Adoption in Northern Ireland

> Policy and practice
> Adopter recruitment
> Adopter assessment
> Matching and Placing Children
> Newspapers and website listings
> Placing babies
> Placing black and minority ethnic children
> Placing children with disabilities
> Placing sibling groups
> Adoption Support
> Financial Support

Policy and Practice

Several important reviews of adoption policy and practice have been undertaken in the last few years and a selection of these are listed below:

• Adopting The Future – June 2006 – A Consultation Document on Future Legislative Proposals
• The findings of the Performance and Innovation Unit's Review of Adoption, which reviews trends and problems and sets out the reasons for developing new legislation on adoption
  Go to Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.
  
• The Social Care Institute for Excellence Knowledge provides a good introduction and overview of the issues involved in adoption policy and practice. Visit their website for Reviews 2 here.
• A useful document reviewing of issues and good practice written for round 2 of the Beacon Council Scheme in England. Go to http://www.bris.ac.uk/sps/
  

Adopter recruitment

There is a pressing need to recruit more adopters to provide families for the thousands of children waiting to be adopted from care. National campaigns and local advertising are successful in generating interest in adoption and breaking down false perceptions about who is able to adopt and the children waiting for families, although the majority of people expressing initial interest do not go on to adopt. There is also a need to recruit adopters who are able to meet the needs of children with disabilities or behavioural and emotional difficulties, and also to encourage people from black and minority ethnic communities to consider adoption.

• The Adoption Recruitment Toolkit produced by the Department of Health includes practical advice on recruiting and retaining carers, a video and leaflets for prospective adopters and artwork that can be used by local authorities and agencies.

Adopter assessment

Local authorities or adoption agencies are required by law to carry out a full assessment of applicants before approving them as adopters. The information to be collected and required checks, are detailed in the regulations and standards applicable to each country, shown on this page. Link to section above.

BAAF Form F is an assessment tool used by the majority of agencies in the UK with prospective foster carers or adopters. It covers all of the areas that must be considered during the assessment, preparation and training of carers, and also provides a standard way of collecting, analysing and presenting information.

Guidance on the use of BAAF Forms:

• Practice Note 40: Undertaking Competence Assessments Provides an introduction to the competence component of Form F.
• Practice Note 45: Using BAAF Health Assessment Forms Guidance for all adoption and fostering workers which should be read in conjunction with Consent to Medical Treatment for Children.

Further reading:

• Practice Note 30: Children and Smoking. Useful guidance to agencies stressing the need to balance the positive qualities of prospective adopters and foster carers who smoke against the adverse effects of smoking upon children.
• Practice Note 42: Placing Children with Dog-owning Families. Guidance on the question of dogs in foster and adoptive families looking at breeds, characteristics, the dog in the home and introducing the child.
• Practice Note 43: Checking Applicants to Foster or Adopt in Scotland Comprehensive guide to all essential checks including police, local authority, medical reports, references and factual information. Also covers specific issues such as financial security, health and safety, timing of checks and updates.
• Practice Note 44: Assessing Lesbian and Gay Foster Carers and Adopters Addresses questions and challenges that may arise during the assessment process or when panels and agencies are considering the assessment report.

Electronic copies of practice notes are available free of charge to BAAF members in the members' area of the website.

Matching and Placing Children

After adopters have been approved the next step is to find a suitable match (or link) between adopters and children waiting to be adopted. This is a crucial stage of the adoption process and must take into account all of the child's needs and characteristics, and if possible the views of the child and those currently involved in their care. Close attention must be paid to the characteristics and parenting capacity of the potential adoptive parents.

• A useful summary of the key considerations in determining a good match is provided in the Adoption Taskforce notes on permanence planning available at http://www.elsc.org.uk/
  
• Linking and introductions: helping children join adoptive families is a BAAF Good Practice Guide that looks at the process of linking children with families, and goes on to examine introductions and how to prepare and support the child during the move.

Newspapers and website listings

Another popular way of finding families is to feature children in newspapers and on websites with the hope that potential adoptive parents will express interest in adopting a particular child or group of siblings.

• Practice Note 41: Profiling Children Sets out the principles and practice of how to feature children in the media to help them find new permanent families.
• Be My Parent is an online service featuring children waiting to be adopted

Placing babies

Although fewer babies and infants are adopted nowadays, due to changes in societal attitudes to unmarried women having babies, and more support for single parents, it is important that good practise is followed when the situation does arise.

Right from the start: best practice in adoption planning for babies and other children by Jennifer Cousins and Marjorie Morrison with Sushila de Sousa offers a comprehensive exploration of issues to be considered when planning adoptive placements for babies.

Also see out position statement about planning for babies.

Placing black and minority ethnic children

The placement of children from black and minority ethnic communities is an issue that often causes controversy, with ongoing debates around what is in the best interests of the child. It is BAAF's belief that adoption should meet the emotional, developmental and spiritual needs of children, including needs relating to their religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background.

• Race and ethnicity: a consideration of issues for black, minority ethnic and white children in family placement by Prevatt-Goldstein & Spencer is a BAAF Good Practice Guide highlighting the importance of recognising needs arising from common experiences related to racism and ethnicity.
• The Be My Parent articles on the theme of 'sharing pride in who you are'
• See a list of BAAF books looking at placement of black and minority ethnic children.

Placing children with disabilities

Many children waiting to be placed for adoption have multiple special needs of a medical, developmental or emotional/behavioural nature. These will have implications for the identification of suitable placements, and for the preparation and support of adoptive parents.

• Practice Note 34: The Placement of Children with Disabilities deals with permanent family placement of children with severe to profound disabilities.
• Opening Doors is BAAF's Disability Project that aims to identify and reduce the barriers that prevent disabled children from finding permanent families.
• See more BAAF Books looking at the placement of disabled children

Placing sibling groups

Sibling groups of two or more children are often taken into care, and their placement requires special consideration. Placing siblings together is often seen as the preferred option, although this is not always appropriate or possible, and can result in a longer wait for an adoptive family. If siblings are not placed together, the issue of ongoing contact must be taken into account.

• The Hadley Centre has produced a useful briefing paper of the issues involved in permanent sibling placement. Go to http://www.bristol.ac.uk
• See a list of BAAF books on placing siblings.

Adoption Support

As Adoption and Children Act 2002 not introduced here yet our support is based on Article 3 of Adoption (NI) Order 1987.

Local authorities and adoption agencies currently have a duty to provide post-placement support to adoptive parents as set out in the national standards. (National adoption standard not relevant to Northern Ireland) However, there is increasing emphasis on the need to provide support packages in order to ensure the stability and success of the adoptive placement.

Further reading:

• Models of adoption support what works and what doesn't edited by Hedi Argent
• The Adoption Taskforce has developed an Adoption Support Audit Aid to assist councils to review their adoption support services and identify possible areas for development. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/

Financial Support

See the section on adoption allowances on the Financial information page.