Any adopters who live in council housing?

[Bananaketchup]

I'm a prospective single adopter, and have a one-bed council flat. The VA I want to go with are very wary of assessing me while this is the case. Meanwhile the council have given me conflicting advice, I was told once that they won't reassess my housing need until I have a child placed (which the VA have told will never happen as they won't take me on in this case), and another time that they would treat me the same as a pregnant person if I am in the assessment process. I've got a meeting with the council this week to discuss, I was just hoping maybe there is someone here who has managed the same situation? TIA

[Tahnia]

I know this post was some time ago. Me and my husband have adopted a little girl 2 years ago. Me and my husband would like a sibling for our little girl. But we are currently living in a 1 bedroom council flat. I have been on the transfer list for 2 years and no sign of getting a bigger property. I’m wondering if anyone else has had the same problem. The council have said until we adopt our second child that’s when I will be classed as overcrowded, social services won’t let us adopt until we have a bigger property.

[Ambers1988]

Oh that's great news.... thank you Hels20

And yes you would think so wouldn't you Poetboywonder but it doesn't work like that unfortunately, as different departments don't seem to communicate. Plus one is a district council whilst the other is the county council... they couldn't possibly work together to achieve the best possible outcome lol! But thank you for your well wishes

[poetboywonder]

I know nothing on this subject but surely LA are part of the council, they should work together and your support worker should help you secure a home that would be suitable assuming all other aspects of your adoption goes well. It really frustrates me that paperwork and bureaucracy get int he way of everything.

Good luck is all I can say.

[Hels20]

I am sure BananaK will be along soon but she did adopt.

[Ambers1988]

Hi Bananaketchup,

I know this is an old post but I just wondered what the outcome was, and if you've now adopted? I ask because I came across your thread when researching the Internet because I am in a similar situation to yours (when this post was written) and I would love some help and advice please.... I would be very grateful of any useful information you are able to share please ????

P.s. My husband and I have 2 children of our own (boy 9 years + girl 6 years) and we are in a 2 bedroom council flat. We really want to foster but Essex County Council will not process our application any further as we do not currently have a spare bedroom (and there is not a need for foster carers for babies in our area), but the council will not consider rehousing us until the foster people say they intend to place a child with us.... which obviously they won't even consider without a spare bedroom! Such a chicken and egg situation and I don't know where to go from here ????

[roadkillbunny]

Well done, the determination you have shown in this would make you a wonderful adoptive or foster mother, you won't give up when it gets hard, not only have you helped yourself but many, many other potential adopters and children will benefit from your hard work and dedication.
I admire you greatly I really really do and I wish you the best in the next step of the process

[Kewcumber]

I should add that this is just the kind of determination you need to get through the adoption process so you are already ahead of the pack!!

[jetcat]

well done banana - i was following your fight, you should be very proud of yourself

[Bananaketchup]

Thank you all for your good wishes. I never allowed myself to think it wasn't going to work out and I was ready for as much of a fight as needed, but I was secretly worried and it's a real relief.

Kristina I am a member of AUK, I'll post on the boards so if other prospectives in the same situation come along in the future they can find it if they do a search.

This is what I look like now -

[KristinaM]

Excellent news!

I wonder if you would consider writing to Adoption uk about this and copying the letter from the Council? They are an organisation for parents before, during and after adoption. If you are not a member already you definitely should join.

They might want to feature this in their newsletter as it would help other prospective adopters in your situation. Other housing agencies are more likely to change their policy too if they realise there is a precedent elsewhere

Well done

[thefirstmrsDeVere]

How wonderful

[Kewcumber]

well done, and good luck.

[MissBonpoint]

Good for you!

[badgerhead]

Congratulations to you, you deserve a very big pat on the back

[Bananaketchup]

It's so weird that this thread got bumped, this has been rumbling on all year with nothing happening and now today I have had a letter

The council have amended their housing policy. They will now consider prospective adopters to need 2 bedrooms from approval, i.e. on a par with pregnant women. The policy now also says that if a match is identified early and the adopter hasn't yet been rehoused, they will give the top level of urgency immediately.

I am very happy, relieved, excited, and a bit proud of myself.

[Bananaketchup]

Thank you Skye, hopefully I'll have good news to share one of these days!

[skyeplusbump]

im so sorry that i have nothing useful to say,
i just wanted you to know that im utterly appalled by this.
there should AT LEAST be a way for you to start on this ladder,
the fact that there are a large number of school age children who need nothing but a home and love and understanding,and are being denied this by utterly idiotic red tape is astounding!
why is it ok for biological children to live in 1 bed flats with loving parents,but not adoptive?!
im just so angry for you!
good luck with this!!

[Bananaketchup]

I would really like to do respite and I have thought about it a lot. As you say, it would give me good experience, and hopefully make me attractive to the LA as a prospective adopter.

But the council don't have a housing policy for foster carers just like they don't for adopters, so I come up against the same problem. The county council have have the LAC and the district council have the housing, and they really don't seem capable of joined up thinking

[KristinaM]

I hope you get this policy changed. it woudl be great if you could get rehoused in 3 months. the only thing is that any matching SW would probably delay introductions until you were rehoused as they woudln't want a child to have to move house twice and family once within a few months

have you considered fostering for your local authority for a while first? It would give you excellent experience and a better idea of what issues you could / could not cope with. And you would have to be rehoused now as you need a spare room

you could do respite for another foster carers or birth families and have a child/ children at weekends regularly

just a thought

[Bananaketchup]

I want the council to agree that once matched I will be in the top priority band for rehousing - this is the policy in several councils who do have a policy on housing adopters. My local council rehouse people in the top band who have a connection to an area before those who don't, so I would then be at the top of the list for the village I live in, the village my parents live in, the village my brother lives in and the town I work in. This gives me plenty of scope and would realistically mean I would be rehoused within 3 months or so.

There is no plan B. I can't afford to rent privately here and even people a lot richer than me can't afford to buy here. So if this doesn't work I will not be able to adopt. Unless my mum wins the lottery.

[KristinaM]

good for you for taking them on

however i would caution you to have a plan B in place

i suspect that you will get them to agree to allowing prospective adopters to apply for a 2 bed property once they are matched with a child. in practice this wont make any difference to you as no one will match you with a child unless you have a 2 bed room property already. after all, you coudl wait years on the waiting list to move, even once you have the extra points

[LexieKJ]

Thanks for the update Bananaketchup! I was curious how far along you'd got. It looks like you have a case with their pregnancy policy. This kind of thing really annoys me, we are always encouraged as a society to treat adoptive and birth children exactly the same and yet the authorities by default discriminate. Absolute lunacy!

For what it's worth, the benefits system (mainly child benefit in your case, but also with maternity grants) seems to treat adopters the same as they do pregnant women, so you might be able to use that as a point with the council. Don't know if it would help your case much in the official sense, but it would give them food for thought.

From what I can see, in your last post alone you have made your case. I think it's awesome you wish to make a home and a family for a child and I quite agree, they need a policy that is both fair and non-discriminatory.

Best of luck, and please do keep us informed. You have me very intrigued with this!

[Bananaketchup]

To update - my local council consider a pregnant woman to be entitled to 2 bedrooms from 24 weeks of pregnancy, however they have no policy for adopters. Since this a) makes no sense and b) is discriminatory, I am still arguing with them about it.

I am having ongoing discussions with the corporate head of housing, who is currently 'taking legal advice' as in my last letter I pointed out that under the Allocation of Accomodation guidance for local authorities 2002, the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002, they have a statutory duty to promote the upbringing of children in adoptive families. I'm not going to give up, if a 24 weeks pregnant woman is entitled to 2 bedrooms, they need to have an equivalent policy for adopters.

If anyone else is reading this in a similar situation, I've got loads of info I've dug up to support my case which I am happy to share.

[choufleur]

If there is a shortage of housing where you are (and i guess there is as there is almost everywhere) you won't be considered for re-housing due to overcrowding until you have a child. The same goes for pregnant women. It's in case anything goes wrong and you don't actually have a child.

I seriously doubt the council will do anything to move you, even if your councillor and/or mp gets involved.

Could you afford to move into private rented accommodation?

[LexieKJ]

This might be a bit late to answer this, but in some areas, pregnant women DO get moved to 2 bed flats/houses. Sometimes it really is done on a case by case basis. There don't seem to be national guidelines, or if there are, they certainly aren't followed religiously. There is a case to be made for discrimination if you live in an area that WILL rehouse pregnant women, as becoming approved as an adopter does imply that you are becoming a parent. I would get help from citizen's advice, your MP, literally anyone who will help or you think can help. Kick up a fuss and make as much noise as you can. Sounds relaly juvenile, but sometimes it's just about getting the right people to pay attention to you. It's such a shame when children are crying out for families and yet people are being put off or blocked for extremely arbitrary reasons. Good luck! Let us know how you get on!