Adoption - frequently asked questions

How do I know if I would be suitable?
The following qualities are important in any adopter:

• Good general health
• Stickability and stamina
• Open-mindedness
• Flexibility
• Realism about children
• Sense of humour and fun
• Patience
• Acceptance/tolerance
• Experience with children

Why do people adopt?

• Desire to have children
• Desire to have further children
• Wish to provide a family for a child in need

Who can adopt with Kent County Council?

• Legally adopters must be 21 years old or more
• All sections of the community and all kinds of backgrounds are welcomed particularly applicants with different ethnic backgrounds
• Adoptive parents can be single people or couples in long-term relationships
• Unmarried partners (of the same or different gender) will be able to jointly adopt a child

I’m on my own. Can I adopt a child?

• Yes - this has always been possible
• Children can thrive with single carers
• Adoption enquiries are welcomed from single carers

I would like to care for a child, what is the difference between adoption and fostering?

• Fostering is often a temporary arrangement and usually it is planned to return a child to the family home
• Foster carers share the responsibility for a child with the local authority and the child’s parents

We are a white English couple. Can we adopt a black or mixed heritage child?

• Kent will try at first for adopters who are of similar racial and cultural origin to the child needing a new family. When this causes unreasonable delay to placement we will consider adopters who have the ability to value and promote the child’s racial and cultural background despite being of a different origin

What are the children like?

• The problems they face are faced by many children, not just by those who are adopted. All the children will need help to overcome the effects of change, disruption and trauma to a greater or lesser extent. Generally the older the children are, the longer it may take them to settle and some children may always carry the emotional effects of their early adverse experiences

Where do the children come from?

• Usually Kent children
• Some children may come from our consortium partners (Medway, East Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Bexley and Bromley)
• Occasionally from further a field
• Have been living with foster carers
• Usually separated from own family by court order

How long will it take until we are approved as adopters?

• The National Minimum Standards for Adoption state that the timescale for approval of prospective adopters is that the period from the acceptance of your formal application to approval should be no more than eight months. However, there may be good reasons for slowing down or putting the assessment on hold if there has been a sudden change of circumstances for applicants, such as bereavement

What is involved in the assessment?

• The assessment (or home study) is an opportunity for you to learn more about adoption and for us to consider your suitability to adopt and what children you would be best parenting. This process will take several months and is an opportunity for you to think through carefully whether or not adoption is right for you. You will be asked to have a medical with your own GP.

The following checks and references will also be undertaken:

• Criminal Records Bureau
• Local child protection agency
• Personal referees
• Family reference
• Employment references
• Financial reference if self employed
• Significant previous partners
• Adult children

Your Adoption Social Worker will complete the prospective adopters’ report (BAAF PAR). This is then presented during an Adoption Panel Meeting (to which applicants are invited to attend). There follows the Agency decision maker approval.

What costs are involved in adoption?

• The usual expenses of raising children
• No cost or charge for the assessment
• Medical fees (approximately £75 per applicant) and the cost of any medical updates
• Legal costs are paid by the agency when birth parents do not agree with the proposed adoption

First steps to Adoption?

• Contact a Duty Social Worker to discuss your interest, on the telephone number given in your accompanying letter
• Invited to attend an Understanding Adoption Day
• Initial home visit to be arranged
• Attend a preparation training course
• Home study assessment
• Adoption panel for approval as prospective adoptive carers

How long will it take for a child to be placed with you?

• It is difficult to predict, and is dependent on the children needing placement and the range of children you are able to parent
• Most agencies are short of adopters for the range of children they need to place (far fewer adopters for children over four years, larger sibling groups and children of all ages with additional complex needs and children from ethnic minority communities)
• We aim to find the right adopters for children within a few months, but sometimes it can take longer to ensure the best match is made
• Kent County Council also has strong links with other local authorities in the South East, through the Adoption Consortium. If a suitable match for a child cannot be found within Kent, we will work closely with our Consortium partners to avoid delay for children
• Approved adopters have the right to be referred to the National Adoption Register after three months
• The adopter’s approval is reviewed annually and advice given if no placement has been made

What should I do to learn more about adopting?
Becoming an adopter is a two way process – we will expect you to be active in finding out about adoption issues. We will help as much as we can and in addition you can:

• Talk with adoptive parents or anyone with direct experience of adoption
• Increase experience with children
• Read some books with an adoption theme
• Watch TV programmes on adoption topics
• Search the internet
• Join Adoption UK
• Look for related magazine and newspaper articles