3.8.5 Placement for Adoption

In relation to an unborn child or a child relinquished for adoption by the parents and not yet looked after, the initial agreement to an adoption plan must be given at a Permanence Planning Meeting.  This will subsequently be confirmed in the child's Care Plan, once the child becomes Looked After.

Once a recommendation has been made at the child's LAC review that the care plan for the child is adoption, the Independent Reviewing Officer will complete the Chair's Report and request that the social worker complete Adoption Care Plan for the next review. The Child's social worker will inform the Adoption Team of the Adoption Plan within 24 hours. A copy of the Chair's Report will be forwarded to the Adoption Team Manager within 15 working days.

All activity on the case should be recorded on the child's case record.

The keyworker must inform child's parent of outcome of assessments and record this discussion on ICS.

Adoption Team Manager allocates a Child's Adoption Social Worker (CASW) and records on ICS.

Child's Adoption Social Worker informs ICS helpdesk that the child's record is now subject to Restricted Access and the record needs to be locked. Child's Adoption Social Worker will advise who is permitted access to the file.

Adoption Practice Supervisor will liaise with the keyworker regarding court timetables for submission of Final Care Plan and will ensure Panel dates are shared at Court Case Management Conference.

As soon as adoption is identified as the permanence plan for the child, the child's adoption social worker must:

• Contact the Panel Administrator for a date to be arranged for presentation of the case to the Adoption Panel;
• Panel administrator completes a booking form G:/Family_P/Panel/Panel Booking.
  
  The date for the Panel must be a maximum of 2 months from the date when the adoption plan was ratified at the child's Looked After Review;

• Continue to provide counselling - seek wishes and feelings of the child - see Section 3, Preparation of Child for Adoption;
• The child's preferred method of communication should be known and there should be no assumption that a child is unable to communicate.

If not already obtained, the keyworker should obtain 2 certified copies of the child's full birth certificate. These will be required for future Court applications and for the prospective adopters.

{The Children's Adoption Social Worker to ensure a copy of the birth certificate is kept and scanned into ICS when the facility to do so is available}.

The child's adoption social worker should give both birth parents a copy of the memorandum "Information for Parents on Adoption" and ask them to sign confirmation of receipt, a copy of which should be kept on the child's Adoption Case Record and a further copy should be handed to the parents.

If either or both of the birth parents refuse to accept or do not receive the memorandum, this should be recorded, including the reasons, in the Adoption Case Record. Where the parents' address is known, the child's adoption social worker should personally deliver or arrange for delivery by hand of a copy of the information to the address and record this on the Adoption Case Record. See also Section 4, Counselling and Support of Parents.

If not already obtained, the child's adoption social worker must seek the birth parents' Consent to the disclosure of information on their medical history to facilitate the Adoption Medical for the child - for detailed procedures, see Section 5, Child's Adoption Medical below.

The child's adoption social worker must book an adoption medical. For detailed procedures, see Section 5, Child's Adoption Medical below. The medical advisor should be provided with a copy of the draft Child's Permanence Report before the adoption medical. The medical needs to have taken place and the medical advisers comments have been completed before presentation at panel for a Best Interest Recommendation.

The child's adoption social worker must ensure that the adoption plan addresses the issue of post adoption contact. This will include a possible meeting between the parents and the adopters, and whether there may be ongoing direct contact or indirect contact via a letterbox system - see Section 6, Post-Adoption Contact.

If the child has siblings, the plan must analyse the relationship between each child in the sibling group and, if the decision is to place siblings separately, address the issue of post-adoption contact between them.

Using all the information obtained in relation to the above, the child's adoption social worker must prepare the Child's Permanence Report. The Child's Permanence Report must be written by a qualified social worker with suitable experience (see Section 5, Adoption Panel Minutes of Adoption Panel Procedure).

The following areas must be included or addressed in the Report:

• Profile of the child, based on a report from the child's current carer as well as other information about the child's personality, nationality, racial origin, religious persuasion, legal status and relationship with his/her birth family;
• Photograph of child;
• The Child Permanence report (CPR) contains the Children's views, wishes and feelings and are acted upon, unless this is contrary to their interests;
• No child is assumed unable to communicate their views and each child's preferred method of communication is known;
• Genogram of child's birth family;
• A chronology of the child's life since birth;
• The preparation work, undertaken and planned, with the child and the views of the child in relation to the adoption plan and future contact with his or her birth family;
• The views of the Children's Guardian - please see Arrangements for Children's Guardians to attend meetings of the Adoption Panel Procedure;
• The views of the birth family and significant others in relation to the adoption plan and contact;
• A report of the child's educational history and current needs, including the Personal Education Plan;
• Any other relevant specialist reports on the child;
• An assessment of the child's emotional and behavioural development;
• An assessment of the child's needs for post-adoption contact, including with siblings, and the child's and birth relatives' needs for adoption support services;
• An analysis of the options for the child's future care and the alternatives to adoption considered;
• Where the child has siblings, whether the decision is to place siblings separately or together and the rationale for the decision;
• A copy of the relevant sections of the Report should be provided to the parents and the child where appropriate. The parents should be asked to sign Form EC and add any comments they wish to make.

A copy of The Child's Permanence Report must be forwarded to the medical advisor before the child's adoption medical.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel:

This must take place within 6 weeks of the completion of the child's Permanence Report.

To enable the Adoption Panel to consider whether the child is suitable to be placed for adoption, the child's adoption social worker must present the following reports:

1. A front sheet stating what is being reported, the reports included, the recommendations sought and who will be attending Adoption Panel;
2. The Child's Permanence Report (including the Medical Adviser's comments) signed by the child's adoption social worker, the manager and the parent (if willing), and a photograph of the child, together with Form EC (the parents' comments);
3. The child's health report and the health information obtained in relation to the parents (where the Medical Adviser so advises);
4. Any Legal advice about parental consent and the option of seeking a Placement Order.

In all cases the Child's Permanence Report and all completed paperwork must be quality assured and countersigned by the Adoption Practice Supervisor or Adoption Team Manager prior to forwarding to the panel administrator. This should take place at least 1 week before the papers are forwarded to the panel administrator.

The child's adoption social worker will send the relevant reports to the Panel Administrator at least 21 working days before the relevant date of the Adoption Panel.

The child's adoption social worker and the keyworker will attend the Panel meeting during consideration of the matter.

(N.B. Where the child's adoption social worker is seeking a recommendation in relation to a proposed placement of the child with particular prospective adopters at the same time, the procedure set out in Section 8, Recommendations of a match between Prospective Adopters and Specific Children must also be followed).

The Panel will consider the written reports and any additional information presented verbally. The Panel will make a recommendation to the Head of Service. 

Where the Panel recommend that the child should be placed for adoption, it must consider and may give advice as to future contact arrangements for the child, the separation of siblings and whether an application for a Placement Order should be made.

The recommendation and advice will be recorded in writing, together with reasons, in the Panel's minutes. A copy of the relevant minutes must be held on the child's Adoption Case Record.

After the Adoption Panel

After the Adoption Panel, the Panel Administrator will send the written recommendation and advice, together with the reports considered by the Panel, to the Agency Decision Maker, who will make a decision based on these documents within 7 working days.  The decision will be recorded in writing, with reasons, and entered on ICS.

Where the Agency Decision Maker is minded to disagree with the Panel recommendation, he/she must first discuss the case with another senior officer with the appropriate experience, who should not be a Panel member. This discussion must be recorded and placed on the child's Adoption Case Record.

The Panel Administrator will communicate the decision to the child's adoption social worker, who will convey the decision orally to the parents within 2 working days.

The Panel Administrator will write to the parents informing them of the decision and pass the letters to the child's social adoption social worker for sending to the parents within 5 working days. The letter will be sent by recorded delivery, except where delivery by hand has been agreed at the Panel and Panel has acknowledged that the notification may be outside the above timescale, in which case the letter will be forwarded to the child's adoption social worker for delivery by hand. The child's adoption social worker will also ensure that the child is informed of the decision in a timely and age-appropriate way.

Counselling of the child should not commence until the outcome of the Best Interest Panel. The child's wishes and feelings should be gathered throughout the process. It is important that counselling is available to the child at each stage of the adoption process including post adoption.

Counselling needs to meet the needs of the child as they develop over time and needs to be given in a way that is sensitive to the child's age and level of understanding.

If English is not the child's first language or the child has language or communication impairments, it is essential that counselling is provided by, or assisted by, someone who can communicate effectively with the child and has the understanding of what adoption will mean for the child. The child's preferred method of communication should be known and there should be no assumption that a child is unable to communicate.

The child's adoption social worker will ensure that Life Story Work with the child continues with the aim so far as possible that:

• The child has an understanding of the reasons for the adoption plan and what adoption will mean;
• The child has an opportunity to express his or her wishes and feelings about the future; and
• The child has information on his or her birth family, which is kept safe and provided to the adopters and the child at the appropriate time.

As part of the above, the child will be given a Children's Guide to Adoption as soon as adoption is part of the child's Care Plan. Any information given to the child should be confirmed in writing and any discussions with the child should be fully recorded. An interpreter should be arranged as necessary to ensure that there is effective communication with the child.

The child's adoption social worker should specifically ensure that the child's wishes in relation to adoption, religious and cultural upbringing and contact with his or her birth family are ascertained.

Where a child's wishes are not acted upon, for example a child's wish to be placed with his or her siblings, this should be explained to the child, with reasons, and should be fully recorded.

See Life Story Books Guidance.

Counselling will be available to the birth family throughout the adoption process and also after adoption via Adoption counselling Service and helpline.

Both parents must be offered counselling and support irrespective of whether they have Parental Responsibility unless there are exceptional circumstances, in which case legal advice should be taken and the reasons for not arranging counselling recorded.

If either or both of the birth parents refuse to accept or do not receive the written information, this should be recorded, including the reasons, on the Adoption Case Record.

Where the parents' address is known, the child's adoption social worker should personally deliver or arrange for delivery by hand of a copy of the information to the address and record this on the Adoption Case Record.

The counselling and support will cover the following areas:

1. Explaining the key stages of the adoption process and likely time-scales;
2. Explaining, where appropriate, the procedure for seeking a Placement Order
3. Explaining the parents' legal rights, including the right of the unmarried father to seek a Parental Responsibility Order or a Residence Order in relation to the child;
4. Explaining the role of the Adoption Panel;
5. Explaining the role of CAFCASS in witnessing consent or acting as the Children's Guardian;
6. Explaining the way the Adoption Contact Register works and how an adopted adult may seek information about the birth family in the future or register a wish not to be contacted;
7. Explaining how prospective adoptive parents are assessed;
8. Ascertaining the parents' views on the adoption plan, including the selection of the adoptive family, any specific ethnic, cultural or religious needs of the child, and any plan to separate a sibling group. Their views on these issues should be recorded;
9. Dealing with grief and loss;
10. Where the Parents Consent to the adoption, explaining the process for witnessing their consent, their right to state that they do not wish to be informed of an adoption application, and that they have the right to withdraw their consent at any time up to the making of an adoption order, but the restriction of their rights to do so after an adoption application has been made;
11. Ascertaining the parents' views on post-adoption contact including whether they would wish to meet the adoptive family and if so, how they might prepare for this;
12. Providing information to the parents on national and local support groups, and other possible sources of help;
13. Explaining how the parents may be able to provide information to be passed to adopters, for example, on the child's birth and early life, which may be of benefit to the child.

Post-adoption contact may take the following forms:

1. Adoptive parents providing non-identifying information about the child to the birth family through letter-box contact organised and maintained by the adoption service (one way indirect contact);
2. Adoptive parents and the birth family sharing non-identifying information about themselves through letter-box contact organised and maintained by the adoption service (two way indirect contact);
3. Direct letter box and/or telephone contact between the adoptive parents and the birth family;
4. Direct face-to-face contact between the child and the birth family, which may be organised and maintained by the adoption service, where such continuing support is appropriate.

The family finder and Practice Supervisor will consider whether there are any potentially suitable in-house approved families (including families going through the assessment process.

Where foster carers express an interest in adopting a child placed with them, see Paragraph 8.9 below.

The purpose of the meeting is to consider the available in-house approved potential families, and decide which appears the best able to meet the child's needs. 

Where there are potentially suitable in-house approved families, the families' Form F's (PAR's) are accessed by child's adoption social worker.

The child's adoption social worker contacts the Family Finder and the potential adopters supervising social worker within 10 days informing them of the decision to pursue a potential match. The reason for the choice must be clearly recorded on the adoption case record.

Child's Adoption Social Worker must send feedback sheets to supervising social workers for all possible matches.

The Child's adoption Social worker will discuss the possible match with the prospective adopters' supervising social worker. If the decision is made to proceed, they will visit the family to share basic information. The child's social worker will ensure that the prospective adopters are provided with a copy of the Child's Permanence Report to enable them to make an informed decision as to whether or not to proceed to the next stage in the provision of information.

The supervising social worker and child's adoption social worker may arrange a further appointment to discuss the child in further detail.

At that meeting, the following, if not already done so, should be provided:

• The child's profile;
• A full description of the birth family including any siblings and the reasons for any decision to place the child separately;
• The child's medical history (including the birth details);
• The carer's report on the child;
• The current school reports and the child's PEP.

The items provided should be clearly recorded and the prospective adopters should be asked to sign confirmation of receipt of this information and their agreement to keep the information confidential and to return the information to Lincolnshire County Council if requested.

Child's adoption social worker arranges an Information Sharing Meeting with the prospective adopters and invites the supervising social worker, the keyworker, , child's current foster carer, any professionals who were involved with the child before their period in local authority care and professionals involved with the child during their period in Local Authority care. The prospective adopters should also have the opportunity to meet specialists involved with the child's care.

If there are delays in the process due to care proceedings or similar, the delay must be recorded on adoption case record, together with the reason for the delay. If there are delays, the supervising social worker must maintain contact with the prospective adopter, keeping them informed of the situation.

Where foster carers express an interest in adopting a child they are looking after, and there is an adoption plan for the child, the family finder will talk to them about the implications of adoption and the alternative option of Special Guardianship Order.

Foster carers must meet the eligibility criteria of having cared for the child for at least one year.

If the foster carer wishes to pursue adoption, the family finder will convene a Matching Meeting involving the child's adoption social worker, the foster carers' supervising social worker (with his or her manager where appropriate). 

The chair of the meeting will be the Adoption Team Manager/Practice Supervisor. If the outcome of the meeting is that the foster carers appear to be able to meet the child's essential needs, the case will be allocated for an assessment of the foster carers as adopters to proceed, which will include their attendance at Preparation Groups (see Assessment and Approval of Adopters Procedure).

If they are approved as adopters, the requirements set out in Section 8, Recommendations of a Match between Prospective Adopters and Specific Children below as to the approval of the matching and in Section 11, The Placement below as to the provision of information and notification of the placement must be followed.

If the outcome of the meeting is that the foster carers are not able to meet the child's essential needs, the recruitment of adopters as set out in the preceding and following paragraphs of this chapter will apply. The foster carers' supervising worker will provide support and counselling to the foster carers as appropriate.

If the foster carers decide to proceed with an application to adopt the child without the agreement of the agency, the procedure set out in: Non Agency Adoptions Procedure will apply.

Inter Agency Placements

Where the Adoption Team Manager agrees in principle to an inter agency placement, a referral should be made to the National Adoption Register to consider appropriate links.  Dependent on the outcome, consideration will also be given to publicity in the specialist or wider press.

Where it is considered that a placement of the child with overseas adopters would be appropriate, see Section 13, Adoptive Placements Abroad below.

Where recruitment of adopters from another agency has been authorised, the family finder  will undertake the following:

• Check that either the parents (for an accommodated child) and/or Adoption Team Manager have signed the Consent to Publicity Form;
• Arrange for professional photographs to be taken of the child for publicity purposes;
• Agree with the child's adoption social worker which publications are to be used for publicity purposes, and draw up suitable profiles.

Responses from families not yet approved should be dealt with as follows:

1. Take details of the family;
2. Give limited, anonymised information about the child, in order to help the caller decide whether this is a situation they wish to pursue;
3. Give general information about the adoption and family finding process, bearing in mind that the caller has not gone through the assessment and preparation process;
4. Arrange a more appropriate time to hold or continue the discussion, as appropriate;
5. If, on the basis of the discussions held, it is not considered appropriate, having regard to the needs of the child, to pursue the response, the caller should be advised of the decision, with reasons, and provided with contact details of other agencies which may be of help to them, for example BAAF and Adoption UK.

Responses from already approved families should be dealt with as follows:

1. Take details of the family;
2. Give limited, anonymised information about the child, in order to help the caller decide whether this is a situation they wish to pursue;
3. Give general information about how the family finding is being conducted, bearing in mind that the family's own agency may approach this in a different way;
4. If, on the basis of the discussions held, it is not considered appropriate, having regard to the needs of the child, to pursue the response, the caller should be advised of the decision, with reasons;
5. If the family is considered suitable, their details and the names of their agency and supervising social worker should be taken. The family should be asked to inform their supervising social worker of their approach to the County and that the family finder will contact the link worker;
6. The family finder should then contact the family's supervising social worker and share information about the child and the family. Where it is considered that the match is not appropriate, the family's supervising social worker should be asked to discuss this with the family and the family finder need take no further action;
7. If it is considered that the match should be pursued, the adoptive family's supervising social worker and the family finder should agree to exchange the Prospective Adopter's Report and the child's Permanence Report, with a follow up discussion after they have been read. The family finder should also forward to the adoptive family's supervising social worker information about the County's adoption support;
8. The adoptive family's supervising social worker may wish to visit the family to go through the Child's Permanence Report, and should be asked to indicate as soon as possible whether or not the family wish to proceed.

The procedure outlined in Paragraphs 8.3 to 8.6 above will then be followed and the child's adoption social worker will visit potential families prior to a Family Finding Meeting being held.

Once a suitable match has been identified, (whether with in-house approved adopters, inter agency or a foster carer approved as an adopter), the child's adoption social worker must update the Child's Permanence Report and the supervising social worker must update the Form F (PAR) for panel. A front sheet should be provided identifying which areas of the report have been updated or confirming that there has been no change.

The child's adoption social worker and prospective adopters' supervising social worker should prepare an Adoption Placement Report and Adoption Support Plan giving details of the family recommended, evaluating how this family may meet the child's needs and setting out the proposed adoption support services to be offered to the child, adoptive family and birth family - see Adoption Support Procedure.

The Adoption Placement Report and Support Plan must be written by  qualified social workers with suitable experience (see Section 5, Adoption Panel Minutes of Adoption Panel Procedure) and must include the prospective adopter's views ( written or dictated  by them) on the proposed placement, contact arrangements (including meeting with the birth parents), adoption support and any proposed restrictions on their exercise of Parental Responsibility after the placement.

The supervising social worker should provide a copy of the Adoption Placement Report and Support Plan to the prospective adopters and give 10 working days to them to submit any comments on its contents.

Presentation to the Adoption Panel:

The child's adoption social worker must present the following reports to the Adoption Panel:

1. A front sheet stating what is being reported, the reports included, recommendations sought and who will be attending Adoption Panel;
2. The child's Permanence Report (with an update medical report no more than 6 months old);
3. An addendum to the Child's Permanence Report stating either the updated information or that there has been no change;
4. The Prospective Adopter's Report, updated as necessary, on the identified prospective adopters and a recent medical report completed by the Panel Medical Adviser (in the last 2 years);
5. Update of information provided in the Prospective Adopter's Report (with a front sheet stating either the updated information or that there has been no change;
6. The Adoption Placement Report and Support Plan;
7. The Delegation of Parental Responsibility advice signed by the prospective adopters;
8. Views of prospective adopters included in  the Adoption Placement Report regarding the Support Plan and the proposed contact arrangements.

The child's adoption social worker will forward the Adoption Placement Report and Support Plan to the Practice Supervisor or Adoption Team Manager at least 15 working days before the Adoption Panel where matching is to be considered.

The child's adoption social worker will give the prospective adopters a copy of the Adoption Placement Report in order for them to complete their sections of the report along with written notification that the proposed placement is to be referred to the Adoption Panel at least 15 working days before panel and invite them to submit their views on the proposed placement within 10 working days.

On receipt of the prospective adopters written views, the supervising social worker passes, the updated Child's Permanence Report, the Prospective adopters Report and the adoption Placement Report to the Adoption Panel administrator 10 working days before the date of the Adoption Panel.

The Panel's recommendation as to whether the child should be placed for adoption with the particular prospective adopters will be recorded in writing, together with reasons, in the Panel's minutes. 

The Panel must also consider and may give advice in relation to the proposed adoption support, the proposed arrangements for contact and any proposed restrictions on the exercise of Parental Responsibility by the prospective adopters and/or the birth parents. A copy of the relevant minute must be placed on the child's and the prospective adopters' Adoption Case Record.

After the Panel has considered the reports and made a written recommendation, the minute and reports considered by the Panel will be sent to the Agency Decision Maker who will make a decision based on this information within 7 working days of the Panel meeting. The decision will be recorded in writing and entered on ICS.  If the Panel has given advice in relation to adoption support, proposed contact and/or the exercise of Parental Responsibility by the prospective adopters, the Agency Decision Maker may express a view on such advice.

Where the Agency Decision Maker is minded to disagree with the Panel recommendation, he/she must first discuss the case with another senior officer with the appropriate experience, who should not be a Panel member. This discussion must be recorded and placed on the child's and the prospective adopter's Adoption Case Record.

The purpose of the Placement Planning Meeting is to draw up a proposed Adoption Placement Plan. The Adoption Placement Plan should include whether the placement is to be made under a Placement Order or with Parental Consent, the proposed date of the placement, who will be present when the placement takes place, the Adoption Support Plan, whether and how the exercise of Parental Responsibility by the prospective adopters and/or the birth parents is to be restricted (for example in relation to the change of the child's name), the arrangements for the supervision of the placement (including contact details during office hours and out of hours), the date when the life story book and any Later Life letters will be passed to the prospective adopters, the date and arrangements for the first review, any post-placement contact between the child and members of his or her birth family and/or the child and the foster carers, and clarification of who will make the necessary notifications of the placement (see Section 10, The Placement).

Regulation 12.9 of the Adoption Regulations and Guidance (England 2011) requires the Child's Social Worker to ensure that the prospective adopters (whether they are agency or Intercountry) understand the importance that the child's birth family are informed if the child should unfortunately die during childhood. Prospective adopters must agree that the named manager for the adoption agency is informed. The agreement for this must be recorded in the Placement Planning Meeting.

There should be full participation of the prospective adopters in the placement planning process.

There should be flexibility in arranging introductions to meet the individual needs  of the child and the prospective adopters, which includes the child visiting the prospective adoptive home prior to the adoptive placement.  Information is to be  provided to the child to ensure that s/he has a proper understanding about the accommodation and others living at the prospective adoptive home, the contact arrangements with the birth family and how to contact his or her social worker.

The child's first meeting with the prospective adopters should be on the child's familiar territory (unless the child is older and requests otherwise) and a social worker should be present. The pattern of introductory visits thereafter will depend on the child's age, needs and stage of development but consideration will be given, to a gradual introductory programme involving visits increasing in length, including where appropriate, an overnight stay, and/or a weekend stay and in exceptional circumstances with an older child, a longer period prior to the final move.

The child's adoption social worker will be responsible for coordinating Placement Planning Meetings. However, all workers involved must be clear about their respective roles and responsibilities in the implementation of the plan, and what should happen in the event of difficulties. Changes to the Adoption Placement Plan can only be made with the agreement of the parties to the plan and the Chair of the meeting and must be notified to the prospective adopters in writing.

The child's adoption social worker is expected to be in regular and frequent contact with the child, foster carer and prospective adopter during the period of the introductions and all involved share information with each other on a regular basis, at the frequency identified at the Placement Planning Meetings. The Adoption Placement Plan will then be reviewed at an agreed date - see Paragraph 9.10 below. The Plan will identify the named workers and when they will have contact with the child.

At the mid-point of the introductions, a telephone discussion will be held, between the supervising social worker and the prospective adopter and the supervising social worker and child's adoption social worker during which the following areas will be addressed:

The progress of the introductions - has the necessary action identified at the placement planning meeting been taken, and the plan been followed? -

1. The views of each participant as to the above;
2. The identification of the positives;
3. The identification of any difficulties;
4. The development of the next stage of the plan;
5. The finalisation of the arrangements for the placement.

Prior to the placement, the child's adoption social worker must ensure that all the following information/items have been provided to the prospective adopters:

1. Clarity of responsibility and decision-making delegated to prospective adopters about child's health needs and when/under what circumstances consent to medical treatment needs to be obtained;
2. The child's 'Red Book' and NHS Card;
3. Any letters, photographs or mementos from the birth family, including a 'Later in Life' letter from the birth parent if possible, and the Life Story Book . The later life letter and the life story book must be provided to the adopters within 10 working days of adoption ceremony, i.e. the ceremony to celebrate the making of the Adoption Order;
4. The child's passport (if applicable);
5. A written plan of the contact arrangements pre and post adoption with the birth parents and any previous carers;
6. The Adoption Support Plan, including the details of the Lincolnshire Adoption Helpline to access adoption support in the future if necessary;
7. The Adoption Placement Plan including arrangements for support and visits by the child's adoption social worker and their own supervising social worker;
8. Any other relevant information, including specialist reports (subject to the author's consent).

Support will be provided to prospective adopters as part of the Adoption Placement Plan and, where appropriate, the Adoption Support Plan, to help the child develop positive relationships and to manage the child's challenging behaviour; to promote the child's participation in leisure activities and trips; provision of support to prospective adopters to promote child's educational attainment.

The prospective adopters should be asked to sign confirmation of receipt. Where the information/items are provided at different times, the prospective adopters must sign and date confirmation of receipt on each occasion.

The child will be the subject of regular Adoption Reviews, chaired by an Independent Reviewing Officer. The first review must be held within 3 months of the agency obtaining authority to place the child for adoption (either through a Placement Order or Parental Consent to Adoptive Placement) and thereafter, at least every 6 months. The arrangements for convening such reviews and the agenda for the review will be the same as where a placement has been made - see Review of Adoptive Placements Procedure.

In addition to the requirements set out in that chapter, where the child has not been placed at the time of the first six month review, the review should also establish why the child has not been placed for adoption and consider what further steps it should take to arrange for the child to be placed for adoption; and whether the plan for the child remains appropriate or whether an application to revoke the Placement Order should be made.