Initial Meeting

[Gingernutloses100biscuits]

Hi ,

We are waiting on a call from the agency to book on our initial meeting. It's been two weeks . Is this normal? I am expecting allot of delays in this process. I am just checking we shouldn't be looking at another agency 😊

Any particular reason you're going through an agency and not the local council?

Hi,

Sorry I've not been clear. This is with the local council 😊

So not an agency then? 2 weeks for the call or 2 weeks for the appointment to come out to you?

Hey ,
They are a group of counties joined up together so agency seemed like the best word. I was obviously wrong ! Yes not an agency I said it was local authority in my above post. It's been two weeks waiting for a call to arrange an initial visit. Thank you for the help 😊

I'd be shopping around at this point. Its not a great first impression is it. I'm with a council but I did look at a few agencies first. I dont recommend banardos unfortunately.

I think you are right . Thank you for the advice 😊

It’s not unusual - an initial meeting won’t be the highest priority in a local authority team who will also be doing adoption assessments, preparing for linking and matching, dealing with placements in crisis and adoption disruption. They will contact you but it’s likely to be when they have someone who can do the initial meeting - sometimes using student social workers in that part of the process.

Voluntary agencies tend to be quicker (because they don’t get paid until the assessment is complete) but the matching process can be longer because the local authority will use their “in house” adopters first, because it costs them much less than paying a voluntary agency for the placement. It’s absolutely ok to phone and check in with the local authority and ask how long it’s likely to be for the initial meeting.

Thank you! That's really useful information 😊

I would say that 2 to 4 weeks is pretty standard.

Yes two weeks doesn't sound so bad,id chase them up but your right to expect delays it's a slow process.good luck.its worth it!

Thanks guys! Its good to hear whats normal 😊