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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Responding to Requests for Information
3. Local Authority Duties before making of an Adoption Order
4. Adoption Support
5. Placement Breakdowns

1. Introduction

Bradford Children's Social Care has Service Level Agreement with Yorkshire Adoption Agency to provide overseas adoption service to enquirers living in Bradford District. 

2. Responding to Requests for Information 

All requests for information about inter country adoption made by telephone or letter will be responded to promptly.  Staff will establish that the caller lives in the district and if so the caller will be advised that enquirers wishing to adopt from overseas will be given the contact details of Yorkshire Adoption Agency for them to make contact for information on overseas adoptions. The enquirers should also be informed that they will be charged a fee of £5, 000 for home study by Yorkshire Adoption Agency Ltd. The details of the agency are:

Yorkshire Adoption Agency Ltd.
Jubilee House
1 Jubilee Road
Wheatley
Doncaster
DN1 2UE 

Tel: 01302 349909  

Fax: 01302 340052

e-mail address: info@yorkshireadoptionagency.org.uk

3. Local Authority Duties before making of an Adoption Order

Designated Countries 

If an adoption order has been made in a Designated Country, it is recognised under UK law and the child's visa usually states 'for settlement'.  The Adoption Agency that approved the adoption and supported the matching process then has no further involvement other than providing or making arrangements for Adoption Support Services, if appropriate.

Adoption Orders made in Designated Countries do not automatically result in the child acquiring British citizenship.  An application for registration will usually need to be made; application forms can be obtained from the Nationality Directorate of the Home Office or from any British Diplomatic Post.

Non-Designated Countries

The arrangements for the placement will vary from country to country; the prospective adopters will either adopt 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.  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 local authority where they reside 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 adopted and the notice should be acknowledged by the Area team where the prospective adopters reside.

An adoption application cannot, however, be made until the child has lived with the prospective adopters for 6 months or more. 

The Service Manager will arrange for a social worker to monitor the child's welfare by regular visits to the family home.  The allocated worker must fulfil the qualifications and experience criteria set out in Section 5 of Adoption Panel Procedure.

The social worker should also advise prospective adopters of the most appropriate timing of their adoption application.  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.

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

Social workers will inform the prospective adopter about the Adoption Support Service and ask if they would wish their details to be passed to this service either before or at the point that the Adoption Order is made.

See Court Reports Guidance for a list of required 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.

Where the adopters are not British citizens, they will need to seek clearance to allow the child to remain in the UK, on the same basis as them.

4. Adoption Support

Families who have adopted from abroad are eligible for the same post-adoption support as in domestic adoptions.

See Adoption Support Services Procedure

5. 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's social worker must regard the child as a Child in Need and assess the child within 7 days in accordance with the Assessment Framework, including whether it remains in the child's interests to be placed in the UK and/or to be placed with an alternative adoptive family.

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

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 Planning for Adoptive Placement Procedure and amend the child's immigration status.

Once an adoptive family has been identified, the child's social worker will notify the Department for Children, Schools and families.  The Department for Education will advise the child's country of origin of the change.

End