What is adoption?
Adoption is a way of providing a new family for children who
cannot be brought up by their own parents. It is a legal procedure
in which parental responsibility is transferred to the
adopters.Once an adoption order has been granted it cannot
be reversed. The new family takes over all legal rights and
responsibilities associated with the child.
Who can adopt?
You can adopt whatever your culture, race, religion or sexuality.
You must be over 21 years old. You do not need to own your own home
or be in employment. You will need to provide a permanent, stable
and caring home for a child. That means you:
- Have space in your life and home
- Are able to provide positive parenting and care for a
child
- Are patient and flexible and have lots of energy
- Have the determination to make a real difference to a child's
life for a lifetime
- You will need to be in good health
- You can be single or married, in a relationship or not, have
children or not
- If you wish to adopt as a couple, you don't have to be
married
What is the role of Newham Council's Adoption
Team?
We undertake the following tasks:
- Place "looked after" children in Newham for adoption
- Recruit, assess and approve adoptive parents
- Match children to approved adopters
- Provide support and advice during and after the adoption
process
How do I adopt?
If you are interested in adoption, contact the Newham
Adoption Team on 0800 783 6388.
If you meet the criteria to be an adoptive parent, you will receive
an initial visit.
At the initial visit we will give you further information about
adoption. This will also help you and us to decide if we will go
ahead with an adoption assessment.
As part of this assessment you will need to give references. We
will ask your doctor to carry out a medical assessment and we will
run background checks.
We will provide training to help you prepare to be an adoptive
parent.
From you contacting us to being approved should take no more than
six months.
Once you are approved as an adopter the process of linking you to a
child or children can take from several weeks to over a year,
depending on the type of child you are able to care for.
Once I have adopted, what support will I get?
We can provide adoptive families, including the adopted
child, with high quality advice, information, counselling and
support in accessing services or benefits.
Parents who adopt are expected to meet the general cost of
caring for a child, just like any other parent. However, some
parents may be eligible for financial support based on the needs of
the child.
Allowances can range from a single one-off payment to help you get
started, to a longer-term arrangement. For example, if you are
helping to keep a group of brothers and sisters stay together. All
financial support is means tested.
What's next?
For more information contact the Newham Adoption Team on 0800
783 6388.
Useful information is also available from the
British Association
for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) on 020 7421 2600.
London Borough of Newham has a contract with the
Post
Adoption Centre
located at 5 Torriano Mews, Torriano Avenue, London NW5 2RZ. They
can provide support services for everyone affected by adoption
(birth parents, adopted adults, adoptive parents/foster carers).
Although referrals must be agreed with Newham, people can ring the
Post Adoption Centre directly on 020 7284 0555 for advice on their
services.
We also invite you to look at our
fostering section.
We look forward to showing you a new way of
life. |