Adoption

Adoption Service
Atlas House
Corporation St
St.Helens
WA9 1LD

01744 671212

adoption@sthelens.gov.uk

Adoption is a legal process that transfers the responsibilities and duties of a birth parent to an adoptive parent.  For many different reasons, some children cannot live with their birth parents and adoption enables children to have a stable, secure upbringing as a full and legal member of a new family. An adopted child becomes a new member of a new family, taking their surname and assuming the same rights and privileges as a birth child, including the right of inheritance.

Please look at our frequently asked questions for information about our service and children within St Helens who require adoptive placements.

Expression of Interest Forms are available online. Alternatively you can request our information pack by emailing adoption@sthelens.gov.uk or call us on 01744 671212. We will send you an information pack including a booklet and an Expression of Interest Form within 24 hours hours of your enquiry.  Please complete the form and return it to us in the envelope provided.Once we have received your enquiry form, we will contact you with details of our next information meeting or to arrange an initial visit within your home. This visit provides you with an opportunity to ask any further questions you may have and will also help you to decide if you would like to proceed with your application and attend our training course.  The adoption training groups take place every two months.Following completion of the preparation training course, if you decide that you wish to be assessed and we feel it is suitable for you to proceed, your assessment will then commence.

The whole procedure from your initial enquiry to presentation at panel should take no more than eight months. This is a required timescale set by the National Adoption Standards for England. There are 4 key stages in becoming an approved adopter:  

1. Your initial enquiry followed up by a home visit by a social worker from the Adoption Team. 

This visit can tell you more about adoption and is one of your opportunities to ask lots of questions!  

2. Your formal application to become an adopter, the statutory checks and the preparation groups. 

You will need to complete a detailed application form, which includes your permission for us to carry out detailed background checks with Police, Local Authorities where you have lived over the last 10 years, Education, employers and various other relevant agencies. We will require proof of your identity (passport, birth/marriage certificate) and ask you to undergo a health check with your own GP to ensure that you do not have any major health problems. We ask for three personal referees, including one family member. The preparation training course, as well as giving you more detailed information about what adoption entails, also gives you an opportunity to meet others who are wanting to adopt, as well as some experienced adopters who help run the course.

3. The visits to your home by a social worker to complete the 'Prospective Adopters' Report.

The report will cover such information as the type of family life you will be able to offer a child, your views on bringing up children and how your own background may have influenced who you are today. It will also look into the possible attributes of the child who may fit into your family.  

4. The Adoption Panel and the decision about approval. 

The Adoption Panel is made up of independent members who have interest and knowledge about adoption, such as an adoptive parent and an adopted person as well as two social work representatives from St.Helens Council. The members will have read the Prospective Adopters Report and will make a recommendation on your suitability to adopt. You are invited to attend the Adoption Panel both to ask and answer any questions. The Senior Assistant Director, Children and Families then makes a decision about approval, taking into account the Adoption Panel's recommendation. 

When you are approved, the process of linking you with a child or children will begin. The Adoption Team meet every 3 weeks to consider the children waiting for an adoptive placement and the adopters approved by the Agency. The social worker who worked with you during the assessment process will then discuss any children with you who the Adoption Team identify as a potential match with you. You will be given lots of information and an opportunity to meet the child's social worker and current foster carer if you decide that you would like to be matched with a particular child.

St Helens Adoption Service is part of a consortium called Adoption 22 that links local authorities in the North West region. As a result of this, adoptive families and children needing permanent placements can often be matched regionally. In some circumstances, you could be matched with a child from another part of the country via the National Adoption Register.

The Adoption Panel then consider whether or not a particular child should be placed with you for adoption. If the Panel recommendation is agreed by the Agency Decision Maker then arrangements begin for you to meet the child and begin the transfer process. The transfer period enables you to get to know your child and for the child to begin to get to know your family. When everyone is confident a 'move in' day is agreed.

10 weeks after the child has moved into your home you can lodge an application to adopt the child with the Court. If the Adoption order is granted the child's legal relationship with their birth family ends and you become the child's legal parents.

Yes - Our first priority is to find families for children from St Helens who are in need of adoptive families.

St Helens will currently prioritise potential adopters who can consider:

• Children of school age
• Sibling groups who need to stay together
• Disabled children of all ages
• Children who have health problems or whose future development is uncertain
• Children with mixed ethnicity or from minority backgrounds

Throughout the process of becoming an adopter, you will have a social worker who will advise and support you. This service can continue after you have legally adopted your child, if you want ongoing support. Adoption is a lifelong commitment, which can throw up different issues at different times. The Adoption Team are here to help and support you when you need it.

We also have an adoption support group, run jointly with our neighbouring authorities, Halton and Warrington. St Helens Adoption Service has a dedicated Adoption Support Social Worker who will provide support and advice on a one to one basis. Support may include training, counselling, financial help and referrals to specialist agencies.