Adopting

Nature of Adoption

Information about Adoption in Solihull.

Nature of Adoption

When families are experiencing difficulties, our primary aim is to enable them to stay together. Sometimes children need to be placed in temporary foster care to give time and space for difficulties to be resolved, or to keep children safe.

Some of these children may not be able to return to their own families. When this happens, consideration is given to whether these children need to be placed in a permanent family either to be adopted or long-term fostered.

Younger children will usually be placed for adoption to give them the opportunity to be fully part of a stable and secure family. As children grow older, their family links and sense of identity may be such that they do not want to be adopted but still want the security of knowing that they have a family in which they can grow up and on which they can rely as adults. Such children may well have regular contact with members of their birth family and permanent fostering will best meet their needs.

Most children who need to be placed in permanent families are first placed temporarily with foster carers while the right family is found and plans are made.

Parental Status

Adoption involves a complete and permanent change in legal status for the child. Adoptive parents become the child's legal parents and acquire full parental responsibility. The birth parents lose all parental responsibility. Adoption is the only way in which this can happen. Apart from specifically defined and unusual circumstances, an adoption order once made, cannot be revoked.

Under the provisions of the Adoption Children Act 2002, when a child is placed for adoption, the prospective adopters acquire parental responsibility. The Local Authority also has parental responsibility as do the birth parents. The Local Authority decides to what extent each person will be able to exercise this responsibility.

Permanent Foster Care

Sometimes, usually when a child is older, adoption is not considered appropriate. When this happens, a child may be permanently fostered. The foster family make a commitment to the child throughout childhood and into adult life. However, the parents and usually the Council retain a shared parental responsibility. A permanently fostered child is still subject to regular reviews and medicals and social workers continue to visit.

A child who is permanently fostered may be later adopted, if circumstances change and that is what the child and foster carers want.

Who May Adopt?

• If you are adopting as a couple you may be:
  • Legally married to each other or
  • Have formed a civil partnership or
  • Have a permanent relationship

In all cases you will have to demonstrate that you have a stable, secure and lasting relationship. The length of the relationship will be of relevance.

• You can adopt as a single person.
• You must be over the age of 21 years. There is no upper age limit.
• You may own your own home or be in rented accommodation.

You need to demonstrate you have a secure home environment in which to bring up a child. You will need accommodation appropriate to the number and ages of children you are requesting.

• You may be in work or not. Whatever your situation, you will need to consider all the financial implications of increasing your family.
• You need to have sufficiently flexible working arrangements to enable the needs of the child(ren) to be met at any time.
• You need to be able to be at home during the settling in period and for there to be flexibility about return to work, depending on the needs of the child(ren).
• Health - if you have any concerns about your health, it is as well to raise these early in the process.

Every applicant has a full medical and the Medical Adviser to the Adoption Agency will advise on your ability, from a health point of view, to meet the needs of a child throughout its childhood.

It is unlikely that a very young child, or a child vulnerable to chest complaints, would be placed in a household where one or both parents are smokers.

• It is important that the person who is going to be the main carer has some experience of children of the age group in which you are interested.
• It is advised that you should have completed any fertility tests or treatment and have taken time to acknowledge your losses.
• Any children already in your family must be at least two years older or younger than the age for which you are applying. If your intention is to place a child in the middle of your family, you should allow at least a 3 year space.
• You will need to demonstrate that you have accessible, established support networks of family or friends who will be in a position to support you in your parenting.
• You would need to be domicile or habitually resident in the United Kingdom.

Who Do We Need?

• Adoptive families for children of all ages. We aim to place children in families who reflect their cultural, ethnic and religious heritage, so applications are welcome from minority groups.
• People who have the physical, emotional and practical resources to adopt groups of two, three or four brothers and sisters.
• Families for children who have a disability or learning difficulty or who may be at risk of developing an inherited medical illness or mental health needs.
• People who can be warm, firm and consistent even when being challenged or unappreciated. All children who are in need of adoption will, by definition, have experienced early separation from people to whom they are attached. Many children will have experienced physical or emotional abuse or neglect. Some children may have experienced sexual abuse. All of these experiences have left physical and emotional scars. Adoptive families have the task of putting back trust in children's lives and helping to repair the effects of early experiences.
• People who are flexible and wanting to put the needs of children first.
• People who value the child as he or she is - complete with memories, good as well as sad. This may mean keeping links alive with important people such as foster carer, grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters.
• We are not able to take up applications for people who can only consider a child under two years.

Contact Details

If you would like to find out more about adoption or have any questions, please contact the Adoption Team on:

Telephone: 0800 073 0769

Email: ssplace@solihull.gov.uk