adoption delays

[Jtails]

Has anyone got good experience with the adoption agencies? my partner and i did all the police checks and now the agency is saying that this is what they refer to stage 1. The agency could have done the employment checks, reference checks , health check in parallel but they just started. has anyone been in this situation ? Any advice on how to speed up the process?
Thanks

the one thing you need to learn on planet adoption is patience. It is a two stage process and you go at the SWs pace.
Its worth remembering that social workers are very overloaded and you are probably part of a very large caseload.
I know you are keen to get on with it, but you don't seem to have been particularly delayed at this point
good luck

As frustrating as it is, the process is what it is. They do police checks first because if something untoward comes up they’ve not wasted time and money for nothing. They don’t tend to do lots of simultaneous checks but will do them over the course of your home study.

If you’re honestly interested in adoption, you’ll need to develop patience, the process can be long and bitty so buckle up 😁

Yes I have to agree with the two previous posters!

I'd also say it's good to realise early on, you are not in control! So you cannot speed anything up.

You can reply promptly and clearly to all questions/ emails etc ( which I expect you are doing); you can keep records so you know how long things are taking, what you said, what they said etc; and once approved you have some control to be proactive within the limitations of your agency/authority.

It's also good to use this time -reading up on adoption/attachment/parenting from a child-centered position, saving money, de-cluttering, and doing things you cannot do with children/more children/newly placed children.

Doing these things may make you feel more in control and will make good use of your time. I think those 4 things are never wasted.

Double any suggested timescale and you should be fine.

I was told "not to put my life on hold" and we followed that rule too.

Don't, for example, put off booking a foreign holiday "in case it clashes" because it probably won't and you will feel resentful.

Our journey has been stop start, but looking like a child will be with us by July, which will be 20 months from start to finish.

Due to lots of unforeseen life circumstances our assessment process took nearly 4 years from first meeting until approval panel. Linking, matching and moving in took less than 5 months from first seeing their profile to moving in day. The process isn’t easily predictable because life can really get in the way. Be patient and don’t put your little fr on hold waiting.

There's a Facebook group called prospective adopters U.K. support group you might find very helpful. The members are from all over the U.K. and different local authorities and agencies. There is always someone on there who's at the same stage you are and others who have been through it recently enough to provide support and reassurance.