Speeding up adoptions

[fostering]

Does anyone have any good ideas about how LA's could speed up the adoption process.

I understand there are legal constraints but what has worked in practice for any of you out there that other LA's could try?

There is a fairly new protacol for relinquished babies. my last one went at 16weeks. Cafcas do the work and it doesn't go to court.

Other adoption timescales seem to be down the indervidual sw and how good they are.

More frequent panals would help too.

really adoptions should be the very last thing that should happen. The family has the right to come first and decisions like that should never be rushed. The child is the priority and what is best for the child. We have special gaurdianship of our gs and everything was a lengthy process as decisions made should be absolutely correct.
Families should not be prejudged and every family is completely different. Once a child is adopted they have no contact with their family and this can have a profound effect on the child. Our gs was removed from his foster carer to ourselves as an emergency as she had her own opinions, and started to make contacts a little difficult. We had a fab social worker, even though this foster carer called her to me all the time. Uncomfortable and unprofessional.

My lo has been waiting 3 years nearly while the mum keeps apealing

The mum has lost at the highest court in the uk now lo is too old to be adopted

My feeling is that the Childs needs awakes should. Come before the parent when this happens adoptions will naturally speed up bout while the courts are more concerned with the parents rights this will never happen

Also the government need to listen more to drug charities on how long it takes a long term drug user to become clean if the did far more children who not just be removed but put up for adoption from day dot

A child in care a
Ways dose better than a child left with in a abusive family

I agree maypole1 but not every mother is the same. Family should come first we would NEVER have let our gs be adopted. Our family was there for him no matter what. Birth family is very important. Not all circumstances involve drug addicts either or abuse. I agree if abuse is the case without a doubt a child needs to be protected. I am sad to hear that your little one is too old to be adopted. There are also a lot of children that should be in care due to parents in abusive relationships addicted to drugs etc and are not. There are a lot of children being failed.
I just think an open mind should be used when dealing with any children and their families, they are not all the same. Adoption should be the last resort.

How many chances do you give a parent a chance to sort themselves out?

All the while the childs getting older for me personally

A year is more than enough time to get it together baring mind the parent is keeping up regular contact and NOT having any more children during time time.

My los mum had 3 since lo has been in care

Shame their are parents who can turn it around but I believe more than a year of arseing around not Turning upto contact, then I angrier the child has to come first.

Tome also having more children with as many fathers while your child is in care shows your not committed to change

And that's my point you say family should come first I say The needs of the child shoo
D come first

Pinkchoccy - I don't think any of the posters are actually against the argument that adoption should be the last resort. They appear to me to be saying once the decision has been made that it is unsafe for the child to return to the care of the parents and this has been put to the courts, together with how the LA intend to serve the best interests of the child throughout their lifetime, and the judge has agreed and maybe made a Placement Order (allowing for the child to be placed for adoption) there is still a long wait before a child is placed, dependent of course upon the individual child or sibling group.

They also seem to be saying (quite rightly in my view) that the assessments of the birth parents goes on and on and there are lengthy waits for court hearings, which can often be adjourned and all the time the child is getting older and wating for a permanent home that every child deserves.
The Public Law Outline is a fairly recent piece of legislation that is meant to speed up the process but there was a great deal of skepticism about how well this would work. Social services are severely under resourced and there is insufficient court time to deal with these matters in a timely fashion.

You say you would never have allowed your grandson to be adopted, but you were not in a position to make this decision. I assume the child was inthe care of the LA and you made a successful application for a SGO which is I agree by far the best way for a child to be, in his extended family. If however on assessment for a SGO youwere found to be unsuitable for whatever reason, then the LA would have had to say so to the court (giving a full explanation of their reasons) and if the judge had agreed with them you would not have been granted the order and the Judge could have made a placement order and your grandson could have been adopted. I am very glad for you that this did not happen, but I have known one or two cases where this has happened. I just think it's important to give accurate information about these important matters.

Time wise it is awful it was the same for us and there is nothing you can do about that it is the courts that reschedule hearings. If they do not have all the actual facts and information then the hearings can go on and on. This of course is not good. Decisions can't be made unless everything has been tried to ensure that the childs needs come first.

The childs needs definately come first but birth family should come first before adoption. That was my point that every family is different and should not be stereotyped. I would have done anything at all asked of me to be there for my gs. Adoption would have been like a death to our family unthinkable.
My gs went into care but was moved from the fc as an emergency as she was not very helpful, and kept making unprofessional personal comments when and duing the times that I was picking baby gs up for contacts. We had contacts from birth for gs until we went to panel and were approved ourselves as foster carers. We then had full time care of him until we became special gaurdians following numerous court cases.

His Mum was placed with foster carer at the beginning but left. It must have been very difficult for her as I found the foster carer hard to deal with as an adult. She was very strong minded and gsons mum came from a childrens home having been failed by her mother and abused. She was not strong enough to deal with somebody who was telling her that you don't do it like that etc. She wasn't given much of a chance tbh. Me and my dh were fall back carers as we did not want our gs adopted. We are fully aware that we are grandparents and so is our gs. We do not try to be mummy and daddy. He knows about his parents and has contact with them, much of what he would have been denied. He is a happy little 3 year old boy who asks a lot of questions. His parents were aged 16.

For clarification; Let's assume a child is given up for adoption at or before birth in a planned manner and SW's have tried to persuade birth parents to keep the baby, without success.

Then.....how can the mechanisms of social services and all the paperwork be pared down to allow the baby to be placed before his second birthday.

My question was really if anyone has ideas about how their LA's work well to speed up adoptions that are (yes maybe sadly) inevitable.

I know of families where 4, 5 or 6 children have already been adopted yet birth parents have the right to try to parent the "new" baby. Processes are the same as before and more often than not the baby joins other siblings in adopted familes. This delay is sad for the new parents, not in the baby's best interest and gives false hope to the birth parents.

Many reports say children have a right to be with birth family but I think it is their right to have a safe, enriching family environment, where all their needs are met, and quickly.

Rather than debate if individuals should be adopted, think of children languishing in foster care who would benefit from a stable adoption. How can this be achieved sooner rather than later?

Pinkchoccy - your story sounds very sad and familiar. I'm pleased it all worked out for you and your GS.

Without meaning any offence, and without reference to your own situation, I sometimes find it difficult when I have read a foster child's history and they are then placed back with grandparents.

The grandparents have failed one generation and the current trend is that they are best to parent another generation. The parents are a complete mess and my sympathy goes out to them because I know how much they want to parent a baby and be loved by their baby - most likely because they have never been loved by the very grandparents their baby is to live with.

It puzzles me? When things start to go wrong, isn't it difficult for the grandparents not to say "you're just like your Mum!" Especially if the baby is born a recovering drug addict, more likely to become dependant on drugs if ever offered them.

Grandparents are put in a really difficult position. Open adoptions would offer everyone the chance to keep in touch but they must be tricky to police.

I totally agree it's sometimes the very same family who ignored the neglect or abuse and waited for the school or nabiour to phone ss who then want to parent the child

I once had a lo who was dirty had lice, scabees and was sleeping on a matteress on the floor

The school raised the alarm now are you telling me that grandparents who lived six doors down had no clue yet want to parent the very child they failed to protect from their daughter neglect

I am sure that's not the case with pinkhoccky but this happens all to often

Children sit in care while we wait and see if parents can finally get together with the fourth or fith child

The best predictor of further behaviour is past behaviour

Social Sevices are there to protect children. If protecting them means taking them out of a home where they are being abused and or neglected, and placed with adoptive parents then that is what social services will do , and rightly so.

In all the cases of children I have looked after the extended family have been approached to care for the child and the parents, if they wish to regain care of the child, have been provided with adequate services to support them.

When these options fail the child is usually too old for adoption (Bearing in mind that most adopters want children under 5 years old). The child is then left in long term care untill they move on to independent living.

All children have a right to be protected and to grow up within a family that they see as theirs, whether it be birth family or adoptive family.

Sadly the actions of birth parents and extended family insisting they do not want the child adopted yet prove, through lengthy assessment periods, they cannot care for the child themselves, deny the child the right to a secure, stable childhood within a family he can call his own.

Foster carers and Social Services are not responsible for children languishing in care.

The Court now requires so much evidence that the birth family are unsuitable that parents are given too much time, via support and asssessments IMO.

The Courts wold be better looking at the needs of the child, rather than the family. After all if the child was removed because he has suffered abuse or neglect then why put him through more?

Seldom does a parent turn their lives around to adequately parent. Most do not and the child then ends up back in care, after suffering more abuse and neglect.

Hi fostering, thank you for your comments we had a pre birth plan that we were fall back carers were passed as foster carers, then we got special gaurdionship of our gs. My own youngest son is 7 and my gs is 3. I was a grandma at 39. So we were young enough to take on this role. I am the mother of the son not the Mum. The Mum was put into a care home as a teenager due to abuse from parents. She did not know how to look after a baby emotionally as she was very damaged. Very scared! Couldn't get her into a Mother and Baby unit. She was put into foster care with her baby. The foster carer would not let her care for her baby supervised with out constantly underminding her. She left and she didn't return. I had already been attending contacts every day and over night. Gs had to stay in foster care until we were passed as foster carers. This we had to wait via court. In between the foster carer was challenging all the plans for gs and me having another young child. Wouldn't encourage me to be involved while at her house etc. She was very difficult to deal with as she was stereotyping us I felt. It is quiet a generalisation to be honest to say that parents are a complete mess due to their parents, but that was the case with gs birth mother. Not all drug addicts are that way due to bad parenting either it is usually the company they keep. Parents can go through hell with drug addict kids. Our gs is loved a lot and we fought to keep him. He is challenging to say the least and I would never say you are just like your mum! We went through a vigorous assessment and would not have been passed if we were inadequate. I understand that any grandparent taking on their grandchildren would have to go through a long and thorough assessment too. These thinks take time to make sure that decisions are made correctly and to benefit the child. Open adoptions would be a lot better for some families but not all. Safety must come first. Maypole1 the situation that you describe is extreme and I am amazed at parents having more children knowing that they will go into care, very bad!
Peppapigbutty I agree with you it just is a bit generalised that every family is abusive. In those cases I agree bu speeding up adoptions could have an effect on good families who want to be there for their children.

All the cases woe have are Extream or they would not been in care I have never had a child were I couldnt see the reason why they were with us be it a drug addicted baby or a child whos been abandoned by their parents.

But well done you for stepping in for your grandson

May I ask why your son was not able to look after his child? With your support ....

Hi Pinkchoccy.

I am pleased that a happy outcome has been reached for your GS. I wish more extended family stepped up to the mark to take care of the children.

Sadly, in my experience, children come into care because extended family do not wish to take care of them. Extended family are ALWAYS sought as family is the prefferred option. Yes it is very likely that the child is placed in foster care whilst an assessment on the proposed family is undertaken. SS need to be as sure as they can be that they are not placing the child in another abusive situation.

I have not said that every family is abusive. I said that extended birth families who come forward to care for the child are in a minority. And very often (And I do not mean ALWAYS) children who are placed back within the family unit are abused further and end up back in care.

I would like to echo Maypole's question. Is there a reason your son was not awarded care of your GS?

I have experienced a LO moved from our care within a few days of placement to live with a non-blood relative.

The extended (and elderly) family member had come forward the day before offering to care for this 3 year old.

The relative didn't undergo any extensive checks and I'm also aware of many fostering panels asked to pass family carers with whom a child has already resided for years. These relatives would not normally pass as foster carers but it is unlikely that they will be turned down at panel because a child has already been with them for a lengthy period.

I am not generalising but there are definitely descrepencies.

I know of 2 sets of children taken in by grandparents from foster homes who later were back in care because grandparents couldn't cope. I wish you much luck pinkchoccy because the outcomes for vulnerable children who have had a bad start, are bleak.

There are so many parents having baby after baby in the hope that they can keep one yet each one is kept in care instead of released for adoption because of the legalities which cannot be in the child's best interest. The law appears to put the human rights of the parents first not that of the child.

I'm certain that the law should be changed to move some children through the system quicker towards adoption, without penalising those birth families that should have their children back.

Pinkchoccy I am so pleased there are grandparents such as yourself and I am sure your grandson is having the very best in life.

My second placement was an 18 month old. Removed from parents because both parents were heroin addicts and LO was neglected. His case went to Court.

In the interim his mother asked to be considered for LO to be rehabilitated with her - she had seperated from father and swore she was no longer using. SS pulled out all the stops and mother was awarded all the support going. Court Hearings came and went.

By the time the child was 3 it was decided that mother was not able to put her child's needs before her own and the plan was adoption.

Grandparents then asked for child to be placed with them. Grandmother was 68. Grandfather was 72 and disabled. They were assessed. Because of their ages and disibility the assessment was not good. Birth mothers younger sister then "agreed" to help out if child was placed with grandparents. (She had 4 children ranging from 7 years to 6 months old).

On this basis the child was placed with grandparents. By this time he was 4 and a half.

Child came back into care at age 6. Mothers sister did not help out and she stated she was co-oerced into agreeing to help out so that child would not be adopted.

The child was neglected (although not deliberately) by the grandparents and when he came back into care he had not moved on in his development, as grandparents provided no stimulation or age appropriate experiences. He was also suffering attachment disorder and other behaviour difficulties, therefore rendering him "unadoptable".

Pinkchoccy do you think the child should have been placed for adoption at 2 years of age or allowed to remain in the care system for the rest of his minority as SS wasted too much time bowing to the needs of his birth family?

Hi fishtank first of all I know tyhe time factor is horendous but thank god we had this time as first parents had to undergo assessment, then we had to undergo assessment. There were lots of court cases and luckily we were having lots of contracts with gs. Our circumstances did not involve parents as heroin addicts they were just young my son was 15 years of age. I am absolutely amazed that child was placed with grandparents of that age! If the family is safe and able my point is that they should be considered and speeding up adoptions may deny them this. We had a fab sw. That child you speak of has been let down so badly and what you describe is terrible. The difference with us is that we had gs from birth and he moved in permanently with us at 4 months. I think this child should have been adopted at two. Our local authority must work differently because I know there was an age limit and luckily we were young enough. We had to go through the assessment process with invasive questioning just as if we were going to adopt.

Hi fostering grandparents are usually older than we are. He has great grandparents aged 65 who are grandparents to my own children. Both me and my dh are family people we don't smoke, drink or have eve taken drugs. We have loved our children and love our gs. We have simple family values. I think it is terrible for the child to end up back in care with grandparents not coping. This surely is a failure also by ss as they have not carried out thorough assessments! In my opinion where birth family can work it is better for the child.
Maypole 1 my gs was not addicted to drugs when he was born, he was with a mum who had no family because her father commited suicide and her mum abused the children. She was taken into care as a teenager so lived in a care home. At 16 she was given a flat to live in. My son met her and moved in with her. She became pregnant and I was unaware she was until ss knocked on my door to tell me the baby would be taken into care and woulkd we want to be the carers. They felt that she would be unable to care for a baby as she could not look after herself. She was self harming etc. My son took on the role as her carer. We originally went to court with the plan that I would support my son caring for his son. One day he just didn't want to go to contact, he didn't feel capable and hated being watched by sw and gaurdian through the assessment process. They told me he was doing brilliantly to.
He didn't want to take it any further. He was only 15. Now he is so glad that we didn't choose to have gs adopted and he and his son have a fab relationship. Now we have Mum involved to and she is doing really well. Gs would have been denied a birth family that love him.

sorry that was a bit rushed!

Thats ok , But you by default are agreeing with the system them you are saying you son"now" has a good relationship by default saying that insead of baby having a stable family. Form off it is better to keep lo in limbo until your son matured and mum sorted her self out

Love is not enough if it was children would
D not end up in care

I am really very pleased you were able to step in but children should be kept in lmbo until their parents sort it. Out or feel ready

And In your case your lucky your young but as you admitted your self most grandparents will be in their 70 s living on a small pension often estranged from their child often living with aliments themselves are simply not equipped to deal with a child who is withdrawing from drugs or a new born who wakes every four hours or a toddler who needs tuning around after

My own inlaws struggle to look after my 11 year old for more than a weekend they are fit not on a low income but the demands of look after a lively preteen dose were on them and my son has not. Issue

But it sounds like you are doing a fab job

Pinkchoccy - your own son was 15 living in a flat with a 16 year old girl. Your relationship with your son was such that you had no idea you had become a grandparent by your 15 year old son until ss informed you.

I'm pleased it only took 4 months for you to be assessed but this is unheard of in normal practice. It will take between 6 months and possibly up to 2 years for adopters to be assessed. I've no doubt that your GS is in the best possible place but SS definitely rushed it through because you are family.

I can understand a 15 year old not having the maturity to work with social services to prove his parenting ability but on the other hand, do you recognize that, if you had been assessed to adopt in normal circumstances some may view your own son's behaviour as unfavourable with regard to your own parenting skills and would be unhappy about a LO being placed with yourself?

What will your GS be doing with his life at 15? Will you be a greatgrandma at 54 or will he be at school working hard towards GCSE's?

I have carried out many applications for SGO and in almost every case, happily have been able to give a positive recommendation. This always (by definition) involves parents of the mother or father of the child. It is a very complex business to assess whether the parenting of the relative's child (usually grandparents)is a factor that is of significance. Sometimes it is, and sometimes not, and also of course, people change over time as they mature and their circumstances change. So whilst a young mother did not do so well with her own child, it does not necessarily mean that she is now much more mature, stable, in a stable relationship etc and can parent her grand-child.

I hate to be judgemental pinkchoccy and I think fostering has maybe been rather blunt but I do take her point. It would certainly be a concern to me if parents were happy for their 15 year old son to move into a flat with a 16 year old girl.

The other thing that I find a concern is that you obviously intend the child's parents (your son and his girlfriend) to be a big part of this child's life. I am assuming that SSD and the courts have made the decision that the child's parents are not fit to parent this child (quite understandable at their ages) and therefore the child must be parented by someone else - in this case you as g/parents. However it has to be on the basis that you are acting as parents although are in fact g/prts and will protect the child from his parents if necessary (even though his father is your son) You seem to be saying that you are all going to be involved in this child's life. SO if your son and his girlfriend decide they want to take the child away for the weekend, or overnight somewhere, you would allow that??

Please forgive me if I am getting the wrong idea but that is what I am picking up from your post.

Nananina - I accept your valid and interesting point about 1st time parents maturing to provide better care for their grandchildren, but pinkchoccy has only had 3 years for a change in attitude to take place. Her son is still only 18!

Personally,I would have wanted to know where my 15 year old son was and who he was with and why he wasn't upstairs doing his homework not getting a 16 year old pregnant. Aren't 15 year olds still minors and the responsibilty of their parents?

To return to the original point, pinkchoccy's GS was returned to her after 4 months which is super quick so instead of splitting hairs I'd like more examples of how paperwork can by shaved and children placed for adoption instead of cases languishing in courts for years.

How often do parents get their children back after fighting in court for 4 years? Do social services work only to court timetables or can other routes run parallel?

I think that I like the par ell planning that approves adoptive parents also as foster carers so the child is fostered and at the point when the court denies the bio parents the sw file the papers for adoption right then and their thus the child don't have to keep moving and its not an issue if the child is ageing as they Are in the potential forever family.

But the risk will be the child may GO home.

Also I. Think putting in a clear one chance policy so children are not in and out of care for the whole lives meaning if your in care for second time papers will automatically be filed for adoption and no apples will be heard by the courts

Also children who are in voluntary care 3 no shows with out good reason in regard to contact would mean automatic aplliace for a full care order by sw

I had a lo who's mum never showed up for contact not for 18 months but they still were not allowed to apply for a co because the mum argued they hadn't given enough support to get to contact after helping her fund a car she was never heard of again by this time the child was seven bearing in mind the child was three when it came in to care as it took almost another year and a bit for them to get the full care order

I think until judges understand a abused or neglect child always dose better in care than in a abusive family. And that the Childs rights should in every case trump the parents wants we will never change anything also

Allowing sw to be a bit more robust in their language and actions with abusive or neglect full parents also I always believe that were their is a case of abusive or neglect some criminal proceedings would not go a miss after all its against the law all that currently happens is you temporally loose custody of one or all your children expect in the cases that end in death

Fostering - I agree with you about the 15 year old son but sometimes you have to look beneath the top soil in assessments. I have had cases where a young teenager boy has become a father and the g/parents are applying for a SGO. For me the important and essential thing is whether the g/parents are going to protect the child from their son or daughter if this becomes necessary and if I had any doubt that this was not going to be the case I would not give a positive recommendation because this would mean that the child was going to be in the care of a birth father or mother who have been deemed by the court to be unfit parents.

It is difficult for g/parents as there can be a conflict of loyalty but in my view they have to take this important point on board. If they can and everything else is satisfactory about the g/parents, including age, health, personality, ability to provide a safe and nurturing experience for the g/child then I am satisfied.

I also have to interview the parents and their view of the relative's application for an SGO on their child. (They are usually separated by this point and with other partners). I had one case where the g/mthr was saying all the right things about protecting the child from her daughter if it became necessary, but when I interviewed the mother of the child, she said her mother had said when the social workers and court were all out of the way she would let her daughter look after the child. Needless to say the g/mother denied saying this and I insisted on getting them both together and the daughter was very convincing when tackling her mother about what she had said, whereas the g/mother was rather feeble in her protestations that she hadn't said it. I was not able to make a positive recommendation and the court accepteed this and the child went for adoption.

One of the problems about assessments of SGOs is that once the order is made, there is no more involvement from SSD. You can request a 1 yr Supervision Order but in reality this only means a couple of visits at most.

I can't really answer your point about the differences in length of time for speeding up adoptions as each case is different, and each LA is different, some struggling with 40% vacancies in the inner cities and others not having these problems, though recruitment and retention of social workers is a national problem.

Just a point about the SGOs - the Government have laid down in this legislation exactly what has to be covered in the assessment and you are expected to follow the format. The problem is that some very important issues were ommitted. One being the issue of the relative's relationship with their son or daughter which is quite crucial, the g/parents own childhood experiences and their own method of parenting their own children. There are several more issues that are covered in a fostering assessment that are not covered in the SGO guidelines. Any decent s.w. will include these important matters regardless of the fact that they are ommitted, but I am sure there are many that don't do this.

I am told that the govt dept responsible for finalising this legislation "ran out of time" and that is why some important issues have been ommitted.

Sorry if I have strayed from your point about speeding up adoptions. LAs do have to work to court timetables, but only from when the application for an Order is initiated in the court. Prior to this, assessments can go on and on with delays to the child. Children do not have time to wait for their parents to mature, give up drugs whatever, but sadly far there is far too much delay. I think I mentioned some recent legislation called the Public Law Outline which does lay down conditions for lengths of time betwenn certain processes, but I retired just as it was coming on to the statute book, so don't know how well (or not) it is working.