The timescale for completing an assessment under the previous system was eight months. However adoption agencies will now be expected to assess and prepare prospective adopters to apply to adopt within six months.
During stage one of the new process, which is expected to last two months, prospective adopters will learn about what is involved in adopting a child and adoption agencies will obtain references for each applicant.
In stage two, which is expected to take four months, prospective adopters will be more intensively assessed and prepared so that they are ready to apply for approval to adopt a child. At the end of six months, they should know if they have been approved to adopt and can then be quickly matched with a child who needs a loving, permanent home.
Coram Adoption, the UK’s largest voluntary adoption agency, has been finding adoptive families for children for more than 40 years. It’s adoption teams in London and the East Midlands, along with its Concurrent Planning team, were all awarded Outstanding by Ofsted in the past year.
Coram welcomes adoption enquires from:
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Single people, married couples and couples in committed, long-term relationships
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People from different ethnicities and religions
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Heterosexual and homosexual people
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People without children and those who are parents already
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Homeowners or those in rented accommodation
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People over the age of 21, who are UK residents and hold no criminal convictions against children