Adoption Support Fund waiting times

[Rainallnight]

I’m interested in how long others have been waiting for ASF funding?

I first approached adoption support in January this year and I’m still waiting. I’m very frustrated.

First it was a delay in allocating a social worker. But since then, the social worker is just terribly slow. It seems to take her ages to do anything.

I thought that she’d eventually submitted the application but she emailed the other day to say she needs another conversation with the provider in September to confirm exactly how much the assessment will cost before she submits it. I was flabbergasted because I really thought it was already done.

Any experiences? Thanks

We're waiting to do a course arranged through our LA and funded through the ASF. Think it was supposed to start in April but it's been delayed twice and no idea when/if it's starting! We've been told that whoever assesses ASF applications keeps asking for additional information at short notice and the application has to keep being resubmitted. I think government money is tight and they are putting up extra hoops to jump through. Frustrating!

I think a lot depends on how good your post adoption SW is. I’ve just had another round of therapy approved through ASF and it took about 3 months to get the application done, submitted and approved but that relative quickness might be because we were already ‘in the system’ as it were, having had ASF funding previously?

When I first approached SS for post adoption support about 3 or 4 years ago I think the initial application took about 3 - 4 months with an additional wait of about 3 months to get the ASF funded therapy in place, but I was fortunate that in the interim the LA (who had placed my daughter) provided some in house support - a therapeutic parenting course, membership of AUK and a post adoption SW who came to visit me and DD a few times and who was at the end of the phone / email for me if I needed her.

I’d go back to your SW and press them to get things moving. If the individual SW is a bit rubbish then maybe go to their manager?

Hope you get it sorted soon x