Step by Step Guide

Express an Interest

Contact us by telephone or complete the on-line referral form registering your interest in adoption. We will send out an Information booklet to you within 5 working days, which will explain more about adoption. If you are still interested return the Questionnaire 'Thinking about adoption?' on receipt of this we will invite you to an information evening within two months of letting us know you want to hear more.

Information Evenings

We hold information evenings once every two months. They are held at Little Harwood Children's Centre and start at 7pm. We have information evenings on the following dates:

• Wednesday 5th August
• Wednesday 7th October
• Wednesday 9th December

The information evening will give you the opportunity to find out more about adoption and to ask questions. Click here for contact details

Initial Home Visits

If you wish to proceed with adoption after attending the information evening, an adoption social worker will visit you at your home.

There is a formal checklist that we must discuss with you and the social worker will help you understand more about adoption and answer any questions you may have.
Once the appropriate discussions have taken place and we have gathered sufficient information, a discussion will take place with the Team Manager about whether we are able to invite you to formally apply to adopt.

Making an Application to Adopt

At this stage, if you decide to go ahead, we will ask you to complete a formal application form and we will invite you onto a four day adoption preparation course. From your formal application to being approved as a prospective adoptive parent, the Adoption Standards say that the process should take no longer than 8 months. As a service we strive to meet this standard, however there are occasions that for good reason, an assessment may take slightly longer.

Adoption Preparation Training

The adoption preparation training is a four day course, which usually takes place one day a week over a period of four weeks. This will give you a lot more information about adoption and the opportunity to meet people who have already adopted and to understand more about the needs of children placed for adoption. It also looks at the challenges of adoption and the commitment needed by an adoptive family.

We run the training courses three times a year. Each course takes place over four days. The dates for the next two courses are as follows:

15th June, 22nd June, 29th June, 6th July and

29th September, 6th October, 13th October, 20th October

Home Study Assessment

You will be allocated an adoption social worker following your attendance at an adoption preparation training course, who will assess your suitability to adopt; the information is then put into a report. The adoption social worker will make visits to your home over a period of time and ask detailed questions about your own family background, your childhood and your present circumstance and discuss the needs of children placed for adoption. You will be asked to make your own contributions to the report. If you have children we will include them in the assessment process, our approach to this will be child-centred and informed by the age and needs of the children. If you are a couple we will want to see you together and individually.

Three personal references will be required, who we will visit (two friends and one family member) and an employers reference will be obtained, if you work with children or vulnerable adults. We will also complete statutory checks plus an enhanced C.R.B (Criminal Records Bureau) and you will be required to have a full medical examination by your own GP. If you have had significant previous relationships we would also need to obtain a reference from your previous partner. If you have adult children we would also need to contact them.

The home study assessment is demanding, but there are good reasons why everything is explored in depth with you. Adoption is for life and we have to be sure that you are suitable to parent through adoption and able to provide a safe and stable home for some of our most vulnerable children.

The report includes a detailed assessment of you as potential adoptive parents, highlighting both strengths and vulnerabilities. When the report is completed you will have the opportunity to see it and discuss it with your social worker, and to add your comments before it is signed and presented to the adoption panel.

At the end of the assessment and prior to the adoption panel you will be visited once by another social worker or adoption team manager after that person has read the assessment, so they can check out with you your experience of the assessment process and ensure that you have read your report and feel it is a true reflection of you.

The Adoption Panel

The home study assessment goes to an Adoption Panel which is independently chaired and made up of social workers, other professionals and independent people. The adoption panel will have read your assessment; your adoption social worker will attend to answer any questions from panel members. You will also be invited and encouraged to attend, although it will not reflect negatively on you if you choose not to do so.
The panel make a recommendation whether or not you should be approved as an adoptive parent. They may give advice about the types, ages and number of children you may be most suitable to adopt.
Within seven working day's of the panel's recommendation the Assistant Director, the 'Agency Decision Maker' will decide whether you can be approved to adopt and will send a formal letter informing you of the decision.
Click here for more information

Matching

Once you have been approved Blackburn with Darwen will consider those children waiting for adoption in the North West (or occasionally further away) whose needs you are able to meet and therefore for whom you may be a good match. The information in your Form F will be used to help the matching process of considering children whose needs you may be able to meet. Your form f will be available to the 22 authorities within the North West (known as Adoption 22).

Placement

Once a child or children have been identified whose needs you are able to meet you will be given their full background information. If you want to proceed, you will meet their social worker, they will be able to tell you a great deal about their personality, history and needs. You will also be given the opportunity to meet with the child's foster carer.

If you all agree that this is a good match this will be considered by the adoption panel of the child's agency. If the match is recommended and then approved by the agency decision maker, a careful plan of introductions will be drawn up. After a gradual introduction, if all goes well, your adoptive child will come to live with you.

Remember, you will not be on your own - we will be able to offer you support and advice after placement and will be responsible for keeping in touch with you and your family until the adoption order is made. The child's social worker will also be visiting during this period. You should talk to your adoption social worker about the support services available in your area. Please click here for more information about post adoption support.

Post Adoption Support

Prior to a child being placed with you, an assessment of support needs will have been undertaken and formally recorded. This is the child's Adoption Support Plan.
Access to Post Adoption Support Services is available to adopters, birth parents and the adopted child.

The Adoption Order

When your adoptive child has successfully settled in with your family and if everyone, including the child's social worker agrees, you will be able to apply to the court for an Adoption Order. Once this order is made, all rights and responsibilities originally held by the birth parent transfers to you.

For further information contact the adoption team.