Kew - yes that's what I thought at the time and I know the foster parents thought it a good idea, especially if they have fostered the child for a significant period of time. I honestly can't remember why the practice ceased but have a very vague idea it was something to do with a particular foster carer not observing the confidentiality rule. As you will know a Form F is a very confidential document, giving all sorts of info about the prospective adoptors. I think some social workers were uncomfortable with the practice too.

I championed the rights of foster carers all through my social work career but I'm afraid there is a feeling among some social workers that foster carers are not "professionals" and should not be given access to this kind of confidential information. My argument was that we trust foster carers to do the most important job of all - caring for some very vulnerable children and we should work in partnership with them at all levels. However that is a whole other issue - another thread maybe?

Agree with shockers that it is debatable how much difference a foster carer's opinion would be taken into consideration. Again I suspect this depends on the relationship between the child's sw and the particualar foster carer. These relationships varied enormously from ones that were sometimes too close for comfort to ones where there was active dislike and mistrust between the carer and the social worker. Our job was to try to resolve any difficulties, try to find some middle ground and on one occasion I had to advise a sw that it wasn't on to tell the carer all about her personal marriage problems. Sorry I'm rambling on, so I'll stop!

It's 9 years since we fostered but I was able to see the form Fs and go on the first visit to a matched couple with the sw ( without the children)I was asked my opinion but I don't know if it would have made a real difference if I hadn't thought couples were right for 'my' children. Fortunately that problem never arose.

( I say couples because they were all I saw, not because I am against single adopters)

thats odd nana, I would have thought that some foster paretns would provide valuable input into the choice of adoptive parent.

Kew and Kristina - yes I absolutely agree and sorry Kew if I misunderstood your point. I am of course aware that the actual choice of placement is the decision of the sw for the child or children, as it is he or she who has case responsibility. So much depends on individual cases of course and yes I can accept that if there is a choice of families then the sw may well opt to go with one without a long term medical condition. This shouldn't be the case of course if the family is approved but that doesn't of course mean that this does not happen.

IME a lot depends on the actual social worker and their experience. For many social workers placing a child for adoption may be a very rare occurrence and some will be guided by more experienced adoption social workers and others (a bit too "knowing" sometimes) will want to go it alone. It also depends on the r/ship between the child's sw and the adoption sw and whether they are good at working together. So yes prospective adoptors are as you say Kristina
at the "mercy" or "prejudice" of individual sws. However I honestly think that the vast majority of sws want to find the right match for children, and it can be a daunting task, especially for older children and visits around the country are sometimes needed. Mind I have found as an adoption sw that this works quite well beause the sw is usually keen to be accompanied by the adoption sw on such trips and then you get the "2 heads are better than 1" thing.

Some years ago in the la where I worked we had a policy of letting foster carers caring for the child for adoption, see the Form Fs for couples for potential matching, and making comments based on their knowledge of the child. Can't remember why it stopped but it did.

Have you considered fostering?

ie Kristina is right about what I meant - though of course she is right in general as well!

Kristina is right. Whatever the panel has decided - the placing social worker often does use their own judgement as to what is in the best interests of the child particularly if there are other prospective parents without any medical conditions available. You may not have approached it this way but many social workers do.

nina - i think you have misunderstood kew's point

i understood her to be saying that even if this couple were approved, they might find it hard to find a suitable placement. while the panel have the benefit of a medical advisor, placing Sw s will make their own decisions about a family based on their Form F. They might immediately rule out an "older" couple with long term disabilities as a suitable placement for a demanding child

It doens't matter how much "their" Sw or GP/consultant is on their side, or if the medical advisor is particularly well informed about ME and recommneds that they are approved. They are at the mercy ( and sometimes prejudice) of placing SWs

Sorry have to disagree with Kewcumber. The issue of a prospective adoptor's medical history is as I said before, decided by the medical advisor to the local authority. He or she will give an opinion on the suitability of the adoptors based on their medical history. The medical advisor is part of the Adoption panel and his/her decision will be discussed with other panel members. The panel will not go against the advice of the medical advisor as they are not medically qualified to make such a decision.

Hence the applicants are either approved or not. It is not up to the social worker placing the child to start trying to make decisions about the health of the applicants as this will have been decided at the Adoption Panel. The social worker will accept the decision of the panel.