6.2.2 Timescales, Quality Assurance and Monitoring Requirements |
SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER
The procedures for identification of children for adoption, presentation to the Adoption Panel of children, adopters and matches of children to adopters are set out below. The timescales given are the minimum to allow for quality assurance of reports at all stages so that only work of a good standard is presented to Adoption Panel.
Failure to ensure that work is of acceptable quality within the timescales will lead to withdrawal of any such items from the proposed Panel agenda, with the consequence of delays to the adoption process. Therefore, the notice given to Panel of agenda items must be increased where any concerns are anticipated.
Contents
- Child(ren) to be Placed for Adoption
- Prospective Adopters Report (PAR)
- Matching of Child(ren) to Adopters
1. Child(ren) to be Placed for Adoption
| 1.1 | Fieldwork Team Manager to notify Adoption Team Manager by e-mail at time of initiation of proceedings if adoption is a possibility. This notification to include age, ethnicity, sibling group (if any), special needs and brief circumstances. |
| 1.2 | Fieldwork Team Manager to notify Adoption Team Manager if plans subsequently change at any time: e.g. the child is going home. N.B. all permanence plans (and any subsequent changes to them) must also be notified to the Adoption and Permanence Team Manager via the Permanence List on a monthly basis. |
| 1.3 | Child's social worker contacts adoption administrative staff to put child's name in the Panel Book (the forward notification of attendance at Adoption Panel), once all alternatives ruled out. |
| 1.4 | Adoption administrative staff send medical forms for birth parents and child to child's social worker and adoption paper file is created. |
| 1.5 | Child's social worker drafts Child Permanence Report (CPR) which meets all requirements of Regulation 17 of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005, and gives this to Fieldwork Team Manager five weeks before Panel date. |
| 1.6 | Fieldwork Team Manager quality assures, approves and returns draft to social worker within one week. |
| 1.7 | Child's social worker sends draft CPR to Adoption Panel Adviser a minimum of four weeks prior to Panel date for child. |
| 1.8 | Panel Adviser quality assures and returns CPR to social worker and Fieldwork Team Manager within one week with suggested amendments and comments about omissions and any further work needed. |
| 1.9 | Child's social worker makes amendments and Fieldwork Team Manager quality assures the report and endorses the report to confirm that they have done so. |
| 1.10 | Final CPR must be returned to adoption administrative staff two weeks before Panel date. If CPR is unsatisfactory at that point or the report has not been received the child's name will be withdrawn from the Panel agenda. |
| 1.11 | Adoption Panel papers distributed one week before Panel date. |
| 1.12 | Child's social worker attends Panel to present CPR. The Fieldwork Team Manager should attend, especially with new or newly qualified workers. |
| 1.13 | Panel makes a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker. |
| 1.14 | The Agency Decision Maker makes the decision within seven working days. |
N.B. Life Story Work should have commenced once the plan for permanence is confirmed as adoption.
Any updates or changes requested by Panel or Agency Decision Maker to the CPR must be completed and signed off as such by the Fieldwork Team Manager before the report returns to panel in connection with a match. Failure to do so will result in the match being delayed, which is not acceptable.
2. Prospective Adopters Report (PAR)
| 2.1 | Adoption social worker contacts adoption administrative staff to put prospective adopters' names in Panel Book at appropriate point in the assessment process (i.e. when PAR drafted). |
| 2.2 | Adoption social worker sends draft PAR to Adoption Team Manager a minimum of four weeks prior to Panel date. |
| 2.3 | Adoption Team Manager returns PAR to social worker within one week with suggested amendments and comments about omissions and any further work needed. |
| 2.4 | Social worker makes amendments and returns PAR to Panel Adviser within one week. The Panel Adviser may shorten this time scale, depending on capacity. If so, this will be notified to the social worker when the PAR is first returned. |
| 2.5 | Final PAR must be returned to adoption administrative staff two weeks before Panel date. If PAR is unsatisfactory at that point the adopter's name will be withdrawn from the Panel agenda to allow for further quality assurance. |
| 2.6 | Panel papers distributed one week before Panel Meeting. |
| 2.7 | Social worker attends Panel to present PAR. |
| 2.8 | Panel makes a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker. |
| 2.9 | The Agency Decision Maker makes the decision within seven working days. |
3. Matching of Child(ren) to Adopters
| 3.1 | Child's social worker contacts adoption administrative staff to put child's name in Panel Book. |
| 3.2 | Adoption Team Manager allocates 'Family Finder' (the adoption social worker who will be involved in the case). |
| 3.3 | A monthly 'Family Finding' meeting will consider each child for early matching to potential adopters. |
| 3.4 | Child is considered by Adoption Panel and adoption is recommended as the plan. |
| 3.5 | Adoption social worker meets child and child's social worker and consideration is given to available in-house adopters. |
| 3.6 | Once Placement Order is in place, visits by child's social worker and Family Finding Social Worker to prospective adopters (as part of matching process) can begin. At this point the child can be referred to Yorkshire Adoption Consortium. This will be a co-worked process between adoption social worker and child's social worker. |
| 3.7 | Child's social worker formally agrees match with Fieldwork Team Manager and clearly records the decision as to a match, using Matching Form. |
| 3.8 | Child's social worker and adoption social worker agree an appropriate date for Panel and contact adoption administrative staff to put in the Panel Book. |
| 3.9 | Adoption administrative staff send Panel minutes relating to adopters (if in-house) and child to children's social worker and adoption social worker. |
| 3.10 | Child's social worker updates Child Permanence Report (CPR), as required. The adoption social worker should also update the Prospective Adopter Report (PAR), as required. The Adoption Placement and Support Plan (APSP) should be completed jointly by child's social worker and adoption social worker. |
| 3.11 | Updated CPR sent by adoption social worker with PAR and APSP to Adoption Panel Adviser a minimum of four weeks prior to Panel. |
| 3.12 | Adoption Panel Advisor returns CPR, PAR and APSP to child's and adoption social workers and Fieldwork Team Manager within one week, with suggested amendments and comments about omissions and any further work needed. |
| 3.13 | Child's social worker amends CPR and APSP and his/her Team Manager quality assures and returns final documents to Panel Adviser within one week. The Panel Adviser may shorten this time scale, depending on capacity. If so, this will be notified to the social worker when the documents are first returned. |
| 3.14 | Adoption social worker amends and Adoption Team Manager approves PAR within one week. |
| 3.15 | All documents returned to Panel Admin two weeks prior to Panel. If any document is unsatisfactory at that point the match will be withdrawn from the Panel agenda to allow for further quality assurance. |
| 3.16 | Panel papers sent out one week before Panel. |
| 3.17 | Child's social worker and adoption social worker attend Panel. |
| 3.18 | Panel makes a recommendation to the Agency Decision Maker. |
| 3.19 | The Agency Decision Maker makes the decision within seven working days. |
| 3.20 | A meeting between the child and the prospective adopter(s) may only be arranged once the Agency Decision Makers positive decision is returned. |
| 3.21 | 'Planning of Introductions' meeting can also be arranged, once the positive decision is returned. |
| 3.22 | Significant delays or other concerns relating to placement with the adoptive family following matching will be reported to the Panel by the Panel Adviser/Adoption Team Manager. |
End