Adoption has always been one of the most emotive areas of family law. The Government says it is recognising this and is planning to consider making changes in the view that many children wait disproportionate times to move on for adoption.
With Devon County Council confirming over 80 children await adoption and with Torbay Council and Plymouth City Council advertising for adopters, the Government has recently announced that it is going to provide further support for private adoption agencies to try and increase the number of adoptions that are dealt with during the course of a year.
The Government has made it clear that it considers the current system of care proceedings and adoption proceedings to be inadequate in meeting the needs of children. The Government has done its upmost to try and shorten proceedings by working with the Courts to bring in a 26 week deadline for care proceedings to be finalised as well as looking at the whole issue of adoption and adoption support.
Adoption can be a challenging process for those applying. Firstly, they have to go through a strenuous process to become adopters which in itself can be off putting. Once they become adopters they need to go through the process of “matching” with children. Adopters have to understand that the majority of children nowadays who are placed for adoption will have come from families where there have been difficulties and will not be without their problems. It is clear from the figures that are being provided that adoptions of older children are far more difficult to find than those aged under 2. The Government has therefore decided that it will assist private adoption agencies with more support for placement of older children.
Local Authority’s have their own adopters approval process as do private adoption agencies. Before going down that route it is important to understand what is needed and therefore discussions with an adoption agency is an important step in the process. If you decided to adopt, how do you go about it?
If you are a local authority adopter then the Local Authority will assist in relation to that process. Similarly the adoption process can be done through the private agency. However, what about difficulties that may arise on adoption? Would the natural family have any say? What about issues arising out of any Court proceedings? To ensure it is as painless a process as possible, it is worthwhile getting good clear legal advice to enable the matter to proceed without delay or stress, to the adopters and the child involved.
The Family Law Company offers a holistic service in relation to adoption processes and is able to give advice and assistance throughout the adoption proceedings.
If you want child adoption advice or just want to find out more about what our family law solicitors offer then visit our adoption section here.
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