issues with adoption order

[prumarth]

I'm really stressing - am I being unreasonable, and if not who should I complain to??
My LO was eligible for us to apply to the courts for his adoption order in early August. Of course, we completed all the paperwork on the day we were allowed to and with the exception of a few details required from the local authority, we were ready to go. Our LO's social worker said the procedure from the LA was that she could either submit the initial paperwork then be given a date by the court to submit the report and this would be 6 - 10 weeks. Alternatively, she could submit the doc plus the report together and this would speed things up considerably. In our LAC review, it was decided the latter was the best approach and the chair agreed a date for the paperwork. On the due date, I emailed to check all was ok and after a few days got the response back that the report wasn't yet done as wasn't their priority (!). However, I was assured both verbally and by email that they were sure it would be done by a following given date. I wasn't happy but felt I had no choice but to accept. That date has also been and gone. I've chased the sw and had no response. My SW did however come back to say the report was currently being written and would be done asap, however no date was given beyond that. I have said I'm not happy but will give till the end of the week and then take further - no response from anyone.
So, am I being too unrealistic - we are 2 months beyond the date we were legally entitled to submit and its still in the air. Plus this new shorter route to court doesn't appear to be any shorter but in fact will be longer overall. Can I contact the IRO direct (and if so, how do I find the details)??
I'm also starting to have nightmares that the birth family succeed in overturning the placement order and we lose our LO - it's making me very anxious and stressed overall.
If you've read this far - thank you!

[Kazza299]

I don't really know anything about this part of the journey as we are not at that stage yet. But my heart goes out to you. This process is one of the most stressful things I have ever done. My fingers are crossed for you that it gets sorted soon x

[Velvet1973]

Can only echo what Kazza has said as we've yet to be matched even! However our la has told us that it's fairly typical for it to take 6 months for the ao once it's applied for due to the courts being so busy. I wonder if this is why they're not rushing it perhaps as they can't fer it to court before a certain date?
I'm already experiencing the frustrations of ss not communicating though and I can only imagine how much worse that is at your stage.

[dreamcometrue]

Hi pru (starting to venture back on here; its inthe)
I can't imagine how frustrated you must feel. I know very well the anxiety I feel that they're going to change their mind and decide b.parents are far better than us.
To contact your iro you should have there full name on the minutes of the lac. Phone up s.services and ask to speak to them?
The only thing I can suggest is submitting your own paperwork which then gives the court the info and they then issue the date all info is needed for. It looks to me like they're holding onto it so that they don't have to do the paper work because they're bogged down with stuff.
It will all happen though pru I'm certain.

[meoverhere]

PM'd you Pru.

[odyssey2001]

It is incredibly frustrating.

We went down the same route (all papers submitted at the same!e time) and due to a combination of incompetence and sick leave, we were delayed by a month.

I suggest that you email one last time and say that because you have not heard from them, that you assume you continue to be a low priority and that you would like to discuss this. Then state that if you have not heard back by next Friday with a firm completion date, then you will escalate this to their service manager.

Then next Friday afternoon, give their manager a ring.

[dibly]

It's incredibly frustrating, I'd be tempted to phone today and ask to speak to the IRO. If your LA is anything like ours there are huge issues with managers off on long term sick, which is causing huge delays in both getting help and paperwork being completed and/or signed off. But, whatever the reasons, missing deadlines by 2 months just isn't acceptable and is an added stress that you shouldn't have to contend with.

[Maiyakat]

Could you submit the paperwork to court yourself? I'm presuming the court then give the LA a deadline to submit their paperwork so they would have to make it a priority. It would put you on the longer timeline again, but at least you would know things are progressing. (This is what I did but wasn't given any other option - it was only last year but things may have changed since then).

[RationalSocialist]

Hi prumarth

We had this choice to make recently and chose to apply direct to the court as it forced the hand of the social workers. The deadlines were set by the court, based on the next available hearing dates. It really has made a difference and, less than two months later, we now have less than a week to go.

I would suggest that you give sw a fixed final deadline and inform them that you will submit the application if they do not meet it. You can download the paperwork and it's not too onerous a process to complete it.

I understand your fears. We have met bm and are sure she wont contest, but it is still a worrying time. I can't imagine life without our lo, so we just want to make it final and finally feel secure.

[Barbadosgirl]

I agree- submit the app and then the LA will be forced by the Court to file. Hope it works out.

[excitedmamma]

or contact the IRO and get them to kick some ass?

[excitedmtb]

I feel your pain. Our story is a little different in that we needed support to complete the paperwork as there are some complicated details which were required. SW's (multiple) have been absolutely no help whatsoever....to the point where they didnt even know how to answer questions on the form.
IRO were made aware of this and responded by verbally kicking SW but this changed nothing. We eventually spoke direct to the courts. I don't hold out much hope of the SW team completing their paperwork any time soon either. From other adopters I have spoken to, this seems to be par for the course now.

Hope the IRO can help you resolve this and you get your order soon.