Inter Country Adoption

1. Introduction

Since September 2016, the Inter-Country Adoption service for adults resident in Buckinghamshire and wishing to adopt a child resident abroad has been contracted to the Inter-Country Adoption Centre (IAC).

This is a full service for Buckinghamshire's residents from the point of enquiry until the child enters the UK with the adopters.

It is open to all Buckinghamshire's resident enquirers, whether they are first time adopters, adopting again, kinship applicants or have already identified (and sometimes adopted) the child in the state of origin.

All applicants benefit from the specialist information, advice and other support services (including specialist preparation) offered by IAC and the assessment fees include the cost of attendance at the waiters' group and at one adoption support workshop within 2 years of their approval. From time to time, prospective adopters who have been assessed by IAC are also offered the opportunity of free attendance at seminars which are run at this agency.

The current service contract states that the IAC will:

• Receive enquiries and send out information packs which, amongst other material, will include information about IAC's Information Days and about the London Borough of Buckinghamshire's need for domestic adopters;
• Arrange for enquirers to attend an IAC Information Day;
• If, after attendance at an IAC Information Day enquirers wish to proceed, invite them to a counselling interview for prospective inter country adopters;
• After the counselling interview, should prospective adopters wish to proceed and should they appear to meet IAC's eligibility and suitability criteria, will invite prospective adopters to make a formal adoption application to IAC, and will thereafter carry out all aspects of the adoption agency's inter country adoption duties until the stage at which the child returns with the adopters to England;
• Inform Buckinghamshire County Council as applications reach key stages of the process (for example, withdrawal, Agency Decision Maker's decision and DfE certificate issued, IRM (Independent Review Mechanism), child match proposed, child due to return to England) and at any stage should the adopters move out of the London Borough of Buckinghamshire's area;
• Make one post adoption visit on the child's return to England, which will be a joint visit with the Buckinghamshire Adoption Team in the event that the local authority is to take responsibility for monitoring and reporting under the Adoption with a Foreign Element Regulations 2005 (FER 2005);
• Furnish Buckinghamshire with such documents as are required for the local authority to undertake its duties under FER 2005, for those adopters and children where the children have entered the UK without a recognised overseas order having been made and for which the local authority intends to take responsibility for monitoring and reporting under FER 2005;
• Prepare post adoption reports as required by the state of origin in respect of all inter country adopters;
• Seek adopters' evaluation of the IAC services they have received;
• Offer adopters places on one post placement/post adoption workshop, within two years of placement;
• Be willing to be approached in connection with any Ofsted regulatory inspection of Buckinghamshire's adoption service.

Buckinghamshire County Council will:

• Signpost enquiries from prospective inter country adopters to IAC;
• Provide IAC with contact details, as requested, to enable IAC to take up the required checks in respect of inter country adoption applicants resident in the Borough;
• Undertake post placement monitoring and reporting, as set out in FER 2005, in respect of placements where the child is not the subject of a recognised overseas adoption at the time s/he first returns with the adopters to England.

Applications will be accepted from couples or single people.

Applicants will be expected to identify one country from which they wish to adopt and should have a good understanding of that country's culture and be able to demonstrate that understanding. Applicants will be expected to bring any adopted child up in the knowledge that he/she is adopted and to preserve and promote the child's cultural and ethnic origin.

2. Responding to Requests for Information

All requests for information about inter country adoption made by telephone or letter to Buckinghamshire County Council will be responded to promptly and within 5 working days of the first enquiry. Staff in the adoption service will establish that the caller lives in the County and if so will give them the contact details for the Inter Country Adoption Centre (IAC).

The IAC staff will provide advice and information about the adoption process.

This will include information about the nature and implications of adoption, the procedures involved in adopting a child domestically and from overseas, the assessment and post-approval process and charges, the checks required in relation to the prospective adopters and members of the household, and the likely time-scale involved. The information will also include expectations of prospective adopters and how the adoption agency prioritises applications to adopt children from outside the UK and looked after children, including how they are referred to other adoption agencies.

3. Initial Meeting

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

4. Formal Application

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

5. Preparation Groups

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

6. Health

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

7. Checks and References

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

8. Home Study

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

9. Presentation to the Adoption Panel

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

10. After the Adoption Panel's Recommendation

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

11. Representations / Review Procedure

Details covering Sections 3 to 11 inclusive of this chapter can be obtained from the Inter-Country Adoption Agency at:

Inter Country Adoption Centre
First Floor
71-73 High Street Barnet
Herts
EN5 5UR

Telephone: Administration 020 8449 2562 
Telephone: Course Bookings 020 8447 4751
Fax: 020 8440 5675

12. After Approval

Following approval, the IAC's Panel administrative staff will forward to the Department for Education the reports presented to the Adoption Panel, the Adoption Panel minute, the Independent Review Panel's minutes (if applicable) and the written notice of the Agency Decision Maker's decision. The documents must be sent by recorded delivery. Once the documents are sent, the adoption service will usually not be involved further with the application, until a child has been identified by the chosen country.

Some countries, notably India and Thailand, require undertakings from the applicants' local authority to be included in the support documents. A letter confirming this undertaking needs to be given to the applicants for the applicants to include with the documents they have to send to the Department for Education.

The Secretary of State will check whether the statutory requirements have been met and will then decide whether to issue a Certificate of Eligibility and Suitability and inform the adoption service and the prospective adopters of the decision. 

The Certificate, if granted, will state that the prospective adopters have been assessed as suitable to adopt and a child adopted by them will be granted leave to enter the United Kingdom subject to Entry Clearance and any immigration requirements.

The Department for Education will then arrange for the necessary papers to be passed to the relevant overseas authority, which decides whether to accept the application and identifies a child to be matched with the adopters. 

13. Matching

The matching part of the process may be the subject of considerable delay depending on the waiting list of the chosen country.

If the authorities in the relevant country approve the application, when a suitable child is available for placement, they should send the papers to the Department for Education, who will in turn send them to the adoption service and the prospective adopters.

Occasionally, the country will inform the prospective adopters directly; they should be advised during the home study to inform the adoption social worker immediately if this happens.

The preparation of the prospective adopters for the adoptive placement should include the adoption social worker assisting the prospective adopters to gain full information about the child, arranging access to a specialist advice as appropriate and stressing the importance of post-adoption reports consistent with any undertakings given to the child's state of origin.

The adoption social worker should then arrange a face to face meeting with the prospective adopters within 10 working days, where this is practicable, to discuss the child before the prospective adopters make a decision or make any plans to travel to meet the child. The prospective adopters should be given information at this meeting about adoption support and the Medical Adviser's view of the child's health needs, as well as counselling about the uncertainty surrounding the child's future needs.

An allocated social worker from Buckinghamshire will also attend this meeting to ensure any issues and future support needs of the identified child are clearly identified.

Before accepting a child, the applicants must travel to meet the child. Where a couple are applying to adopt, both applicants must travel.

As soon as the prospective adopters have accepted the match, they must notify the adoption agency in writing of this decision. The adoption social worker should notify the Department for Education and advise the prospective adopters to apply for entry clearance for the child, by sending the child's details to the Entry Clearance Officer at the UK Embassy or High Commission closest to the country where the child is living.

14. Post Placement Duties

The Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973 as amended in 1993 enables adoption orders in countries listed in the Order to be recognised in the UK.

Children from Designated Countries

If an Adoption Order has been made in a Designated Country or a country whose adoption orders are recognised under the Hague Convention and specified procedures have been followed throughout, it is recognised under UK law and the child's visa usually states 'for settlement'. The adoption service then has no further involvement other than providing or making arrangements for post-adoption services, and notifying the prospective adopter's GP, the Integrated Care Board and the local education authority (if the child is of school age).

Children from Non-Designated Countries

The arrangements for the placement will vary from country to country; the prospective adopters will either adopt the child in the child's country or bring the child to the UK for the purposes of adoption in a UK Court. 

If an Adoption Order has been made in a Non-Designated Country, the Order is not recognised in the UK. 

The prospective adopters must seek clearance for the child to enter the UK from the nearest British Embassy, Consulate or High Commission. Immigration requirements are set out in the Home Office leaflet on inter country adoption, which is included in the Information Pack. If the Entry Clearance Officer is satisfied that the entry requirements have been met, a visa for a limited period, usually one year, will be issued.

The prospective adopters must notify the adoption service in Buckinghamshire Council within 14 days of arriving in the UK with the child of their intention to apply for an Adoption Order (or their intention not to provide a home to the child). This gives the child the status of a 'privately fostered child' until an adoption order is made and the notice should be acknowledged by the adoption service.

The case should be allocated to a Buckinghamshire Adoption social worker who should notify the prospective adopter's GP, theIntegrated Care Board and the local education authority (if the child is of school age) of the child's arrival in the UK. The allocated social worker must meet the qualifications and experience criteria as set out in Adoption Panel Procedure, Adoption Reports.

The allocated social worker must set up an Adoption Case Record for the child and place on it any information received from the relevant authority in the child's state of origin, the prospective adopters, the Entry Clearance Officer and the DfE.

The social worker must monitor the child's welfare by weekly visits to the family home until the first review, which should be held within 4 weeks of receipt of the prospective adopters' notification. Thereafter the requirement is for the social worker to visit and if necessary, review the placement within 3 months of the first review and then every six months.

The purpose of each review is to consider whether the child's needs are being met and if not, what advice and assistance should be provided; the arrangements for the provision of adoption support and the need for further visits and reviews.

The allocated social worker should advise the prospective adopters of the most appropriate timing of their adoption application. An adoption application cannot be made until the child has lived with the prospective adopters for 6 months or more. It is likely that the prospective adopters will need to apply for an extension of the child's visa, which is usually straightforward if an adoption application has been made.

If no adoption application has been filed within 2 years, a special review should be held to consider the child's needs, welfare and development, the terms of the child's entry clearance and immigration status, the reasons why no adoption application has been made and the options for the child's future permanence.

When the prospective adopters make their adoption application, the Court will notify the adoption service and request that a Court report is produced and supplied directly to the court.

See Court Reports in Placement Order Applications and Adoption/Special Guardianship Guidance for the contents of the report.

When an Adoption Order is made in the UK, it automatically confers British Citizenship on the child provided one of the adoptive applicants is a British citizen at the time the Adoption Order is made.

15. Post Adoption Support

Families who have adopted from abroad may be eligible for some post-adoption support services. They should request an assessment of need by the Adoption Team if they require assistance.

16. Placement Breakdowns

If, after the child is placed, the prospective adopters decide not to proceed with the adoption or an Adoption Order is refused or a Convention Adoption order is annulled, the child will become a Child in Need and services must be provided as necessary to meet the child's needs.

The child's social worker must notify the Department for Education.

The child's social worker must assess the child in accordance with the Assessment Framework, including whether it remains in the child's interests to be placed in the UK and be placed with an alternative adoptive family.

Where it is determined that it would not be in the child's best interests to remain in the UK, the child's social worker must notify the Department for Education. The Department for Education will notify the relevant overseas authority, which will make arrangements for the return of the child.

Where it is determined that it would be in the child's best interests to remain in the UK, the child's social worker must take the necessary steps to identify a suitable alternative placement in accordance with Placement for Adoption Procedure and amend the child's immigration status.

17. Review of Prospective Adopter's Approval

The requirements for reviewing the approval of approved inter country adopters with no placement is the same as for agency adopters, i.e. every 12 months. See Recruitment, Assessment and Approval of Prospective Adopters Procedure, Representations / Independent Review Procedure.