XI. Going to Panel, Page 4
The Match Is Not Approved
This can happen either as Round One (being put forward simultaneously for approval in principle and as parents for a specific child) or as Round Two (having been previously accepted in principle, either by the same agency or a different one, you have now been put forward as parents for a particular child, as the only applicants or as part of a pool). In either case the news is very disheartening.
The panel can recommend against the social worker’s advice. We know; it happened to us once. For some reason they think you aren’t the right family for the child, and they tell the social worker to go back and try harder. This news is devastating. It’s our equivalent of a miscarriage. You’ve learned about this child, maybe met her, possibly been led to believe the panel’s approval was a shoe-in, as we were. The social worker may herself have thought there would be no snags. Or maybe the social worker warned you beforehand that the approval was going to be problematic. But it doesn’t matter today. You will be feeling something between keen disappointment and utter desolation.
You can appeal against a negative matching decision, but you have virtually no chance of success on the grounds that the decision is wrong, only on procedural matters. However this in no way reflects on your suitability as adopters. If the child in question comes from the agency who originally approved you as adopters, you will be considered for the next suitable child just as before, without prejudice and probably without favour. Adoption agencies do not operate like taxi ranks. After having had a match refused we went on to adopt another three children. If you had previously been approved in principle and this child was found through a clearing house or published profile or advertisement, keep looking, and the clearing house will probably continue to consider you for other children — the child’s agency will probably also consider you for other children in their care, either children already on their books or children who come to them in the future. Don’t give up!
It may be that the agency will want to tweak some of their information base about you (specifically, about the kind of child who would fit in with your family). You should be visited by a social worker for counselling very soon after, if a matching has been disapproved.
Your Application to Adopt in Principle Is Rejected
This section applies where you applied to adopt but there was no specific child being considered.
The person who makes the decision whether or not to accept you as adopters is a senior staff member of the agency, not a member of the panel. This person does not have to follow the panel’s recommendations, although it is unusual not to. If the panel recommends that you be turned down and the decision maker disagrees and accepts you, well and good, and you will probably never be the wiser. If the decision maker rejects your application for any reason, you have to be notified in writing and told the reasons why. If the panel recommended accepting you but the decision maker went against this, you must also be told about that discrepancy. You then have 28 days in which to lodge an appeal, which must be considered. The agency decides whether or not there is any point in referring your case back to the Panel. If so, the Panel must reconsider your application as if they had not seen it before (the referral can be to the same Panel, to another Panel of the same agency, if they have more than one, or even to a Panel from an entirely separate agency). The second Panel’s decision is binding, although you can still make use of the agency’s formal complaints procedures. The procedures for appeal are contained in the Adoption Agencies Regulations 1997. This procedure is being changed by secondary legislation following on the Adoption and Children Act 2002, so this paragraph may well be out of date if you need it. In any case, your social worker must tell you exactly how to go about making an appeal if you want to do so.
However, if your application is rejected on the grounds of a previous caution or conviction for a crime against a child, there is no right of appeal. If that is given as the grounds for rejection and you think there has been a mistake (i.e., there is no such caution or conviction) you have the chance to tell the agency and for the mistake to be investigated. If it is shown to be a mistake, the agency will reconsider. But the only appeal is against the fact of the conviction, not against whether the conviction was just or should be disregarded.
Even if you are rejected by one agency you can still apply to another. You are required to tell the second agency about your failed application and they will very likely contact your first agency to discuss it with them.
Is it worth applying to a second agency? Yes, there are definitely enough cases of people being turned down by one agency only to be accepted later by another to make it worth the effort if you feel the reasons for your rejection by the first agency were because of misunderstandings or unfair treatment. You really need to study and understand the reasons for your rejection first, though, to be sure that you have a reasonable chance of success. There may be specific things you can do to improve your chances the second time around: change aspects of your lifestyle or home, tell your unsavoury younger sister to move out, stop smoking, trade in the Rottweiler for a Westie ...
Next: Chapter XII: Waiting for a Placement
© Roger Ridley Fenton
