Monitoring and Supervision of Adoptive Placements

Arrangements for and frequency of visits for supervising the placement must be made at Placement Planning Meetings and set out in the Adoption Placement Plan - see Placement for Adoption Procedure, The Placement.

This will involve at a minimum:

• The child's Social Worker visiting the child within the first week of the placement and then weekly until the first review. It is important the child is seen by the allocated Social Worker who knows them. If the allocated Social Worker is not available for all visits, then the visit can exceptionally be made by another Social Worker, usually from the child's team or the adopters' Social Worker;
• Thereafter, the frequency of visits will be determined at the child's Adoption Review or, if not specified, every six weeks for the first year and after this, on a three-monthly basis.

Where there are any concerns, a care planning meeting must be held, and this will consider whether additional visits should be arranged.

The adopters' Link Worker will also carry out visits at a minimum of one visit before the first CLA review. The adopters Link Worker will also support adopters at the first CLA review. Frequency of further visits and contacts to be agreed at the first CLA review. The visits and telephone contacts should continue until an Adoption Order has been made or until the placement is terminated. This will include an unannounced visit before the application for an Adoption order is supported.

Visits must be made by suitably experienced qualified Social Workers or Social Workers/student Social Workers who are supervised by suitably qualified and experienced Social Workers - see Adoption Panel Procedure, Reports to Adoption Panel – clarification is needed between the visits to the child placed for adoption and the visits to the prospective adopters. Visits to the child are as above.

Visit to support the prospective adopters can be made by qualified Social Worker/student Social Worker/support workers, experienced in adoption.

Records of all statutory visits to the child must be made and copies placed on the child's Adoption Case Record. Records of contact/visits with the prospective adopters must be made and placed on the prospective adopter's case record. Between visits, the Social Workers involved must discuss progress in the placement and read each other's recording of visits during the monitoring period. Where a visit to a child or adopter raises issues pertinent to the other, this will be recorded on the corresponding/linked record.

Where there are concerns that the placement is at risk of breaking down, a care planning meeting will take place and consideration given as to whether a review meeting must be convened immediately by the child's Social Worker - see Adoption Reviews - Children Procedure.

The child should be seen alone (if appropriate according to his or her age and understanding) at all of the statutory visits, whether undertaken by the child's Social Worker or the adopters' Link Worker, and his or her wishes and feelings recorded. For younger children, this will include a record of observation of the child.

The child's Social Worker will arrange for the child to continue to have health assessments in line with his or her Health Care Plan and that the Health Care Plan continues to be reviewed up to the Adoption Order in accordance with the procedures for Looked After Children.

The procedures to be followed where a placement disrupts are set out in Disruption of Adoptive Placements Procedure.

Visits to the child and adopters after the Adoption Order will be made as and when required under the Adoption Support Plan - see Adoption Support Procedure.

Agreement for the adopters to lodge their application should be made at the CLA review and this can occur at 10 weeks into placement. The adopters will be encouraged to make their application when this can be supported by the agency.

The report to Court – is completed by child's Social Worker and adopter Link Worker – see Court Reports in Adoption/Special Guardianship Guidance.