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YOU CAN CHANGE A CHILD’S FUTURE. By giving a child a secure and loving home for life, you will make a real difference. There’ll be challenging times, but plenty of rewarding times too.
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Adoption is a life long commitment to a child
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DON’T RULE YOURSELF OUT! Adopters come from all walks of life and 94% of people who apply are approved to adopt. Only those who have committed violent offences or crimes against children cannot adopt.
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There is no set upper age limit.
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Yes, you can, whether you are single or in a stable partnership.
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There are no special qualifications! You will need patience, energy and a sense of humour – children are demanding! You will also need determination: to be patient while finding the right placement, and to support and help a young person’s needs. A good network of family and friends will be needed emotionally and practically.
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In our area, there are very few babies who need to be adopted. We need adopters who are willing to take on children (especially boys!) over the age of 5, sibling groups of two or more children and children with mental or physical disabilities.
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After you adopt, you take over the financial responsibility for the child’s upkeep, but like other parents, you will be entitled to receive Child Benefit, Family Tax Credit and other benefits.
You can get expenses during the introductory period if long distances are involved for travel and/or accommodation.
For some children, Adoption Allowances are also available which can be paid to meet a number of costs, e.g. payment for ongoing contact visits to birth families; payments for counselling or education which is agreed with the adoption agency concerned; immediate basic equipment may also be included.
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The length of time can vary. Government standards dictate that the process should take no longer than 8 months after your first approach. In special circumstances, there may be exceptional reasons why the period is extended which will be mutually agreed with your adoption agency.
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You and your partner need to be very sure before you proceed. If either of you have doubts, never feel you must go ahead, talks things over with your social worker, don’t go for the first child offered!
If you have been approved for a ‘hard-to-place; child or children, i.e. older youngsters, those in a sibling group or with disabilities, you probably won’t have long to wait! SWAC and other Consortia around the UK have been set up to make the process quicker.
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This depends upon you and the child’s legal situation. It it’s been resolved, you can proceed when you both feel ready to make the placement legally secure. The Adoption Order, granted by the Court, then severs all legal ties with the child’s birth family and they become a full member of your family including taking your surname.
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It depends. It may well be important for them to occasionally see some of their birth relatives or to maintain ‘letterbox’ contact (i.e. letters, photos etc). This will be discussed fully with you before you are approved.
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It is very important that you have written information as is available to your Local Authority about a child’s past. In order to help a child in the future, you will be given details about their background, medical and educational history and how long they have been in care.
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As well as the possibility of financial help, practical care and advice is available from your adoption agency. Within the South West Adoption Consortium area, there are several post adoption groups, details of which are available from your social worker.
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The first important step is to contact an adoption agency near you by going to the South West Adoption Agencies Directory This will give you links to the sites of adoption agencies in your area with contact addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresss for you to use.
A social worker will the visit you at home and begin your preparation and assessment as adoptive parents. During this time you will be able to meet other adoptive parents and attend discussion groups giving you all the information you require.
Once the assessment has been successfully completed, a report goes to the agency’s adoption panel, made up of social workers, other professionals and independent people (often adopted or adopters themselves), who will decide whether or not to approve your application to adopt.
If after a year you are still awaiting a placement, your details will also be referred to the National Adoption Register to widen the search, but only with your permission.
If you are approved, you and your social worker can start looking for a suitable match. If locally there are no possible children, then your details will immediately be referred to the South West Adoption Consortium. This happens as a matter of course six months after approval if you haven’t been linked with a child locally.
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