New ‘Fostering for Adoption’ information published
14 June 2013New information about ‘Fostering for Adoption’ has been published today, with the aim of ensuring that more children can live with their permanent carers at the earliest possible stage of the adoption process.
Fostering for Adoption, which is among a range of new measures from the Department for Education to improve fostering and adoption, allows those who want to adopt children to foster them while they are waiting for the court to decide if adoption is the right plan for the child.
This would provide continuity of care for the child, as they could be placed with their potential adoptive parents rather than temporary foster carers at a much earlier stage in the process. If the court later decides that the child should be adopted and the adoption agency approves the ‘match’ between these carers as adopters and the child, the placement becomes an adoption placement. However, fostering for adoption carers will need to live with this uncertainty until the decision is made and be aware that occasionally, the courts may decide that the child will move back home.
New guidance about the process, commissioned by UK children’s charity Coram and written by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering, has been produced for social workers and other professionals so that all those involved understand what they need to do to ensure it works well.
There is also a leaflet ‘Becoming A Fostering for Adoption Carer’, which explains the process and how potential carers can decide if the process is right for them. The leaflet and details about others ways to provide a stable, loving home for a child are available in the Fostering for Adoption section.
“If you would like to know more about ‘Fostering for Adoption’ or have any other questions about adopting a child in England, do give our trained advisors a call,” said Gemma Gordon-Johnson, Head of Service at First4Adoption.
Coram, along with the Coram Children’s Legal Centre and Adoption UK, is part of the consortium that runs First4Adoption on behalf of the Department for Education.
The First4Adoption information line 0300 222 0022 is open 10am-6pm on Monday – Friday.