# Which Local Authority should I chose?



## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

Hi everyone,

Me and my dh are going around in circles! :-(

As you can see from my profile, we could have filled in our initial questionnaire last October, but haven't done so yet.

This is because before Christmas we spoke to some friends who know someone who didn't adopt via their (and coincidentally our) nearest LA, but through one about 40 miles away, because at the time (3 yrs ago) there were more babies available for adoption. But we cannot contact these adopteres to find out more. 

This got us thinking, as like everyone I have spoken to we would prefer to adopt young toddlers/babies. 

I contacted the LA they used & the lady I spoke to said it isn't now the case that they have a high number of babies. BUT she was really helpful and open and I know it is important to have a good relationship with your SW. 

She said we should ask the nearest LA we are currently with how many approved adopters they have in their pool waiting for a match and if it is high (how many is HIGH by the way?) we could consider somewhere else. If they won't tell us we should be suspicious.

Now we really don't know what to do! I'm not very good at making phonecalls and don't want to give the wrong impression to our current LA by asking such a question, AND I am thinking this lady was really nice and helpful and perhaps we should just go with her LA (she has 12/14 adopters waiting for a match currently).

Any hints. I feel we are getting nowhere fast and we started out adoption story 1.5 years ago!

Also, does anyone think Adop agencies are better than LA's and if so why? (Another topic whizzing around my head!)

Thanks everyone,
Bluebells xx


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## morgana (Aug 31, 2004)

Hi bluebells

We went with an agency rather than our LA because my DH moves frequently with his job (although he is staying in the same place from now on) and we knew that if we had to move during the assessment process then we would have to change LA's. Our agency is fab and we were approved in October 2006 and had 17 sibling groups brought to our attention within a month. We looked at 3 pairs but did not proceed with the first 2 sets due to issues that came up when we were given more details. We have continued with the 3rd set of children and are going to matching panel next week (should just be a formality as we are the only couple they are looking at, and we already have our intro plan started and the girls already know about us).

Just be aware though that an agency was ideal for us because we were approved for 0 to 10 years and a sibling group. I think agencies are especially good if you are looking for children that are considered slightly harder to place i.e sibling groups, older children etc but because LA's usually have a number of approved adopters waiting for children that are easier to place i.e. singleton infants (0 to 2 years) it is less likely that these children will go onto the national register which is where agencies get a large number of their matches from.

Having said that I have friends who used the same agency who were matched with younger children because the LA did not want to place them in their own LA for the safety of the child.

Is all that as clear as mud....lol

Hope it helps

Morgana x


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## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

Thanks Morgana.

We're hoping to adopt a sibling group with the oldest being 4/5 years, so it may still be that an agency is for us? Do they have access to more children waiting than and LA would. Sorry, didn't quite understand that bit ;-)

Bluebells x


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## Mum to a gorgeous cherub (Jan 3, 2004)

Hi Blueballs,

I totally agree with Morgana about LA's generally placing younger children with their own approved adopters. We approached our local authority and a voluntary agency both agreed to take us on. Both the VA & LA are able to place any child/children available. The only comment made to us by the VA was that they generally would not have access to the younger easy to place children as they are normally placed within LA, unless they need to be moved away from the area for safety reasons.

Sorry rambling way of saying no the VA's don't have access to more children

Good luck with whatever you decide

WTBM x


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## Mum to a gorgeous cherub (Jan 3, 2004)

Oooops sorry I called you Blueballs!!!!!  

WTBM x


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## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

Thanks WBTM. Your post was very helpful. I didn't even notice you got my name wrong until you mentioned it 
Bluebells x


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## morgana (Aug 31, 2004)

Hi Bluebells (or is it blueballs....lol)

Just to clarify -the agencies don't tend to have their own  children, they usually go to the LA's or via the national register to get the children. 

Your LA matches children it has in it's system with their own (LA)approved adopters....this is why they often stop recruiting at times because they know they have more adopters than children of a certain age. 

If no match is made within a certain time frame (help me out here guys...I think it's after 3 months but could be wrong) your can request your name to be put onto the national register meaning any LA can access your profile and matching criteria.

If you go with an agency (VA) you will be assessed and approved as adopters but then they have to find a child for you from another avenue.

This means your name is usually put onto the register immediately you are approved which means all LA's can contact you about a potential match. Be aware though that children on the register are often the harder to place children that the LA's have been unable to place in their own area.

If you are looking for two children under 5 years I would suggest (and feel free to ignore this) that you might have a better outcome with a LA.

Morgana x


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## morgana (Aug 31, 2004)

Oh forgot to say.....

You were asking how high is too high?

The simple answer is to ask the LA how many adopters/ couples they have waiting for the age group you are interested in and then ask how many children of those ages are waiting to be placed or are potentially to be approved to be adopted. Then just do the maths. If you work on an average of 2 kids per approved parent/s  that will give you a rough idea. Then just phone up a few nearby LA's and compare statistics.

Morgana x


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Bluebells

Most LA's have a consortium arrangment whereby once you are approved they will in the first instance try and match you in the local area, but then will refer you to the consortium.  In our consortium there were 13 LA's.

Hope this helps.

Karen x


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## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

Thanks for your help both of you. Now I need to get on the phone and start asking some questions, but at least I know what to ask now. 
Bluebells x


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## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

My husband rang our LA today (the one we started our adoption process with) and the SW we saw last year has left and another lady who we also met is on maternity leave!!

We did get on fairly well with the SW so a bit gutted as we would have to see someone new if we stayed with them now!

The lady he spoke to was in charge of admin, so couldn't give him any info about numbers approved and waitin to adopt, but someone is going to ring back tomorrow.

Not sure what to do now, stay with this LA anyway, or may be it is fate and we should go with the LA further away with the friendly SW I spoke to on the phone the other week. (See my first post).

Aaargh, was really excited today before we found this out.

Hopefully it won't delay things too much if we do decide to change LA's.

Thanks for reading my rant 

Bluebells xx


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## morgana (Aug 31, 2004)

Rant away bluebells

That's what we are all here for...hope you make a decision one way or the other and things start moving for you

Morgana x


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## melaniejhodson (Jan 30, 2006)

Hi Bluebells,

Just wanted to say good luck with your decision and let us know how you get on (rant or no rant)!

Love 
Melanie


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## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

Thanks you can be sure I will let you know how we get on. 

New SW from our LA is due to ring my dh back on Monday. (He works from home so it's easier for him to talk as only a close friend I work with knows we are thinking of adopting)

Once we have found out more from the SW, I am hoping we will know what to ask other LA's. Then we can get things progressing again. I'm getting so impatient now ;-) as I know adop takes a long time!

Thanks for the good luck wishes.

love Bluebells x


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## bluebells (Apr 3, 2006)

Still waiting to talk to a SW! Our LA were supposed to call back around 24th Feb. 

My DH chased them on 9th March as we were fed up with waiting. They had had problems with their phones, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt.

A new SW would ring us (our previous one left)  in 'a couple of days'. Returned from ski holiday yesterday and no message on answerphone. My DH didn't tell them we were going away, but other LA's have left messages no problem! And they have had over a week!

If they do not have our details on file still, we have been told we will have to start the whole process again! 

My gut reaction now is to go to another LA within 50 mile radius. I have already talked to a SW at one, and they were very helpful and quick to call/email back and leave answer phone messages!!!

I expect my Dh will have to call original LA AGAIN! this week. Don't want to miss out on the next prep to care course!

Any hints on how to porgress things faster? 

It seems whatever we do,we are getting knocked back. 1st ttc and now with adopting too :-(

love from a disillusioned Bluebells xxx


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