At our last review meeting the IRO asked about Adoption Allowance as if it was a matter of course.
We had always assumed it was nowadays rarely paid unless a child has very complex needs. However, AD has a disability (indeed she has a SW from the Disabilities Team, not the Adoption Team) and I can think of ways I would use an allowance if she were entitled to something.
Her SW wasn't sure, she asked the family finder who said it was means-tested. This appears to be a general Adoption Allowance, ie the LA doesn't go on the child's needs but the income of the adopters. We therefore wouldn't qualify.
I have read on the Adoption UK Forum that LAs favour funnelling this money towards disabled and complex needs children, which is not necessarily means-tested. Should we be asking them to consider this for AD, is there any precedent or is it purely at their discretion?
We have no contact on the Adoption Team itself as explained. Our own SW is from a different LA as we adopted out of county, so her experience presumably won't help here.
We want to clarify the matter before sending in the Adoption Application, as people advise to get everything sorted before doing this. Unfortunately there seems to be no written LA policy and when I contacted the IRO, she emailed AD's SW for advice, so she doesn't know.
What are others' experience in recent times?
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Your experience of Adoption Allowance (or not)
9 replies
ChoccyJules · 10/10/2017 12:27
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