After approval
Once approved, your profile is shared with children’s social workers, and you get to see children’s profiles. Your social worker will help to find children whose needs you could potentially meet. The match is approved by a regional adoption service panel and then introductions will start where you gradually get to know the child, or siblings, and welcome them into your life.
Step 1
Matching you with a child
Once you are approved to adopt, the search will begin for a child whose needs you can meet. Occasionally your agency will already have a child in mind for you, which can make the matching process much shorter for you and the child.
Matches may be found in several ways:
- Through the Adoption Register Wales. You will be encouraged to place your details on the register when you are approved, your social worker will explain how the register works and how to use it.
- Through an Adoption Activity Day. These events are held on annual basis and provide more information about the children across Wales who are waiting for a family.
- Through local, regional or national Profiling Events. Here your details and those of children are shared in a safe and confidential environment.
When your agency identifies a child who they think is suitable for you, your social worker will exchange information with the child’s social worker. This is your chance to find out more about the child. You will see a video or photos of them and get to meet key people in their life, such as their current foster carer. Once you have all the information about the child and feel ready to proceed the adoption agency will present the match to the adoption panel.
Step 2
Meeting your child
When your match is approved by the agency responsible for the child, the next stage is perhaps the most exciting, meeting your child for the first time! You will get to know one another through a programme of introductory visits. Then, when you are all ready, they will move from their foster family to join you in your home. Of course, when your child or children move in there will be a period of settling in and adjustment, and during this time the agency will continue to visit and support you.
Step 3
Adoption Order
After a minimum of 10 weeks, you can apply to the court for an Adoption Order to make the adoption legal. Your social worker and the child’s social worker will help you decide when the time is right to make the court application. When the court grants an Adoption Order all legal parental responsibility transfers to you and the child will take your surname. Following the granting of the adoption order social workers will continue to provide a helping hand. They will be able to share a wide range of support strategies and emotional support for as long as you need it.
