SOCIAL WORKER GUIDELINES FOR ADOPTION

AGENCY DECISION MAKING

Child Approval Cases are no longer considered by the Adoption Panel, they are now considered by an Agency Decision Maker. The Agency Decision Makers currently consider cases on a Thursday

INFORMING
Immediately after a LAC Review, when a decision is made to move Childs Plan over to Adoption, it is the Social Workers responsibility to inform the following:-
Social worker to inform the following 3:
1.  Adoption Panel Admin team via email: internal ; external or telephone 614210. The 8 week deadline commences as soon as the decision to move to adoption is made, regardless of when panel is informed. Informing the Adoption Panel Admin team on the day decision is made ensures the 8 week deadline is more achievable.
The Adoption Panel Admin team require the following information from the SW:
·  Name of Child, DOB and PID Number and name of Legal Rep and CSW.
·  Date of last LAC review, last medical, date of final hearing of case.
·  If consultation has been held with Adoption Social Worker.
·  Court dates ( to ensure decision is made before date of court hearing)
2.  POD Co-ordinator either verbally or via email.
Prompt notification to Pod Co-ordinator as soon as the decision has been made to move to adoption (normally after LAC review). The POD Co-ordinator then processes the relevant medical forms; form PH, form M and form B by following the relevant event procedure. (The Adoption Panel Admin team are responsible for notifying LAC Health Team as and when a child is booked on for a decision.)
3.  Adoption Team via Pod Co-ordinators: Anne Marie Gawthorpe and Hollie Wilson.
Decision Date
Adoption Panel Admin team will ring/email the Social Worker with the decision date and will stipulate the timescales for the paperwork.
Child Approval Decision
To progress with the adoption further the following documents are required for the Child Approval Decision (all documentation is to be sent electronically to the Adoption Panel inbox ):
Tick
1
1a / Legal Memo
Balance Sheet
2 / Adoption Consultation Report
3 / Child Permanence Report Part A must include the following documents:
Part B/C (relevant others)
Part D (sibling information)
Part E (wishes and feelings of child)
Part F (birth Mother’s views)
Part G (birth Father’s views)
4 / Medical Reports
Medical Advisor Report
BAFF form IHA or RHA – completed by medical advisors
Plus the following if available:
BAAF Form MB (Obstetric – mother, neonatal – child)
BAAF Form PH (Report on health of birth parent to share health info)
5 / Adoption Plan
6 / Foster Carers Report
7 / Family Tree or Genogram
8 / Psychological Report and any assessments deemed relevant to the case. SW to check with Legal Section to ascertain which reports need to be submitted to Panel
9 / Photograph, if available.
Notification of Agency Decision Making Meeting
Adoption Panel Admin will send you an email stating the date of the Agency Decision Meeting. You will also receive a meeting request invite via outlook, which will automatically show in your outlook calendar once you accept.
Approval
Social Worker will attend the meeting with the Agency Decision Maker where the case will be discussed and a decision will be made. Social Worker will be informed verbally by the Agency Decision Maker.
Social Worker will then receive the Decision Record and Quality Assurance Form electronically from the Adoption Panel Admin. Any updates/amendments should be completed within 4 weeks of the date the decision was made by the Agency Decision Maker.
Social Worker to forward updated paperwork to the Adoption Panel Admin team email: internal ; external .

Additional Guidance

Medical Advisor

1.  The Medical Advisors are Dr Lorraine Pearson and Dr Naaem Ashraf.

2.  The Medical Advisor completing the child’s medical examination should always have available, before the appointment, completed Forms PH and M/B (which the POD Co-ordinator will process) and it is expected that the Child Care Social Worker will attend the medical examination to share full information of the child. Failure to comply may result in a deferment of the case.

3.  Dr Pearson/Dr Ashraf will complete a medical report which will be sent to the Adoption Panel Admin Team/Child Care Social Worker and this report will then be submitted to the Agency Advisor and Agency Decision Maker along with the rest of the paperwork required.

NB: Please ensure that all medical forms have full information in the ‘Agency Details’ section on the front.

Timescales

·  LAC Review held.

·  Paperwork to Adoption Panel Team (electronically) within 5 weeks ().

·  Adoption Panel Admin team to ensure paperwork is available in shared drive for Agency Advisor to check at 6 weeks.

·  Agency Advisor to notify Adoption Panel Admin team that paperwork has been checked and is ready for the Agency Decision Maker at 7 weeks.

·  Agency Decision Maker to meet with the Agency Advisor and Child Care Social Worker and approve the case by 8 weeks.

There is a guidance note attached re how to complete the CPR but here are just a few things to be aware of:

·  The paperwork deadline is very strict. If you feel that you will not be able to make this deadline or are having difficulty in collating some documents, then please get in touch as soon as possible.

·  The Agency Advisor will identify any spelling errors or incorrect dates etc in the Child Permanence Report and will complete a ‘quality assurance form’ and ask you to amend accordingly. This report will be available for the child to read in future years, so bear this in mind when writing it up.

·  Part 'D' -If the child has siblings, then ensure that you complete this section for each sibling, including half-siblings (even if the plan is to place them together).

·  Parts 'F' & 'G' (birth parent views) - Try to encourage birth parents to hand write this section. If they are not engaging then document this, as well as how often you've tried to engage or that they've had sight of the report but would not comment etc

·  Try and put as much detail as possible about the child, birth parents and siblings for the child's future reference, eg what they look like, personalities, how they interacted with the child etc (try and document the positives).

·  Contact - ensure that current and proposed future contact are well documented between birth parents, siblings, half-siblings and any other relevant family member or person. Where it says sibling 1, 2 etc ensure to document each sibling's name.

·  You may have to remind the Legal Representative for a Legal Memo to ensure that we receive it by the paperwork deadline date.

·  The Agency Decision Makers always find a family tree useful so please try and include one in your paperwork.