This post outlines the stages of the UK process at a high level and how long each commonly takes. You will find the official and optimistic estimates for timings are woefully inaccurate, so it is important to set your expectations up front.
The UK adoption process is what it is. Confusing, broken, slow and at times frustrating – but it is also the path to parenthood for several thousand good people a year. It is what we have to work with and with patience and dedication, it works.
One thing I wish we had known before starting – that ‘2 + 4 months’ for stages 1 and 2 was likely to be more like 1 to 3 years in our case (drawn out by being too honest about a house move). We still would have gone ahead with it, but would have been better able to plan renovations on the house, career moves and saving up had we known.
But for now, let’s take a look at the stages.
1) Signing up (2 weeks)
- Whether going with your local authority such as Adoption North East/Adopt London, or an agency such as Barnado’s or PACT, the first stage is to register your interest
- Email received
- Call booked in
- Call with introduction team
- Booked onto an interest call (may include a ‘meet the adopters’ element)
2) Stage 1 (4-6 months)
- Case Worker Social Worker assigned
- Paperwork completed, references given – there is a lot of this, and it takes weeks to complete
- ID and DBS check
- eLearning courses
- Volunteering → just do it
- Adoption preparation course
- A 4 day compulsory course (weekdays 9-5)
- Everything they think you need to know
- Hard-hitting videos of potential background scenarios
- Group activities
- Q&A with Foster parents / adopters
- Details on process and support materials.
3) Stage 2 (6-12 months)
- Invited to proceed by case worker manager
- Social Worker (SW) assigned
- 40 hours of Social Worker meetings (over 6-8 home visits)
- Tasks assigned (house modifications, reading list etc.)
- Report written up (50-75 pages)
- Panel – a Teams call with 5+ people to answer questions
- Panel approval given, then a week’s wait, then Social Services Management approval
One thing I wish we had known before starting is that the ‘2 + 4 months’ for stages 1 and 2 was going to be more like 1 to 3 years in our case.
4) Matching approval (1-2 months)
- Your Social Worker is approached by a Family Finder SW with possible matches
- Or, you can use LinkMaker within the region to send expressions of interest (or nationally after some pushing) but don’t have to
- Or, if going down the Adoption Agency (PACT/Barnado’s) route, you and your case worker use Link Maker to search and express interest
- Call with your SW to hear their summary
- If you are interested, a profile is sent over (note: 1 at a time rule)
- Meet with Family finder (call or in person)
- If match is approved by Family finder, meet Child SW
- If approved, apply to Matching panel
- Matching panel (often same people as approval panel) Teams call
- Match approved
- Introductory meetings (park, their place, your place)
5) Moving in (1-3 months)
- Adoption
- Social Worker matches you with prospective children
- You can agree or decline with comments to each match
- You can use LinkMaker but don’t need to
- Matching paen agreed
- Introductory meetings (park, their place, your place)
- Move in
- Foster for adoption
- You wait
- Your Social Worker contacts you at 11th hour
- You can agree or decline with comments to each match
- Children move in within days or weeks commonly
- You are monitored closely by your SW, receive random visits, take your child to contact with birth parents, and apply for adoption
6) Post adoption (1 year)
- Regular visits from Social worker for x months, until you decide to switch it off. Then on-demand support only.
- Adoption
- May be slower, but more choice, less risk
- You are the adopter, are not paid anything
- No access with parents (letterbox xmas letter)
- In 6-12 months the courts confirm your legal status as parents
- Foster for adoption
- May be faster, but less choice, more risk
- You are a foster parent, are paid a small amount per month
- Weekly access with parents
- Legal process for 6-12 months → Adopt
Conclusion:
The process not easy and the odds are it will take longer than what it says on the tin (e.g. 6 months end to end). Ours took 2.5 years from information evening to moving in, for example.
- This is the long game – you will get there, but it will take longer than they say it will
- Stage 1 will feel like proving yourselves, stage 2 like an interrogation (from your Social Worker, who by this stage feels like someone who is on your team) and the approval panel will feel like a bit of an anticlimax after all this effort
- The matching process is really the matching approval process and requires more patience and staying positive
- You will need to move it along at times
- I suggest omitting certain details in order to put your best foot forward (e.g. renovations, moving house and having tenants/lodgers/AirBnB guests are best just done in the background and resolved before you reach the end of the process).
Lastly and most importantly, this is quite possibly the biggest thing you will ever do. The biggest gift to a little one(s) and to society as a whole. Thank you for even considering it and I hope you do decide to follow it and create a forever home.
