X. The Application Process, Page 7
What’s Going on with the Birth Family and the Child During All This?
When a child comes into care for whatever reason, including when a birth mother herself approaches an agency to have her child adopted, there are assessments to be made, meetings to attend, reports to write and decisions to be taken. The process is completely independent of your application to adopt, of course, because in most cases the child is taken into care well before you come on the scene. But there will of course be a tie-in with your application if you have applied to adopt a child in your own extended family or circle of friends who is not in care.
There will be an assessment of the child’s development, strengths, problems and needs, what kind of remedial help or treatment she might need, and what kind of family or residential care she needs (e.g., foster care, a new permanent family, a children’s home, return to her birth family or other relatives). This may involve social workers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, teachers, the police, etc., depending on the circumstances.
Her family will be assessed, too, to help decide whether it will be possible for her to return to them and with what kind of preparation and continuing support, or whether some other part of her extended family can offer her a safe and loving permanent home. The issue of continuing contact with her birth parents will also be considered. Assessment of the birth family will include areas such as domestic violence, abuse, housing, finances, and medical problems which may impact on the child, such as genetic disorders in the family.
A number of factors can affect the way the assessments are carried out, such as whether the child is a baby being given up for adoption at birth, whether the child’s time with her parents has been damaging or not, the child’s age, any congenital problems she has, traumas or neglect suffered in the family, whether the parents and family are co-operative, in prison or dead, and whether the child was placed in care by the parents voluntarily or by court order against their wishes.
The child has her equivalent of Form F, called Form E, in two parts. It pretty well parallels Form F. Part I is the more factual, and calls for (this is based on the 1996 revision of the form):
- Details of the agency and social workers for the child,
- Child’s name, birthdate, sex, legal nationality, ethnicity,
- Legal status as regards eligibility for placement,
- Other adoption or fostering agencies involved,
- Any property rights the child has,
- Current address and names of current carers,
- Kind of placement sought, including other children in a sibling group intended to be placed together,
- Matching considerations: ethnicity, religion, language, geographical area (important if face-to-face contact with members of the birth family is to be maintained),
- Contact with previous families (type of contact and with whom): current and future,
- More specific categories of life history or special needs to be considered (e.g., sexual abuse, visual and hearing handicap, mental illness, HIV, mental handicaps, educational special needs),
- Health in general and any current treatment, any genetic factors involved,
- Education: current school, special needs or statements, achievements,
- Placement history: ages, types of placement, names of carers, duration,
- Short essay-type sketch of the child and placement needs, including the child’s own input where possible,
- Siblings: names, sex, birthdates, relationships, ethnicity, where they are living, or a description of their care plan, contact with them (now and proposed for the future),
- Birth mother: name, birthdate and place, address, spouse or partner, extent and quality of contact with the child and any related court orders, descriptive notes about physical appearance, personality, interests, wishes and feelings about matching ethnicity or religion, marital status, when she last cared for the child, ethnicity, legal nationality, religion, occupations, counselling received, understanding about the care plan and agreement to it, whether she will voluntarily consent to adoption or a freeing order or is likely to contest the placement in the courts,
- Birth father: as for birth mother, plus information about his genetic paternity and parental responsibility status,
- Information about any other guardians, legal parents (including previous adoptive parents) or other persons with parental responsibility, including how they came to become involved with the child,
- The child: her own wishes and feelings about the circumstances and care plan (and how much she can understand of it), counselling history, religious views,
- A summary of any legal advice received about the child’s care plan,
- Place for the child’s signature, if required.
Part II is more discursive, and covers the three main areas birth family, the child, and the care plan. It expands on the bare bones of Part I.
Next: Chapter XI: Going to Panel
© Roger Ridley Fenton
