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The Adoption Panel.
When the assessment is completed, the prospective adopters will be given a copy of their report, and will have up to 10 days to make comments. Usually, this involves corrections on issues of fact, and minor alterations to the way in which events or attitudes are described. In the rare event of you and the Link Worker being unable to agree on the contents of the Report, you have the right to submit your own written comments, which will be considered alongside the Form F. The Link Worker will then present the Form 'F' on the family together with the adopter's comments (if any) to the next meeting of the Adoption Panel.
Before any local authority approves an adoptive home, places a child for adoption or agrees adoption as the plan for the child, they must refer the case to their Adoption Panel for a recommendation, prior to making a final decision. In practice, the local authority usually follows its Panel's recommendation.
Prospective adopters who are awaiting approval have the option of accompanying the Link Worker to the Panel, and therefore making themselves available for direct questioning by Panel Members. This is a matter entirely for the adopters, and if you decide against making a personal appearance at Panel, then no inference will be made from this. Towards the end of your assessment, the Link Worker will wish to discuss this issue with you in detail.
The membership of the Adoption Panel can consist of Elected Councillors, foster or adoptive parents, Social Workers, Independent members such as teachers, a legal adviser and a medical adviser.
When the Panel recommends a family's approval, this will be for a specific number and gender of children, of a particular age range (for example - up to 2 children, of either gender, aged 0-4). It is possible, but not usual, for the Panel to be asked to recommend at the same meeting that a particular child is placed with the family.
The Panel's recommendation then goes forward to the Deputy Director (Children and Young People's Services) for a decision. If this decision is not to approve a prospective adopter, the adopter will receive written notification of this, with the reasons for the decision. If the Panel recommendation is different, then the adopter receives a copy of this as well.
The adopter then has a period of 40 days in which they can either make representations to the local authority, or apply for an Independent Review. If the adopter makes representations, then the Deputy Director may refer the application back to the Panel for a fresh recommendation. If the adopter requests an Independent Review, then a separate panel, independent of the local authority, will examine the application before making a recommendation to the local authority.
The Deputy Director will then make a decision, based on the new set of recommendations, and if the decision is still not to approve, the adopters will be informed of the reasons, with the panel recommendations included where they are different.
