Virtual Panel

[Nel81]

Hi,
I have my approval panel in 3 weeks and I was wondering if anybody has had one recently and could give me some pointers? It's going to be online but all of the posts I've found about panel have been about ones attended in person. Thanks x

In my experience, having been through two adoptions, virtual panels are a lot smoother and you tend to feel more relaxed than in person. Your social worker will be able to let you know a couple of days before the discussion areas the panel will probably focus on. Enjoy it as it’s an experience you will always remember. :)

This is obviously a question for my sw- but what happens with transition toys and things?

Good luck with your panel!!! Hope it goes well!!!

I've done a virtual panel. One person was there on the phone because they couldn't get into zoom and another member was knitting when the chair did the introductions! We also had to chase up the login details because we somehow got overlooked!

The chair asked us to leave the meeting so the panel could reach a decision and then phoned straight after with it. We then had to phone the outcome to our social worker which felt strange.

Basically any of the common problems associated with any virtual meeting could happen.

On the plus side, they are more likely to run time and we were emailed the panel's questions in advance so we had time to prepare. We just had the chair on our screen so it was slightly less intimidating than speaking to a whole table full of people but also slightly frustrating as we couldn't gage their reactions to our responses.

I'm assuming that your used to doing virtual meetings so know how to prepare for practical side of one of those but just double check what system the panel will be using.

My main pointer is to think about issues that are likely to be raised beforehand, the things that made your assessing social worker pause briefly when you mentioned them as they are likely to come up.

I made some notes for ours which really helped. We'd talked about a lot of the likely questions ahead of time, but it helped having something lying on the keyboard to glance at to remind us of the bits we wanted to cover.
If your computer is as old as mine, get it set up with time to spare so you're not rushing and stressing

Thanks for your replies. I think I'm just probably overthinking things and being a single adopter probably makes it worse as I know I won't have anyone to jump in if I go blank

The chair does all the talking to keep it straightforward. They’ll be supportive and kind. X

@Nel81

Thanks for your replies. I think I'm just probably overthinking things and being a single adopter probably makes it worse as I know I won't have anyone to jump in if I go blank

I asked my social worker to jump in if I went blank. She didn't need to in the end, but it helped take some of the pressure off.

I was recently matched at a virtual panel and I’m also a single adopter. I was really nervous about attending for some of the reasons you mention but they couldn’t have been nicer. As mentioned earlier, it was just the chair on screen, unless someone asked a question and they would then pop up, which made it less daunting. Weirdly, seeing them all sitting in their homes made it feel less formal which definitely calmed my nerves. They also went out of their way to be kind and friendly while still gathering all the necessary information so I think they know how nerve-wracking it all is, I found the whole thing to a much more positive experience than I had expected so hopefully you will feel the same after yours.
Good luck 🤞🏻

Thanks for posting this, we also have our (virtual) panel in 3 weeks and although I'm now very used to virtual meetings having been working from home for the last 15 months, the thought of this one is making me nervous.

Glad it's not just us!!

Ona positive note I've bought car seats today in the Amazon prime day deals 😮😮

Ours was virtual and very recent.
Very slick technology with ours to be honest. They made use of 'waiting rooms' so we waited to be let in which was the nervous bit. It was chaired by 1 person but everyone introduced themselves and questions were asked by different panel members.
We had sight of the panel member profiles (some local authority, some agency, some independent) and the questions the night before.
They asked about how we found the whole process including the training elements and what challenges we believe we might face. They were all very friendly (there was at least 8 people on the call) and clearly wanted us to feel relaxed and at ease.
Remember, panel is after you've done everything you need to do and they'll have spoken with your social worker about you before you go in.
I still cried when they said we were approved :)