Fostering for Adoption, Concurrent Planning and Temporary Approval of Approved Prospective Adopters as Foster Carers
Related guidance
- The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations - Volume 2: Care Planning, Placement and Case Review
- Fostering For Adoption: Practice Guidance (Coram, CoramBAAF)
- National Early Permanence Practice Standards (Coram Centre for Early Permanence) - the key aim is for 'the standards to be used as a tool to enable local authorities, regional adoption agencies and voluntary adoption agencies to progress and secure consistency and coherence in the early permanence offer to children within their governance and partnership arrangements'
Amendment
In March 2024, this chapter was updated throughout in line with local practice.
This procedure deals with placement of a child with carers who are fully dually approved, i.e. approved both as prospective adopters and as local authority foster carers – or Early Permanence Carers (EPP), i.e. adopters who are temporarily approved as foster carers for a specific child via Regulation 25A of the Care Planning, Placement and Review Regulations 2010 (please see Section 5, Temporary Approval of Approved Prospective Adopters as Foster Carers). Concurrent planning is an established practice for placing children with dually approved carers.
The advantage of this type of placement is that the child will be placed with early permanence carers who, subject to a Placement Order being made, or parental consent being given, are expected to go on to become the child's adoptive family. The child therefore benefits from an early placement with their eventual permanent carers. Delay in finding a permanent family or changes in placement for young children who have already experienced neglect early on in their lives (and sometimes in utero) may have a profoundly damaging effect on their development.
This type of placement has the potential to significantly reduce delay and to minimise changes in placement for the child. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 were amended (in 2013) to allow approved prospective adopters to be given temporary approval as foster carers for a named child.
These placements are initially temporary foster placements. The placement will only become an adoptive placement where the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) has decided that the child should be placed for adoption and either a Placement Order has been made, or formal legal parental consent to the child's adoption is given. The proposed adoptive match must also have been recommended by the Adoption Panel and ratified by the Agency Decision Maker.
It is possible that such a placement may not lead to adoption, for example because the child's plan changes where rehabilitation with the birth family is successful, because suitable family or friends come forward or because the court does not agree to make a Placement Order. This may mean that the child returns home to parental care or is moved to another permanence arrangement.
Local authorities will need to ensure that people who are willing to care for a child under an EPP arrangement are fully aware that the placement may not lead to adoption, and that they have been given appropriate information and training so that they understand their role and legal responsibilities as early permanence carers (temporary foster carers) once the placement has been made.
- Where parents have had one or more child/ren previously placed for adoption or other forms of permanent placement and the evidence strongly suggests that their circumstances have not changed and they pose the same risks as they did to the previous child/ren;
- The local authority does not have a plan to rehabilitate the child as the circumstances of the parents are such as to pose a serious on-going risk;
- Where this is the first child, the circumstances of the parents and the risks to the child are such that there is no plan to return the child to the birth parents or to other family members;
- Where parents have indicated that they may want their child adopted, but have not yet formally consented, such as in a relinquished baby case.
The local authority would not usually consider such a placement where there is a reasonable likelihood that the child will be able to return to his or her birth parents or to family or be successfully placed with a suitable relative or friend.
Concurrent planning is usually used in cases where rehabilitation with the birth family is still being attempted, but it is expected that adoption will become the plan for the child should the rehabilitation not be successful. It involves placing a Looked After Child at an early stage with approved foster carers who are also approved to adopt.
Concurrent planning requires the identification and delivery of a detailed rehabilitation plan while the child is placed with carers who are approved for both fostering and adoption who support that plan. If the rehabilitation plan proves to be unsuccessful, the foster carers can go on to adopt the child once Care Proceedings are completed and the Placement Order is granted.
It involves placing a Looked After child with dually approved carers who, as well as providing temporary care for the child, bring them to regular supervised contact sessions with their parents and other relatives. In addition, the carer may spend time with the parents at both ends of contact sessions to update them on the child's progress. This enables a relationship to develop which is supportive to the parents. The agency provides focussed support via a contact supervisor whose role is to advise the parents to help them to change their lifestyle and improve their parenting skills with the aim of enabling their child to return home to them. If this is the outcome, the child will have maintained contact with their parents and have sustained their attachment because of the regular contact visits. However, given that the foster carers are also approved as adopters, if the parents' rehabilitation plan is not successful, the child may later be placed with the carers for adoption, ensuring a continuity of attachment.
Under section 22C (9A and 9B) of the Children Act 1989 [as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014], where the local authority are considering adoption for a child (see Section 4.2, Considering Adoption for a Child) or are satisfied that the child ought to be placed for adoption but is not yet authorised (either by consent or by Placement Order) to place the child for adoption, the authority MUST consider placing the child with a relative, friend or other Connected Person who is also a local authority foster carer or, where they decide that such a placement is not the most appropriate placement, then they must consider placing the child with a local authority foster carer who has been approved as a prospective adopter i.e. early permanence carer.
In such a situation, the requirements under the section 22 of the Children Act 1989 to ensure that placements allow the child to live near the parents' home, be placed within the local authority area, remain at the same school and to be placed together with sibling(s), do not apply.
The carers may be dually approved by being fully approved adopters and foster carers for any child, or they might be approved prospective adopters who have been temporarily approved as foster carers for a named child under regulation 25A of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 – see Section 5, Temporary Approval of Approved Prospective Adopters as Foster Carers).
Such a placement must be approved by the Nominated Officer who in NYC is the Agency Decision Maker. They must:
- Be satisfied that:
- The placement is the most appropriate placement available for the child and will safeguard and promote his/her welfare; and
- The child's wishes and feelings have been ascertained and given due consideration, and the IRO has been informed; and
- If their whereabouts are known, notify the child's parent(s)/guardian of the proposed placement.
It is expected that the Nominated Officer will be a social worker with a good understanding of care planning, including adoption and fostering. It could be the adoption Agency Decision Maker.
Where a child is placed in an early permanence fostering for adoption placement, the relationship which the child has with the person who is a prospective adopter must be considered by the Court or Adoption Agency alongside other relevant relationships the child has with their relatives or other persons. (See s.9 Children and Social Work Act 2017).
Examples of when a local authority may be considering adoption include:
- Where the local authority is trying to rehabilitate the child with the birth parents, there are no suitable family or friends carers and adoption is the best option for the child if rehabilitation does not succeed;
- Where the local authority has decided at the permanence planning stage that adoption should be the plan for the child. The permanence planning stage is normally by the second statutory review, which is held no later than four months after the child enters care, but can be much earlier. The local authority must be able to demonstrate to the ADM and the court:
- Why the child cannot return home;
- Why the child has not been placed with family or friends;
- Why no other permanence plan is appropriate for the child;
- Why adoption is the right plan for the child.
- In cases where the birth parents have indicated that they are likely to consent to the child being placed for adoption, but have not yet consented;
- An Early Permanence placement can also be made after the ADM has made the decision that the child should be placed for adoption, but does not yet have authority to place the child for adoption;
- Provided that the Local Authority has the lawful authority to accommodate a child i.e. by voluntary accommodation under s.20 Children Act 1989 or pursuant to an interim care order, Early Permanence placements can be put into effect immediately after the child's birth and before a formal plan for adoption has been made if there is a clear likelihood that adoption will be the plan for the child, for example where siblings have been adopted and the birth parent's situation has not positively changed.
Examples of where a local authority will not be considering adoption include:
- The child is likely to return home;
- The Local Authority is are aware that there are family or friends who can care for the child;
- A permanence placement other than adoption is more appropriate for the child.
If, at any point during the planning of an Early Permanence Fostering for Adoption placement or if the child is already in such a placement, there is any change to the circumstances of prospective carers, parents and relatives, a professionals planning meeting and with all professionals involved should take place to consider the new information at the earliest opportunity, so steps can be taken to ensure that the carers can make an informed choice about their position. Similarly, this also allows the local authority to consider their position in light of the change in circumstances.
Where it is intended to place a child in (EPP) placement, the adoption agency must:
- Notify the prospective adopter in writing of the intention to seek to place the child in an Early Permanence placement;
- Explain the intention to seek an Early Permanence placement to the child in an appropriate manner, having regard to the child's age and understanding;
- Explain to the birth parents (which includes fathers without Parental Responsibility) / guardian the legal implications of an Early Permanence Placement;
- Be transparent in any court proceedings concerning the child about the nature of the placement. The permission of the Court to be able to place the child with Early Permanence carers is not specifically required provided an interim care order has been made (where Care Proceedings have been initiated). However, within the proceedings the Court should always be informed at the earliest opportunity that the child is, or is to be, placed with potential adopter(s) on an Early Permanence basis. The placement plan should be included in the social worker's initial S.W.E.T statement and should be raised at any case management hearings. Any Guardian for the child should be informed of the intention to seek / place the child in an E.P.P placement as well as the I.R.O.
On those occasions where the child is voluntarily Accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act, the notification should remind the birth parents of their right to remove the child from the local authority's care and should provide advice on access to legal advice and appropriate advisory bodies.
The parents should be informed that the local authority cannot pre-judge the outcome of Care Proceedings and only the court can authorise placement for adoption if the parents do not consent to their child being placed for adoption by the making of a Placement Order.
Approved prospective adopters can be given temporary approval as foster carers for a specific looked after child under 25A of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. In North Yorkshire Council, such approvals are considered by the Agency Decision Maker after the child has been born. The allocated social workers will need to ensure that the required paperwork including the Prospective Adopters Report; Minutes of Panel recommending approval and Record of Agency Decision approving the adopters as suitable to adopt; Genogram and Early Permanence Matching report are all completed by the allocated workers and submitted to Adoption Administration prior to the Agency Decision.
Before the Agency Decision Maker approves any EP placement, the responsible authority must:
- Assess the suitability of that person to care for the child as a foster carer. This is not however a full fostering assessment as required under the Fostering Regulations. This information may be contained within the Prospective Adopters Report or in a separate assessment prepared for the EP approval;
- Consider whether, in all the circumstances and taking into account the services to be provided by the responsible authority, the proposed arrangements will safeguard and promote the child's welfare and meet the child's needs as set out in the Care Plan.
The temporary approval period expires when:
- The placement is terminated by the local authority;
- The approval as a prospective adopter is terminated;
- The prospective Adopter is approved as a foster carer through the full fostering assessment process;
- The prospective adopter gives notice that they no longer wish to be temporarily approved as a foster parent in relation to the child with effect from 28 days from the date on which the notice is received by the responsible authority; or
- The child is placed for adoption with the prospective adopter in accordance with the Adoption and Children Act 2002 following the making of a placement order and agency approval of the proposed match.
Last Updated: March 27, 2024
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