The Inter Country Adoption (ICA) process

When you have had an informal conversation, whether through our ChatAdopt session or a telephone call, and have watched our online presentation, we will advise you about the next steps. If you feel ready to progress and are able to do so, a social worker will be allocated to you and make contact to arrange to speak with you.

This is called an Initial Visit and considers all areas to ensure you would be eligible to move on to become a prospective adopter.  The social worker will talk to you about adoption and answer any questions or queries you may have. They will also gather additional information from you at this meeting and ask you to complete some forms.

All the information gathered from your Initial Visit is now considered by the social worker to ensure you are able to proceed to stage one.

To start stage one, you will be asked to complete a stage one agreement with your social worker which includes all the forms needed to complete the checks below. Your social worker will guide you through the process and explain each step and/or check needed.  There may be times where additional information is required or additional exploration from a check that had been returned needs further questioning.  Some of the actions in stage one will include

• obtaining references
  • statutory references – from your current and previous (if needed) local authority, probation, CAFCASS etc.
  • personal references from at least three referees you nominate
• completion of a medical
• completion of a DBS check
• some exploration with your social worker about topics, such as your finances
• attendance at least once training session which could be attending our 3-day training or a module
• starting your learning about adoption and adding this to a learning log to evidence this learning
• completing a child observation with you and a child ideally within your initial matching criteria age range.

All checks need to be completed in stage one for consideration to proceed to stage two.  There may be an occasion where it is not suitable for you to progress to stage two. Should this be the case, your social worker will discuss this with you and explain the rationale behind why the Agency does not feel it is appropriate for you to continue your journey.

When all your checks are complete and you and your social worker are happy, they will recommend you to move to stage two.

The first instalment of the ICA assessment fee is due.

Stage two involves assessment sessions with your social worker to explore the areas needed to complete your Prospective Adopters Report (PAR).  This report covers all areas about you and your ability to become an adoptive parent.  Your social worker will ask lots of questions, but stage two gives you the opportunity to ask questions you are unsure of yourself too.  These meetings will be planned and there are on average 8-10 sessions.  If you are adopting as a couple, you will have some individual and some joint sessions. You and the social worker will explore your ability to look after a child in depth, as well as exploring the type of child or children that would suit you.

You will also need to attend any training sessions you may not have completed during stage one.

Your social worker will provisionally book you onto our adoption approval panel when completing the stage one agreement.   Your social worker will write the Prospective Adopters Report (PAR) for panel which will be shared with you to check the factual accuracy of the information before it is submitted.

For panel, you will need to produce a learning log to evidence ongoing learning and reflections you have gained during the process.  You will also need to produce a draft family book and video which could be shared with a child during the family finding and matching stage.  Your Social Worker will always help in producing these for panel and if you are unsure, we encourage you to ask them for additional support.

The Independent Approval Panel usually has 6 members comprising of adopters, professionals, and social workers.  You will be invited to attend the panel alongside your social worker. The panel’s role is to consider all the information and make a recommendation about if you are suitable to adopt or not.   The Panel will have seen the PAR, learning log and draft family book so will already know some information about you, but will ask you some additional questions on the day.

You will be made aware of the panel recommendation on the day.  The recommendation, PAR and panel minutes are then shared with our Agency Decision Maker, as they make the final decision to approve you as an adopter.

Once the Agency Decision Maker has considered the panel recommendation and made a decision, if positive you will be an approved adopter and move onto family finding.

The second instalment of the ICA assessment is due.

Once you are approved adopters with Yorkshire Adoption Agency, a paperwork bundle is sent to the Department of Education (DfE) for a ‘Certificate of Eligibility’ to be provided to you.

This certificate enables you to adopt from a country outside of the UK and must be obtained before securing any legal status as a parent for a child. This can take up to 12 weeks to process and the DfE has a charge which needs to be paid when they receive the paperwork.

Once you have the certificate, the matching process for Inter Country Adoption (ICA) varies according to the country you are wanting to adopt from. This will be explored with you to ensure you know the procedures for the country during your assessment.

Each country, situation and ICA adoption journey is individual and may differ from what may be expected. In general terms, once approved for adoption, the areas you would need to consider are:

• Some countries may match you with a child ‘on paper’ before you travel to the country, whereas some match you after you have visited the orphanage and are in the country. The timeframe for a match varies and can be over 3 years for some countries, such as India
• Adopters will have to travel to the country they wish to adopt in and will need to, in general, remain living in that country for anywhere between 6-12month. This may mean you are unable to work and therefore have a financial impact
• You may not have the strong support network in the country to offer any support whilst there
• Adopters will need to liaise with the identified orphanage to become matched with a child. Adopters must ensure they keep Yorkshire Adoption Agency informed whilst they are in the country so that records and the DfE can be updated as needed.

Once matched with a child, you must follow the process of the specific orphanage and the country’s visa application process. These will be discussed further with you during assessment.

When you return home with your child to the UK, Yorkshire Adoption Agency continues to offer support. You need to ensure you keep Yorkshire Adoption Agency and the local authority updated about your plans to return, as the local authority will need to allocate your family to a social worker.

The local authority social worker and your social worker from Yorkshire Adoption Agency will visit and offer ongoing support until you are able to apply for an adoption order for your child, legally in the UK.

As an ICA adopter, you can access all the support Yorkshire Adoption Agency has to offer, including life long support, ongoing access to training and regular updates via our newsletters. We would also love to see you at our regular family events.