Once the adoption order has been granted, you will be taking on the financial responsibility for looking after the child/children. Like any other parents, you may be eligible for a number of benefits or grants, depending on your household income. You’ll be able to discuss these options with a social worker. For further information, please refer to our ‘resources page’.
During the initial stages of the adoption process, your finances will be looked through carefully. You’ll need to provide proof of bills, your monthly income, payslips, bank statements and a credit check will be taken. It’s unlikely you will be approved for adoption if you are currently going through financial hardships.
Not by law, however, we encourage you to be open to once a year letterbox contact, where you send an update of the child to your social worker, who will then show the birth parents. The birth parents can also send a letter through the social worker – it’s up to you if you wish the letter with your child.
You will be able to apply for permanent adoption after two months of the child being with you.
The average age of a child at adoption is 3 years old.
You cannot apply to become an adoptive parent if you or anyone living in your household has a criminal conviction or has been cautioned for specified criminal offences against children and/or some sexual offences against adults. This will be covered in stage one, before you are allowed to proceed.
It’s important that your adoptive child has a strong sense of their family history and cultural identity. By embracing their heritage and culture, you can help assure that they develop into healthy adult.
It’s possible but how long it takes for you to be matched to a child under 2 depends on how flexible you are with what ethnicities you are willing to adopt. If the child is under 2, it is advisable to be open with adopting from non-Muslim parents.
You can raise the child as you wish, however, if the child is coming from a different faith group then it would be best to teach them about the religion of the family they were born into as well as Islam and then allow them to decide with faith they would like to choose as they grow up.
Absolutely. if you are viewed as having any prejudices you will not get approved. It would also help to be open minded on areas of the age of the child you are looking to adopt otherwise you may add on months/years before you are matched.
Yes. A social worker will visit your home and check if it is safe and suitable for a new addition to your family. You will need to have an empty bedroom spare for your adopted child. This is to ensure that the child has a safe, private space to call their own. In addition, you must have your own bedroom and any other occupants in your house must also have their own rooms.
– You will be required to give details of three-character references each – only one can be from a family member. In total, 6 separate references will be asked of you if you’re adopting as a couple. Your referees will be sent questions by the social workers and they will need to fill out a written reference. One referee will be picked to be interviewed in person by the social worker. Your employer will also need to send a written reference.
– You will need to provide details of all of your previous partners/spouses to be contacted for a reference.
– You will need to provide a detailed medical report
– Give details on your income and finances.- A credit check and DBS (criminal) check will be done.
Depends on your child selection criteria and when a child fits that criteria. The more flexible you are then the faster you will be allocated a child to adopt. Normally it takes 6 to 12 months, but can be faster or longer, it all depends on your willingness to be open-minded. If you wish to adopt a baby or toddler, it’ll add a considerable amount of time into your process since so many people are looking to adopt them.
The usual amount is once – unless you failed at the first attempt or you’ve been asked back to answer a few more questions.
To simplify, we’ve broken it down into 2 stages. Stage 1 is all about getting you approved to become an adopter. This normally takes between 6 to 9 months. The faster you are with handling queries, and submitting your forms, the faster you can move the process along. A series of checks on you will be undertaken and you will be required to answer detailed questions about yourself going over every aspect of your life, including reasons to adopt, details on your traumas, your childcare experience, finances, your views and attitude towards religion, homosexuality, disabilities, race etc. Your social worker will compile all the information they’ve gathered and use this alongside their personal views on you as a potential adopter in a final report that will be sent to the panel to make a decision. You will get to see the report before it is submitted.
You’ll be invited to a panel interview consisting of social workers, medical professionals and experienced adopters – this will normally not last longer than 30 minutes. The panel will normally give you a decision within 10 minutes. If you’re successful, your file will be sent to an independent assessor to give the final decision. The decision by the independent assessor is seldom different to the panel, and you’ll hear back from them within 1-2 weeks.
If approved, the second stage will consist of finding a child. The haste of this particular stage depends on your willingness to be flexible with your criteria. It can take up to 6-12 months to be matched. Once you’ve selected a child – granted the child’s social worker is approving of you – you’ll then be invited to another panel interview to make sure you’re the right fit for this child.