Adoption

Adoption - Change a child's world

Adopting a child is one of the most challenging, but also one of the most rewarding things you can ever do. It is life changing for everyone involved. Perth and Kinross are looking for adopters who can provide a loving, safe, secure and permanent home for children who cannot be looked after by their birth families. Applicants are welcomed regardless of their relationship status, sexuality, beliefs or ethnicity.

Why adopt with Perth and Kinross?

Perth and Kinross Adoption Team is small dedicated service with experienced and committed social work staff

• Each application will be dealt with in a professional and timely manner, with clear time scales and processes mapped out
• When possible we would like to match you with a child within Perth and Kinross and provide a full wrap around service to the adoption with only one agency to deal with
• We are also able to search outwith Perth and Kinross through the Scottish Adoption Register to find the most positive match
• We work closely with specialist educational or therapeutic services within Perth and Kinross when they are required
• Training and support is offered to help you prepare for becoming an adoptive parent and once a child is placed and an adoption order is granted, support continues to be available whenever you feel you need it
• Support work from adoption staff is based on Theraplay principles and the staff group have accessed Theraplay training.

The children

In Perth and Kinross, the children who need adoptive families vary in age from birth up to the age of about seven. It is more difficult to find adopters for children with disabilities, older children and siblings. Children who need adoptive families are likely to have additional needs which may affect their health and development. In recent years, we have seen an increase in children who have experienced neglect and whose birth parents misuse drugs and alcohol. This can mean that their future development is uncertain and the impact of their early experiences has a lifelong effect on their behaviour and emotional development.

If you are interested in applying to adopt with Perth and Kinross please read our additional information sheets and then consider completing our initial enquiry form or call us and ask to speak to a member of the Adoption Team on 01738 472260.

Concurrent care

Perth and Kinross Council has introduced concurrent planning as an additional way of providing children with a positive care experience from as early an age as possible. If a child has a concurrent care plan, this means that from birth he/she will be fostered by concurrent carers while birth parents undertake a parenting capacity assessment to determine if the child can return permanently to their care. There are two possible outcomes with a concurrent care plan. Either:

• the child returns to his/her birth parents and is brought up by them; or
• the child cannot return to his/her birth parents and goes on to be adopted by the concurrent carers who fostered the child.

If you are interested in being considered as a concurrent carer please read the additional information leaflets and contact a member of the adoption team for further discussions.

What we do and other services we offer

• We work with and support children who require adoptive families
• We offer advice, assessment and support to people who are thinking of adopting a child
• We offer advice to people who are thinking of adopting a child from overseas
• We provide post adoption support to adoptive families and this can also involve direct work with children
• We offer advice and support to adoptive families and birth families to maintain contact via letter exchange and / or direct contact

Advice for adults that were adopted as children

How can we help?

Firstly, there are a number of things you should know:

• You will need to show us some proof of identity such as your birth certificate, driving licence, passport or an official letter addressed to you.
• In Scotland, you need to be 16 before you can access your adoption record.
• If you live in Perth and Kinross and were adopted through Perth and Kinross Council (or Tayside Regional Council before 1996) we can assist you to locate your adoption record.
• If you live in Perth and Kinross and were adopted through another adoption agency, you may wish to contact them directly or we can do so on your behalf if you prefer.

What will happen next?

An initial conversation or meeting with a social worker will help you think about the possible ways in which your enquiry about your adoption record might affect you, people in your adopted family and in your birth family. We are able to help you access your adoption record if this is what you wish to do.

In some situations, we may not be able to share all the information in your adoption file with you. This may be because some information is about other people from whom we are unable to seek their permission to share. However, we will try to be as helpful as possible to ensure that you have as full a picture of your pre-adoption and adoption story as possible.

We are able to offer only a limited search service if you wish to contact birth relatives but if this is not successful, we can advise you how you might take things forward.

Before contacting birth relatives, you should consider carefully their situation and the impact on them should you decide to go ahead. It is very important that you consider using a third party as an intermediary in this sensitive process. We can offer this service and assist in an exchange of information between you and a birth relative and support and advise you if you wish to meet them. This ensures that things proceed at a pace that is right for all concerned and that we can support you through the process.

Services at Birthlink

Birthlink is an organisation based in Edinburgh which offers a tracing service for people who do not wish or feel able to do this for themselves.

Birthlink is responsible for the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland. The Register provides a confidential, central point of contact between adults who have been separated by adoption and serves the needs of adopted adults and birth relatives.

The Register can be used to link any two parties who have registered and want this to happen. This is done through a social worker and in negotiation with each person.

Contact information: Birthlink, 21 Castle Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3DN. Telephone 0131 225 6441 or visit www.birthlink.org.uk.

Useful addresses

• General Register Office for Scotland, New Register House, 3 West Register Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3YT. Telephone 0131 334 0380
• The General Register Office for England and Wales Adoptions Section, Trafalgar Road, Southport, PR8 2HH. Telephone 0151 471 4252 or visit www.direct.gov.uk
• The General Register Office for Northern Ireland Oxford House, 49-55 Chichester Street, Belfast, BT1 4HL. Telephone 02890 252000 or visit www.nidirect.gov.uk
• The National Archives of Scotland, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3YY. Telephone 0131 535 1314 or visit www.nas.gov.uk

Complaints

Whilst it is the Council's intention to provide a good service, if you have a complaint, please contact the Team Leader of the Adoption Team in the first instance at Perth and Kinross Council, Almondbank House, Lewis Place, Perth, PH1 3BD, telephone 01738 472260 or email AdoptionEnquiries@pkc.gov.uk. If the situation cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, please ask for the leaflet 'Your right to be heard, our duty to listen' which is available from social work offices and on the Perth and Kinross Council website.

As Perth and Kinross Council is regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Scotland you may also complain to the Care Inspectorate at Compass House, Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY, telephone 01382 207200.

Advice for birth parents

What is adoption?

Adoption is a way to provide a loving home for children who cannot grow up and be looked after by their birth parents or other birth family members.

Once a child has been adopted, all parental rights and responsibilities are passed to the adoptive parents. The child's birth parents will no longer be the child's legal parents.  Adoption is a permanent legal arrangement and does not end when the child becomes 16.  In many cases, the birth parents will not be able to see the child any more although there may be other contact arrangements.

How is a new family chosen for a child?

All people who want to adopt children go through a full and thorough assessment to make sure they have the skills required and are suitable to become adoptive parents. This involves preparation training and several months of meetings with a social worker as well as checks of criminal records, social work records, health checks and a check on the safety of their home. Social workers also speak to people who know the adopters well and will speak to their employers. The assessment focuses on the adopter's ability to provide safe and loving care to a child and promote their interests throughout their life.

Moving to a new family

When a family has been chosen for your child, the adopters meet the social worker, the child's foster carer, the medical adviser and anyone else who knows your child well. This ensures they have a full picture of your child and what kind of care they need.

If your child is old enough, they will hear and see information about the family and, even if they are quite small, will have a photo album to help them prepare to meet them.

Your child will meet the new family in the foster carer's home, where they feel safe and secure. The introductions to the new family are planned carefully and will progress at your child's pace until they are ready to move.

Contact with your child

Social workers may have decided that it is not in your child's best interests to have future face to face contact with you. Nevertheless, we recognise that some forms of contact can be very helpful to children as they grow up. The Council has an Adoption Postbox Scheme which means that birth parents and adopters can exchange information, usually once a year.  A leaflet is available which will give you more information.

If it has been agreed that your child should have direct contact with you and/or other members of their birth family, then social workers will make arrangements.

Whatever the arrangements for future contact, it is important for your child to know that they are adopted and to know as much as possible about their birth family. For this reason, we would like to encourage you to share as much information as you can about you and your family, including information about health which will be important to your child as they grow up.  We will give this information to the adoptive family so that they are able to share this with the child.

Support after the move to the adoptive family

We will continue to offer support to your child and to the adoptive family for as long as they need it. They can ask for help at any point as your child grows up.
 

What happens when my child is an adult?

By law, we have to keep adoption files for 100 years. An adopted person can ask to see their adoption record when they are 16. The file will contain information about the child's adoption and the reasons it was necessary.  All adopted people have the right to receive a copy of their original birth certificate when they are 16. This information may make it possible for your child to trace you if they wish.

If you or another birth relative wishes to make contact with a person adopted as a child, we can offer you support. All information about an adopted person remains confidential and any decisions about an exchange of information or a reunion lie completely with the adopted person. However, we are able to act as an intermediary to explore this for you.

Services at Birthlink

Birthlink is an organisation based in Edinburgh which offers a tracing service for people who do not wish or feel able to do this for themselves.

Birthlink is responsible for the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland. The Register provides a confidential, central point of contact between adults who have been separated by adoption and serves the needs of adopted adults and birth relatives.

The Register can be used to link any two parties who have registered and want this to happen. This is done through a social worker and in negotiation with each person.

Contact information: Birthlink, 21 Castle Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3DN. Telephone 0131 225 6441 or visit www.birthlink.org.uk.

Support for you

If you are a birth parent or a member of a birth family where a child has been adopted, we can offer support and guidance if you require it. Once we understand what your needs are, we can offer a service to you. In some circumstances, we may suggest that another agency or organisation may be of more support to you and we will put you in touch with them.
 

Complaints

Whilst it is our intention to provide a good service, if you have a complaint, please contact the Team Leader of the Adoption Team in the first instance at Perth and Kinross Council, Almondbank House, Lewis Place, Perth, PH1 3BD, telephone 01738 472260 or email AdoptionEnquiries@pkc.gov.uk. If the situation cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, please ask for the leaflet 'Your right to be heard, our duty to listen' which is available from social work offices and on the Perth and Kinross Council website.

As Perth and Kinross Council is regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Scotland you may also complain to the Care Inspectorate at Compass House, Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY, telephone 01382 207200 or visit www.carecommission.com.

Guidance for adopting a stepchild

Adopting a stepchild

This section explains:

• the legal position;
• advantages and disadvantages of adoption;
• alternatives to adoption;
• how to apply to adopt.

You are able to adopt the child of your husband, wife, civil partner or partner if:

• you are living together in an 'enduring family relationship' which means that you will need to have been living together as a couple for at least two years;
• the child's parent must be aged at least 18 years, have domicile and have been habitually resident in the UK for a year.

Adoption means that the law no longer recognises the birth parent of the child and that grandparents, aunts and uncles on that side of the family are no longer legally related to the child.

A young person can be adopted up to the age of 18 and consent to adoption is required from the child if aged over 12.

A child under the age of 12 will also be part of the social work assessment of your circumstances.  You need to be aware of the child's feelings about adoption when deciding if adoption is in their best interest. The law states that a child's views and wishes must be taken into account.

An Adoption Order cannot be made unless the child is at least 19 weeks old and has lived with you for at least 13 weeks.

Thinking about adoption

When a new step family is formed, adults often give a great deal of thought about how to strengthen the ties and give the children as much security as possible.  You may wish to consider adoption for many reasons such as:

• each member can have the same surname;
• all children in the family will have the same inheritance rights;
• all children in the family will have the same legal security in the event of the death of the legal parent.

However, it is important that you consider some of the disadvantages of adoption:

• Adoption may be confusing for a child and it can sometimes be difficult for a child to understand the complicated relationships that adoption will create.
• Adoption may cut the child's links with the other birth parent and his or her extended family.  These relationships may have emotional meaning to the child and, if this is the case, it will be important to consider the need for the child not to lose contact with them, even when legal ties are cut.
• Adoption may make children feel they have to choose between different adults who are all important to them.
• Adopted stepchildren may blame their stepparent for the 'loss'
• of the other birth parent and can sometimes idealise them. Alternatively, they may feel rejected by the other birth parent which can cause upset, lack of confidence and slow down development.
• There may be practical disadvantages to adoption as an adopted child will lose any rights of inheritance from the other birth parent.

Adopting a stepchild

Alternatives to adoption

Change of name:

• In Scotland, a child's surname may be changed informally and it is relatively straightforward to change a child's name legally.

Residence order:

• Among the responsibilities and rights covered by a Residence order are:

1. The right to decide where and how the child lives. 
2. The choice of education.
3. Consent to medical treatment if the child is not considered old enough to give his or her own consent.
4. The right to apply for a passport.

Applying to adopt

If you wish to adopt the child of your partner, you or your solicitor must notify the Council in writing of your intention.  You should write to: Adoption Team, Perth and Kinross Council, Almondbank House, Lewis Place, Perth, PH1 3BD.

Once we receive your notification, a social worker will arrange to visit you to discuss your circumstances in order to prepare a report for the Court. Normally the court will expect to receive the social worker's report within twelve weeks.  The social work report is required to address issues such as:

• the nature and duration of your relationship with the child;
• the nature and duration of your relationship with your partner;
• the relationship of the child with the absent birth parent;
• the absent birth parent's wishes;
• the child's understanding of the situation and his views and wishes;
• a recommendation about whether adoption is in the child's best
• interests;
• Disclosure Scotland check;
• contact with your GP.

Your solicitor will complete an adoption petition form on your behalf.  If you choose not to ask a solicitor to act for you, you can obtain this form yourself from the Court.  The Sheriff Clerk will also be able to advise you about the documents that need to accompany the adoption petition and the current court fee.

What happens after you have applied to adopt?

When the court receives your application and the social work report, it appoints a curator ad litem and a reporting officer.  This is usually one person who reports to the court on whether adoption is in the child's best interests.  The curator will speak to you, your partner and the child and will then prepare a report for the court.  This will also contain information about the absent birth parent, their relationship with the child and whether he or she agrees to the proposed adoption.

The court needs the formal consent of the other birth parent if he or she has parental responsibilities or rights.  The mother will usually have these automatically.  The father will have these automatically if:

• he was married to the child's mother at the time of the birth of the child;
• his name is on the child's birth certificate and the child's birth was registered on or after 4 May 2006;
• he has made a formal agreement with the child's mother or if he has a court order.

If a birth parent is in disagreement with the proposed adoption, then the court has to be asked to dispense with his consent.  The disagreement of the absent birth parent does not necessarily mean that an adoption order will not be granted but the Sheriff will need to be clear about the circumstances and make a judgement about whether adoption is the best choice for the child.

Where an absent parent does not have parental responsibilities and rights, the social worker has a duty to inform them of the intention to adopt.

If you become involved in such a dispute, it is advisable to seek the advice of a solicitor because of the legal issues that need to be addressed.

After the adoption

When an adoption order is granted, the court will send you a formal notification.  You should then apply to The General Register Office, New Register House, Edinburgh, EH1 3YT.  Tel 0131 334 0380

A copy of an adoption birth certificate for the child will be issued to you from the Adopted Children's Register for which there is a fee.

Further information

You can get further information from:

• a solicitor practicing in family law;
• the Scottish Child Law Centre, 54 East Crosscauseway, Edinburgh, EH8 9HD, Tel 0131 667 6333, www.sclc.org.uk
• Stepfamily Scotland, Gillis Centre,113 Whitehouse Loan, Edinburgh, EH10 1BB, Tel 0131 623 8951, Helpline 0845 1228655, www.stepfamilyscotland.org.uk
• National Care Standards (23) for adoption agencies set out what you can expect about stepparent adoption.

Complaints

Whilst it is our intention to provide a good service, if you have a complaint, please contact the Team Leader of the Adoption Team in the first instance at Perth and Kinross Council, Almondbank House, Lewis Place, Perth, PH1 3BD, telephone 01738 472260 or email AdoptionEnquiries@pkc.gov.uk. If the situation cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, please ask for the leaflet 'Your right to be heard, our duty to listen' which is available from social work offices and on the Perth and Kinross Council website.

As Perth and Kinross Council is regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Scotland you may also complain to the Care Inspectorate at Compass House, Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY, telephone 01382 207200.