# Feedback on the adoption process....



## MummyPea (Jun 11, 2012)

Hiya guys.

I'm going to the Cabinet Offices with Adoption UK tomorrow to talk to the Department of Education about the adoption process. They want to speak to recently approved people.

I'm just wondering if any of you would like me to pass on any feedback. The areas I've been thinking about are;

1. How every agency runs their agency so differently. From who they take on as adopters to how they run HS etc.
2. Medicals. How can GPs be allowed to charge anything they want for something that we have to have done as adopters. I don't personally think adopters should be charged at all.
3. Adoption Leave. I've worked out that the average person adopting takes 25-29 days off for adoption from initial visits until introductions. So if intros lasted 10 days, one person would potentially only have 4 days of leave to bond with their child. That's not long enough by any stretch of the imagination.
4. The last one is more of an idea to help agencies who are struggling by 'buddying' them up with a high performing agency.

Do you guys have any ideas?

Jes
xx


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## Loopylou29 (Mar 4, 2013)

Adopters should be given the child element of the fostering allowance until the first date which the adoption order can be applied for. This would replace settling in grants and expenses for introductions as not everyone receives this. 

If medicals are to be paid for it should be a set fee at a subsidised rate eg 30 pound.

Greater emphasis on speeding up the matching once a link is agreed. Updating cprs and medicals slows this part down and there is no reason for the reports to remain outdated.

Ratification by decision maker should take place within 2 days of matching panel. They should take priority for the decision maker.


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## scoobydooby (Nov 5, 2013)

The same maternity pay rights as birth parents for the self employed with immediate effect (ie something, instead of absolutely nothing), not in 2015 or whenever it is.


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## thespouses (Jan 5, 2006)

Both partners need to have the right to paid time off for prep, intros.

Overseas adoption leave needs to start from placement (it starts from when you return to the UK - which is based on the old system of someone bringing your chid to the UK for you and you never meeting them!)

On the consistency issue with agencies - references is one area where they are crazily out of line - from requiring five each or something, to just 3 between you, to absolutely requiring to see them in person (and absolutely requiring a family member - useless for those whose family all live overseas).

And likewise things like inconsistency on BMI, health etc., amount of time waiting since fertility treatment, and mad ideas like only taking on adopters that will take families of 3 (I think there's still one LA who does that).

Agencies should encourage more adopters to think about adopting children of a different race, and support them to do that - not say "oh well you won't want to adopt a child of a different race" which is basically what they say.


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## Daddyboo (Paul) (Dec 24, 2012)

An extra week or two statutory leave/pay for the partners would be nice too.

Medicals should be free, we are saving the SS a lot of money by adopting the least they can do is allow us a free medical.

Regarding the leave, I'm entitled to 25 days leave at work and I saved 12 days leave until the end of the year to take if were matched this year.  As my leave year runs Jan to Dec, and I don't have a business reason to carryover, I'm being forced to take all my leave when I least need it.
Thus, please can it be put in the equality act that partners/fathers should also be able to carryover leave as birth mothers currently can?


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

Legal protection in terms of job security redundancy etc like a pregnant woman from the day your employers are  approached for your work reference.  At the minute it kicks in when you are linked which is pathetic and barely worth having.  Good on you fight our corner  x x


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## Wyxie (Apr 10, 2013)

1. Speeding up linking and matching for children going through court on the new timetables.  Babies are being made subject to placement orders at 4 1/2 to 5 months, but seldom placed before 10 months.

2. Independent complaints procedure for Children's Social Services.  Social Workers have so much power over families it's very hard to complain even when there are serious problems.

3. Making support for children and adopters more easily available while children are in placement.  At the moment it feels like if any help is requested, Social Services either dismiss the problems or use the threat of disrupting the placement on the basis that families are struggling, rather than looking for ways to help.  It feels like they're just trying to put people off really pursuing help that's needed for seriously traumatised children.

4. A massive improvement of post adoption support for children and adopters is needed, with access to services much earlier for children who are developing problems, before they become unmanageable.

I could write a much, much longer list but I really don't have time today.  Honestly, it sounds like if they're speaking to newly approved adopters they're mostly after opinions on the new approval process.  How did you become involved in this?  It's a great opportunity.  I've added a number 5:

5. Perhaps you could also ask if they intend to meet with adopters who're further into placements to get feedback on the whole process and how people who've been living with their families for a long time feel about the support they need and receive.

Best wishes,

Wyxie xx


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## babas (Oct 23, 2013)

The leave thing is a big issue! My leave runs April to April and I have to use holiday for everything! So 19 days is not going to get me far!


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## katie c (Jun 15, 2009)

scoobydoo247 said:


> The same maternity pay rights as birth parents for the self employed with immediate effect (ie something, instead of absolutely nothing), not in 2015 or whenever it is.


for that matter, the same rights for the employed in terms of if an employer offers an enhanced package for maternity leave the adoption leave is identical.

it would also be nice if adoptors were allowed so many days off a year (equivilant to what a pregnant woman would be entitled to for ante natal) to use as its suits them

in terms of the process, some sort of buddy system for the SWs so if yours is off sick, the process doesn't grind to a halt. ditto for their holidays.


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## Wyxie (Apr 10, 2013)

Another thing which I didn't even realise wasn't already standard practice:

6. Have they considered making it mandatory that adopters have the opportunity to meet with their child's foster carer _before_ matching panel?

I was very shocked when I realised this wasn't the case; the foster carer meeting is not just about what you need to know to help with introductions, it should form part of the decision making process about whether this is the right child for a family. In our area it always happens, and I know two couples who've pulled out after meeting the f/c, because the information from the f/c was so different from the information from the s/w. Social Workers want to "sell" the child who they visit once every six weeks, foster carer's know the child.


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## MummyPea (Jun 11, 2012)

Thank you for all the replies guys. I now have 2 pages of points to raise with whomever is holding the meeting.

Wyxie- I was invited through Adoption UK. I live quite close to London so maybe they looked at who would be able to get to London easily. I'm quite excited, especially as I've managed to arrange to meet up with a friend for lunch afterwards


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## MummyPea (Jun 11, 2012)

Morning!

I thought I'd update you on how yesterday went.

There were a wide selection of adopters, both pre and post approval including a couple of people with children placed. And from all over the country. The main thing that came from it is that the government don't have a clue about what is really going on! 

We all brought up the fact that every agency, whether it's a local authority of voluntary seems to have it's on rules about who they will except on. They also didn't know about the agencies that will only take on adopters if they know they can place within agency. The fact agencies keep you off the national register for three months was also a surprise to them. It seems like the government just assumed the reason people weren't coming through was because of the length of time, not that they were getting turned down at the first hurdle.

The cost of medicals and the amount of leave needed was also brought up. Again, they didn't have a bloody clue! But a lot of people had similar feedback so hopefully it'll get through.

I typed out all the points you gave me, plus some of my own, and gave them to the women who were running the session. Things may not change for us in the timescales of our adoptions, but hopefully something changes in the long run.

Jes

xx


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## Mummy DIY Diva (Feb 18, 2012)

You did an excellent job.  No surprise political types are totally clueless fingers crossed for improvements for the next batch of adopters x x


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## AoC (Oct 28, 2008)

Thank you, Jes, for representing us.    Good job.


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## Daddyboo (Paul) (Dec 24, 2012)

Thank you for taking the time to do that, I'm sure those coming in to adoption in the future will benefit.

I see this all the time, so I wouldn't just point the finger at politicians.  
I work in the private sector, in aeronautical engineering (the Typhoon fighter jet) and as a person pretty low down the food chain it shocks me to know that our directors haven't a clue whats going on 'on the shop floor'.

I create a weekly report that gets sent pretty high up the chain of command, and it was only last week that one of the senior managers asked me to 'fudge' the forecast figures so it looks better on screen!  I didn't as I have my own principles.

At least the government are looking into the problems, they must have realised there is one as they have come out, so lets think positively.


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## gettina (Apr 24, 2009)

Thank you for contributing to last hoped for improvement in the process jes. 
That counts. 
Gettina


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