Non Agency Adoption

Where residents of the local authority area request advice by letter, telephone or in person in relation to a non-agency adoption, the matter should be referred to the Contact Centre and be referred to the LAC team as C&F assessment. The case will be allocated to a LAC social worker.

A counselling visit will be arranged by the Looked After Children social worker. The prospective applicants will be offered information and advice on the adoption process and the implications of adoption, including the following:

1. Alternatives to adoption; consideration to be given to other orders – Parental Responsibility Order, Child Arrangement Order, Special Guardianship Order, No Order;
2. Changing the Child's name;
3. The Child's need to know that s/he is adopted and have information about the birth family depending upon their age, understanding and welfare interests;
4. The requirement for the consent of parents with Parental Responsibility to be obtained;
5. The role of CAFCASS;
6. The need to notify the local authority of their intention to apply for an Adoption Order. A template notification letter will be given to the applicants on the counselling visit.

If it is not clear whether the applicants fulfil the criteria of Domicile / Habitual Residence in the UK, the social worker(s) should advise them to obtain independent legal advice.

When it is established that the family concerned wish to pursue adoption and the notification letter has been received, the allocated social worker will manage the case. The allocated worker must fulfil the qualifications and experience criteria set out in the Adoption Panel Procedure, Agency Decision Maker.

Where a foster carer is making a non-agency application to adopt a Looked After child, with the support of the local authority, the case will be allocated as soon as possible.

Applicants for adoption, in the case of non-agency placements, must notify the local authority in writing in the area where they live of their intention to apply for an Adoption Order. The notification should be sent at least three months and not more than two years before the date of the adoption application. NYCC has a template written notification letter for applicants to complete and, as stated above, a copy of this should be left with the applicant during the initial visit. Notification will be acknowledged by the social worker with the family and recorded on the child's case file. If notification is not received within 6 weeks then the case will be closed. Applicants do have the right to submit their application within the two year period, if this should happen the case will be re-opened.

Upon receipt of the notification, the local authority will have a duty to supervise the welfare of the child if the child is within the definition of Privately Fostered - see Section 5, Local Authority Duty to Supervise Child. 

An Adoption Case Record should be opened for the child or each of the children involved.

As soon as practicable after notification is received, the social worker will email the link for the prospective adopter(s) and all adults living in the same household as the applicant to complete the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) and checks for all members of the household aged 18 or over.

Except where the application is by a step parent in which case a medical report is not required, the social worker will check that the applicants(s) and the child have received a medical examination before the adoption application is submitted.

If medical examinations are required, the social worker will provide the applicants with the relevant CoramBAAF medical forms for completion. These should be submitted to the Court with the adoption application and the Court will send copies to the local authority when a Court report is requested. Upon receipt, the completed medical forms should be passed by the social worker to the Medical Adviser for comment. These comments should then be included in the Court report (see Section 6, Court Request for Report).

On completion of the DBS checks by the applicants the social work team will ask the applicants to come into the office with their relevant DBS documentation to be verified. A note that this has been done should be placed on the child's file.

The social worker will ensure consent forms are completed and obtained to enable checks to be carried out with the home local authority (LA), the Probation Provider, other LA agency checks if the applicants have lived under 5 years in the LA, Health checks, GP, Health Visitor or school nurse where appropriate. If children are attending school complete checks with schools where appropriate and current employer.

Other original documentation to be seen:

• Birth certificate, passport verified or other certification of nationality;
• If the applicants are married to each other, date marriage certificate;
• If the applicants have registered a civil partnership, date certificate seen;
• If the applicant is divorced, date divorce certificate seen;
• If the applicant has terminated a civil partnership, date dissolution order seen.

Three references to be completed at the earliest opportunity. Please ask for names and addresses of three people who know both applicants well and over a period of time and would be prepared to be interviewed about their parenting/ caring capacity and other issues relevant to this application. One of these referees should be a family member. These are minimum requirements and the applicant(s) should be informed that the agency may require additional references where they believe it is appropriate.

On receipt of a notification in relation to a child who comes within the definition of Privately Fostered, the social worker must supervise the child until an Adoption Order is made in accordance with the Private Fostering Procedure, except that, where the child is already known to the local authority, the requirements under the Private Fostering Regulations as to the initial visit to the placement will not apply.

The aim of the supervision is:

• To ensure the child is well cared for and in receipt of appropriate health and education services;
• To support the prospective adopters and help them focus on the task of integrating the child into their family and of providing the child with full information about his or her background and birth family.

All visits should be recorded, including whether the child was seen and if so, whether the child was seen alone.

The social worker should advise the prospective adopters of the need for them to provide medical reports on themselves and the child to accompany their adoption application (see Section 3, Medical Information). The social worker should also attempt to obtain medical information on the birth parents and a neonatal report on the child if under 5 years old. The social worker should send all available medical information to the Medical Adviser for comment.

The social worker should ask the prospective adopters for the names of two personal referees, whom the social worker should interview.

The child will continue to have the status of a privately fostered child until an Adoption Order is made or until notification is given that the prospective applicants no longer intend to apply to adopt.

Prospective applicants should be asked to clarify their intentions if there is a delay and no adoption application is lodged. If this is not forthcoming, the social worker involved should write to the prospective applicants indicating that unless confirmation is provided of an intention to adopt, it will be assumed that the notification is withdrawn. In any event, after 2 years the notification will lapse.

Where a Court receives an adoption application in relation to a non-agency adoptive placement, the Court will notify the local authority that the application has been issued and request a Rule 14 Annex A report to be completed. The report must be prepared by the allocated social worker and submitted to the Court by the deadline fixed by the court. The Court timescales should be clarified at an early stage and if more time is required, a written request must be submitted to the Court as soon as the need for an extension is identified together with reasons for the extension being sought.

The social worker responsible for the supervision of the child will be responsible for preparing the report, and for this purpose should gather available information on the child and parents - see sections below.

The allocated worker must fulfil the qualifications and experience criteria set out in Adoption Panel Procedure, Reports to Adoption Panel.

For the contents of the report, see Court Reports in Adoption/Special Guardianship Guidance.

Once completed, the social worker should send the Court Report to their manager for approval. Once approved three copies of the report need to be filed with the Court within the required timescale.

The adoptive applicants will have to indicate in their adoption application whether or not there is Parental Consent to the application by both birth parents. If one or both of the birth parents do not consent, it is for the applicants to ask the Court to dispense with the consent of the parent or parents.

Whilst the local authority is expected to make efforts to contact a birth father as a part of their assessment / enquiries, tracing a birth parent whose whereabouts are unknown, or proving to the court s/he cannot be found, is ultimately the responsibility of the applicant(s). However, if any party to the proceedings is concerned that the applicant has not made sufficient efforts to trace a birth parent or a birth parent cannot be located, the court may be requested to give further directions concerning further efforts to be taken by the parties to trace the birth parent.

The social worker preparing the report should attempt to interview both birth parents in relation to the adoption application and ascertain their views. If the parents do not live within a reasonable travelling distance, the social worker may request that a social worker from the local authority for the area where the birth parents now live interview them.

The report should address the significance of the role played so far by the birth parents in the child's life and the implications of an Adoption Order for any future parental role.

The social worker should speak to the child to ascertain his or her wishes and feelings in relation to the adoption and report on these to the Court (subject to their age and level of understanding). Where the child is not aware of the adoption application, the social worker should discuss with the adopters the best way to address this so that the child's views can be obtained.

The discussion with the child should address any confusion on the part of the child in relation to the implications of an Adoption Order for example where the adoptive applicant is a relative.

The report will need to comment on the strength and duration of any new family relationships, particularly in the case of an adoption application by a step parent. Where there is limited evidence of the strength and stability of the relationship, the applicants should be advised to consider deferring the application until there is more evidence of stability.

In addition, alternatives to adoption should be discussed and explored with the applicants, who should be encouraged to consider them.

For example where the main concern is the child's name, the applicants should be advised to seek independent legal advice on how to achieve this without the need for an adoption order.

Other than an application by a step parent, the social worker should consider the likely need of the child and adoptive family for adoption support. See Adoption Support Procedure.

The report should provide a comparative analysis of all of the realistic alternatives to adoption by considering the advantages and disadvantages of each potential realistic option by reference to the child's welfare interests throughout their life, (see Section 1, Initial Contact for some of the potential alternatives). The report should contain a recommendation as to which of the realistic options, if any, in the opinion of the local authority is proportionate and required to meet the child's welfare needs throughout their life. This analysis will be completed by the LAC social worker and is usually contained within section E of the rule 14 Annex A report.

The social worker responsible for preparing the report will be expect to attend the adoption hearing.

Once the adoption proceedings are complete, the social worker should complete the child's Adoption Case Record and arrange for its safe storage in the Adoption Archives.