Stage two – matching you with a child

Once you are approved to adopt, we will begin the search for a child whose needs you can meet. Sometimes we will already have a child in mind for you. This is great as it will make the matching process much shorter for you and will avoid unnecessary delay for a child.

Family finding can happen in a number of ways:

• Internal link within the North Wales Adoption Service
• The Adoption Register Wales through Link Maker. Once you are approved you will be registered with the Adoption Register Wales. You will have a profile on the register (Link Maker) which can be used to search for available children.  Adoption Social Workers will also search for prospective adopters for the children that they are family finding for too.
• By attending an Adoption Activity Day – these are held on an annual basis in Wales and in the UK and are an opportunity to gain more information about the children who are waiting for a family
• Through local, regional or national Exchange events where your details and those of children are shared with others across Wales in a safe and confidential environment.

When we identify a child/ren who we and the child/ren’s social worker think is suitable for you, your social worker will exchange information with the child’s social worker. If this is deemed a suitable link for the child/ren a linking visit will take place. This is your opportunity to find out more about the child. You will get to see a video or photos of the child/ren in their foster home and get to meet key people in their life, such as their current foster carer and medical advisor regarding their health needs. In some circumstances, with the agreement of the child’s Local Authority, a Chemistry Meeting may take place where the prospective adopters are able to observe a child in a neutral setting. The reasons as to whether this meeting should take place or not will be discussed with you and your social worker.

Once you have all the information about the child and everyone is confident that this is the right match for the child, we will proceed to present the match to the adoption panel. The Adoption Panel from the child’s Local Authority will then meet and make a recommendation whether to approve your match, and the Agency Decision Maker will again make that final decision.

After the Agency Decision Maker ratifies the match, the Local Authority will notify the child/ren’s birth parents. This will then begin a 21-day period when the birth parents can seek legal advice and apply to court for leave to discharge the Placement Order (which is the order that allows the Local Authority to place a child for adoption). This procedure may create delays, but your social worker will be able to explain this in further detail and support you through the process.

In the run up to meeting your child/ren there is some preparation work completed. We aim to hold a meeting for you to have the opportunity to meet past and present professionals involved in a child/ren’s life whom you may have not met so far (for example the court guardian, health visitor, contact worker and so on). We will also ask you to create a ‘Welcome Book’ for your child/ren with photos and information about yourselves and your home, that the foster carer can then use to help prepare a child for a move. In some circumstances, there may be a Therapeutic Practitioner assigned to support with preparing a child/ren and yourselves for the transitions through activities, storytelling and so on.

Meeting your child

The waiting is now over, and you will get to meet your child for the first time. Before children join their new family, this is a time for adopter/s and children to get to know each other through a program of introductory visits (both announced and unannounced). When you are both ready the child/ren will move from their foster family to join your family.

Once your child or children move in there is a period of living together, during which the agency will continue to visit and support you to get to know one another better.

The legal process / application to adopt

After a minimum of 10 weeks from when the child/ren was placed with you, you can take steps to make the adoption legal and apply to the court for an Adoption Order. Your social worker and the child’s social worker can help you to decide when the right time is to apply to the court. Once the court grants an Adoption Order all legal parental responsibility transfers to you and the child will then take your surname.

Building your future

The coming weeks and months will be extremely exciting but also challenging, sometimes in unexpected ways. Social workers will therefore continue to be available to provide a helping hand. They will be able to share a wide range of practical support strategies as well as emotional support to all adoptive families for as long as they need it.