Step One - Once we receive your enquiry we will ring you, answer any questions you may have and ask you about your circumstances. If you like what you hear and we think you meet our basic criteria, we will then arrange an initial visit in your home.

Step Two - At the initial visit a social worker will discuss with you what it means to adopt a child. You will be able to ask any questions and the adoption process will be explained. All being well, you and the social worker will then complete an application form ,

Step Three - Your completed application form starts your formal application to adopt child.

Step Four - We take up your checks and references. These include employment, medical and police checks. Personal references will be taken from your family and friends on your suitability to adopt a child. These checks are a legal requirements and are to safeguard children.

Step Five - You will be invited to attend a preparation group. This is an opportunity to meet other perspective carers and explore in detail what it means to you and your family to adopt a child.

Step Six - The assessment process continues until your assessment report (Form F) is completed and presented to the Adoption Panel. This consists of professionals from health care and social work and individuals who have first hand experience of adoption, for example an adoptive parent or a parent who was adopted themselves. Your assessing social worker will present the assessment report to the Panel. You will be invited to attend the Panel who will consider the report and decide whether to recommend your approval as an adopter. The recommendation is then passed to the Agency Decision Maker - the head of service for the council's Children Young People and Families department, who will make the final decision.

Step Seven - The Agency Decision Maker confirms the Adoption Panels recommendation and you are an approved adopter.

We hope the above assessment process will take no longer than six months.

Step Eight - Once you are an approved adopter you will be allocated your own social worker whose role is to try and find the right child for you. We will try and match you to one of our children who is waiting for a new family, but if this is not possible, we will help you find a child from outside Newham. After three months your name can be put on the National Adoption Register, which lists details of children awaiting adoption throughout the country.

Step Nine - When a match is found we will exchange information. This will help you make a decision. Once you and the social workers are in agreement with the matching, a report recommending the match goes to the adoption panel. For a Newham child this is the Newham Adoption Panel, but for a child from another local authority, it will be that council's panel.

Step Ten - Once the panel has agreed, the child will come to live with you after a planned period of induction's. These usually last a couple of weeks, depending on the child's individual needs and age. Your social worker and the child's social worker will continue to visit you and support you until the Adoption Order has been agreed.

Step Eleven - Once you and the child are settled with the new arrangement and the social workers agree, you can make a an application to the court to adopt the child. Reports are prepared and presented to the court, which cannot make an adoption order until the child has lived with you for at least ten weeks. The court grants the Adoption Order, and you become the child's legal parents. Your responsibilities will be the same as any other parent.