten the period during which the child has to remain in limbo, a very important consideration particularly if the child is older or has already been in the care system too long.

The term can refer to a child who remains with their parents or is placed with temporary foster carers while a rehabilitation plan is implemented. At the same time an alternative plan for permanence is developed, which would usually involve a different set of carers, to ensure that it is available as soon as it is clear that rehabilitation is not going to be achieved.

Parallel planning can also refer to seeking adoptive and foster parents at the same time. In this case the adoption panel will recommend that the child should be placed for adoption while, at the same time, acknowledging  that the fostering plan may be pursued.

As soon as adoption becomes the permanence plan for the child (decided at a statutory review) the child's social worker must request an adoption pack. The adoption pack will include:

• Referral form and a request for a health assessment;
• Adoption memorandum – information for birth parents and a leaflet on independent support;
• Consent form for health information;
• Child’s permanence report (See BAAF Form CPR: Part A: Child's Permanence Report);
• Guidance notes on the adoption procedure;
• BAAF medical forms PH and M/B.

The social worker must contact the panel administrator via email using SSD Adoption Panel Admin for a date to be arranged for presentation of the case to the adoption panel and to request that the child's medical be arranged. Adoption regulations require that a child has a pre-adoption health report which will be arranged by adoption administration. Six weeks notice is required. The social worker must provide the following information at least six weeks before the panel date:

• The completed referral form;
• Recent medical report (if any);
• Growth charts and record of immunisations (if available);
• Brief social history, including child’s experience, list of placements, nurseries attended etc;
• BAAF form PH (medical information on birth parents);
• BAAF form M/B (neonatal reports if available).

The adoption section will carry out the following:

• The adoption panel date will be confirmed by email and if this is not received the panel date is not confirmed.

• Continue to provide counselling for the child - see Section 3, Preparation of Child for Adoption.

The child's social worker should give both birth parents the adoption memorandum and ask them to sign confirmation of receipt, a copy of which should be kept on the child's Adoption Case Record and a further copy should be handed to the parents.

The child's social worker must ensure that the adoption plan addresses the issue of post-placement and post-adoption contact.  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-Placement 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 Procedure). All sections of the report must be completed in full and the report must be read and its content agreed by the social worker's team manager who must sign off their agreement. When completing the CPR some parts, such as family details or planning for the children may be replicated: however, the child’s own information (including Chronology) must be individualised. The CPR must be as comprehensive as possible as it has multi purpose usage eg. It is used for matching purposes, it is the basis of initial information provided to prospective adopters, it can be used as the basis for an Annex A adoption record and it is likely to be the first information the child will read about him or herself when older.

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;
• 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 (where possible);
• A social history/chronology of each birth parent;
• The views of the birth family and significant others in relation to the adoption plan and contact. It would be ideal if birth parent consent can be obtained to the sharing of information with the child in the future e.g. When they seek information about their birth history at a later date;
• 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;
• An assessment of the child's emotional and behavioural development, including their wishes and feelings about the plan of adoption where appropriate;
• 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. This must be a balanced view and where experts' assessments are available, their contents and recommendations - even if not supportive of the adoption plan - should be included;
• Where the child has siblings, whether the decision is to place siblings separately or together and the rationale for the decision.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel

This must take place within six weeks of the completion of the CPR.

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. The CPR (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);
2. The child's health report and the health information obtained in relation to the parents (where the Medical Adviser so advises);
3. Legal advice about parental consent and the option of seeking a Placement Order;
4. Where experts' assessments are available (including where they have been filed in Court proceedings), their contents and recommendations - even if not supportive of the adoption plan - should be presented to the Panel. This will usually be in summary form within the CPR but in appropriate cases the full report/s should be presented.

The child's social worker will send the relevant reports to the Panel Administrator at least 15 working days before the relevant date of the Adoption 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 8, 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 seven working days. The decision will be recorded in writing, with reasons. In urgent cases, for example where the Court timetable requires it, this timescale should be reduced to five working days.

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 two working days. 

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's social worker will ensure that Life Story Work with the child continues with the aim as far as possible that:

• 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 if appropriate, 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. 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.

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.

The counselling and support will cover the following areas:

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 Residence 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 the adoption, 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. Additionally, parents should be encouraged to consider what information, mementoes and photographs they might wish to leave with the agency to be passed on to the child in the future.

Where the parents wish to conceal from members of their family the fact of the child’s existence, the courts, generally have been reluctant to override a parent’s determination for the extended family not to be informed but as with fathers without parental responsibility, agencies should avoid giving parents any understanding that the birth or the proposed adoption will be kept secret. Each case will have to be considered on its own facts.

Counselling Fathers Without Parental Responsibility

The adoption agency, or the courts, has the discretion whether to contact a father without parental responsibility where the mother does not want to disclose his identity.  In exercising this discretion, an adoption agency should consider the nature of the child’s relationship with the father and the nature and extent of the father’s relationship with the child’s mother and any siblings of the child. It must also consider whether it would be contrary to Article 8 of the European Convention for Human Rights to prevent disclosure of the birth of a child to the child’s father. Article 8 guarantees respect for private and family life.

It is important that the agency make it clear to the mother that disclosure is a matter for the agency’s or court’s discretion and therefore the agency must be careful not to give any undertakings as to whether or not the father will need to be notified of adoption proceedings.

If the father’s identity cannot be established, the agency should seek legal advice.  One option would be to seek a direction from the court on whether it is lawful to place the child for adoption without consulting the father.  Another option, available only to local authorities, is to apply for a placement order where the local authority considers that the requirements for Section 31 of the 1989 Act are met.

Where the mother gives consent to placement for adoption, or advance consent to adoption, and subsequently marries the child’s father, the father would require parental responsibility and thus become a parent within the meaning of the 1989 Act.

Relinquishment for Adoption of Children Aged Less Than Six Weeks

Where a pregnant woman approaches the agency and indicates that her intention is to relinquish the child for adoption, the agency should provide her with pre-birth counselling. This counselling should include explaining the options for the child’s future care:

• Staying with the parent or parents, with close support where possible. Where the baby and mother are accommodated with foster carers, trained to care for the baby and support the mother, the intention is to help the mother overcome her anxiety and develop her parenting skills and confidence so that she is able to care for the child;
• Short term foster care, with the aim of returning the child with support; 
• Long term placement within the child’s wider family;
• Placement for adoption.

The mother should be given an explanation of the procedures for both placing her child for adoption and the adoption, and the legal implications of adoption. This must include that her consent to her child’s adoption will not be effective until six weeks after the child’s birth. The agency should ascertain and record her wishes and feelings.

The agency should also provide pre-birth counselling and ascertain the wishes and feelings of the expected child’s father. Where the agency knows the father’s identity and is satisfied it is appropriate to do so, the agency should also counsel him and any other person the agency considers relevant to the child, and it should ascertain their wishes and feelings. AAR 14 should be followed, where it is reasonably practicable for the agency to do so.

The agency should consider the care options for the child, and where it considers that adoption is the preferred option it should:

• Commence the child’s permanence report and health report;
• Arrange for the agency medical advisor and adoption panel to be ready to consider the case as soon as possible after the child is born.  In some cases it may be feasible with enough preparation for the adoption panel to be ready to consider the case within a day or so of the birth and the agency decision maker to make a decision the same day.

Post-placement and post-adoption contact may take the following forms:

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 child's social worker and the family finder will address the following issues:

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 (usually the social worker with support from the foster carer) 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 (and parental consent to advertising, if applicable);
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 7.11;
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;
   
   The child's social worker, current foster carer and the family finder 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;
   
   Where the profile indicates the child should not be placed locally, there should also be a written risk assessment to support this conclusion.

Where foster carers express an interest in adopting a child they are looking after, and there is an adoption plan for the child they should write to express their interest in being considered as prospective adoptive parents, in line with Assessment and Approval of Prospective Adopters Procedure. The adoption officer or 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 line manager and the foster carers' supervising social worker (with his or her line manager where appropriate). The chair of the meeting will be the Adoption Team Manager or his/her nominee. 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 Adoptive Parents Procedure).

If they are approved as adopters, the requirements set out in Section 8, Approval of Matching of Adoptive Parents as to the approval of the matching and in Section 10, 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 Register and other inter agency placements (for example through publicity in the specialist or wider press) according to the identified needs of the child. If legal proceedings are ongoing and the child is subject to an interim care order, referral to the adoption register can be made provided the necessary consents and the court’s agreement have been obtained.

Where recruitment of adopters from another agency has been authorised, the social worker in conjunction with the family finder 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;
• Draw up a suitable profile.

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 link worker should be taken. The family should be asked to inform their link worker of their approach to the city and that the family finder will contact the link worker
6. The family finder should then contact the family's link worker and share information about the child and the family.  Where it is considered that the match is not appropriate, the family's link 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 family finder should agree to exchange the Prospective Adopter's Report and the CPR, 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 agency's adoption support.
8. The adoptive family's link worker may wish to visit the family to go through the CPR, and should be asked to indicate as soon as possible whether or not the family wish to proceed.

The procedure outlined in Paragraphs 7.4 to 7.8 above will then be followed and the child's social worker and family finder will visit potential families prior to a Matching Meeting being held.

Once a suitable match has been identified, (whether with in-house approved adopters, inter agency or a foster carer approved as an adopter), the child's social worker, prospective adopters' link worker and the family finder should prepare an Adoption Placement Report and a proposed Adoption Support Plan giving details of the family recommended, evaluating how this family can meet most of the child's needs and setting out the proposed adoption support services to be offered to the child, adoptive family and birth family - see Adoption Support Services.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel

The Social Worker must present the following reports to the Adoption Panel:

1. The child's permanence report updated as necessary including any recommendations made by the panel or agency decision maker at panel for acceptance (where the child is under two years old, the medical report must have been updated or completed within the previous six months);
2. The Prospective Adopter's Report, updated as necessary, on the identified prospective adopters and a recent medical (in the last two years);
3. The adoption placement report. If additional financial expenditure is required to support the proposed placement, this must be agreed by the finance panel prior to the matching panel;
4. The proposed Adoption Support Plan;
5. The proposals regarding post-placement and post-adoption contact;
6. The views of the prospective adopters on the prospective adopter's report and the proposed support and contact arrangements.

After the panel has considered the reports and made a written recommendation, the final set of minutes and reports considered by the panel will be sent to the Agency Decision Maker who will make a decision within seven working days. The perspective adopters will be notified of the decision orally within two working days and in writing within five working days. In urgent cases, for example where the court timetable requires it, this timescale should be reduced accordingly. 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;
• Proposed date of the placement;
• Who will be present when the placement takes place;
• Adoption support plan;
• Whether and how the exercise of parental responsibility by the prospective adopters and/or the birth parents is to be restricted;
• Arrangements for the monitoring and supervision of the placement (including contact details of key support staff during office hours and out of hours);
• Date when the life story book and later life letters will be passed to the prospective adopters, see Life Story Books Guidance;
• 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; 
• Clarification of who will make the necessary notifications of the placement (see Section 10, The Placement).

The Social Worker and Adoption Officer will be responsible for coordinating Placement Planning Meetings. 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 CSDM or the Chair of the meeting and must be notified to the prospective adopters in writing.

At the mid-point of the introductions, a second Placement Planning Meeting will be held, at which the following areas will be addressed:

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. The 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 birth certificate;
5. The child's passport (if applicable);
6. A copy of the Care Order (if applicable), Placement Order (if applicable) and any other Court Orders that exist;
7. A copy of the Parental Consent to the Placement and Advance Consent to Adoption (if applicable);
8. A written plan of the contact arrangements pre and post adoption with the birth parents and any previous carers;
9. The Adoption Support Plan;
10. The Adoption Placement Plan including arrangements for support and visits by the child's social worker and their own social worker;
11. Any other relevant information, including specialist reports (subject to the author's consent).

The prospective adopters should be asked to sign and date confirmation of receipt.