5.2.11 Post Adoption Contact |
Contents
1. Introduction
The idea of open adoption or adoption with contact is a fairly recent development that became more practised after the implementation of The Children Act 1989, and refers to the continued maintenance of links between members of the birth family and the adopted child. (See Brief Notes on Open Adoption - John Triseliotis). The Adoption and Children Act 2002 updates adoption legislation in line with The Children Act 1989 and requires Family Services to offer post adoption support and to make arrangements for post adoption contact.
The commitment of Kensington and Chelsea to setting up post adoption contact arrangements is based on the belief that children who are adopted will benefit from there being more openness about their origins and reasons for adoption through maintaining a link between members of the birth family and the adopted child. Ongoing contact can enable this to occur in a real and more natural way.
Contact can be direct through planned meetings arranged possibly on a once or twice yearly basis, for example, where children are older when placed for adoption or where it is feasible for there to be ongoing contact with siblings. Contact can be indirect through the exchange perhaps of letters, cards or photographs via the Family Placement Unit of Kensington and Chelsea. This is also referred to as letter box contact. With the placement of a very young child, post adoption contact may involve a meeting between the adopters and birth parents prior to placement or an agreement with the adopter(s) to send a progress letter and photographs once a year to a birth family member.
It is not possible to give definitive guidelines to cover each individual situation where post adoption contact is being considered. Steps that can be taken in considering post adoption contact are set out below. Sensitivity will be needed towards all those involved and it is vital that a child is given the necessary space to build up his or her relationship with a new family and that adopters are motivated and willing to carry through the agreements that they make. It is important to try to build up a level of trust between the adopter(s) and the birth family members as it is this that will ultimately make post adoption contact work in the longer term.
Support will be available for all parties. Post adoption contact should not be seen as a bargaining tool in order to gain agreement to adoption and needs to be seen rather as being in the long term best interest of the child. Adopters need to be able to understand that issues about their birth family will be there for adopted children anyway, whether or not there are post adoption contact arrangements.
Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and no surnames or addresses given or placed in written agreements. This is particularly important where a birth family member could be violent or actively seek to disrupt the adoptive placement. In such cases direct contact would not be appropriate. If there is ongoing contact, it might be important to consider the geographical closeness of the child to the birth family members. The adoptive family needs to be able to live a normal family life without too much fear or anxiety that this could be disrupted.
Ideally, post adoption contact can enhance the adoption experience for all, in particular for the child as he or she moves through childhood into adulthood.
2. Guidelines for Social Workers
2.1 Form E – BAAF Form giving Details of Child Needing Family Placement
When writing a form E on a child and presenting a child to the Adoption and Permanency Panel for a best interest decision, it is important to include the proposed likely contact arrangements post adoption, having discussed these first with the birth family and the adoption link worker. In making these recommendations, it is important to consider the needs and age of the child and current relationships of the child with the birth family as well as the reliability and quality of current contact. Consider also the stability of the adoption placement and the likely future needs of the child regarding contact. Be realistic about the level of contact that is likely to be manageable to the adopter(s), remembering that this can also affect how quickly or easily a family can be found.
2.2 Matching
When matching a child with an adoptive family and going to Panel for agreement, consider again the issue of contact and discuss fully with the adopter(s) to elicit their views. Direct contact is unlikely to be successful if the new family do not wish this to happen. The welfare of the child in the long term must be the over-arching factor in decision making. Ideally, there should be mention of this in the Form F assessment on the adopters but discussion about specifics will be needed. It will ultimately be the adopters who will specify in court the level of contact they agree to, so it is important to match the child with adopters who look as though they can meet the contact needs of the child. Adopters need to be able to understand the possible benefits for the child, particularly in the longer term, of maintaining contact with his or her birth family and of having up to date information.
2.3 Birth Family
Discuss the issue of post adoption contact with the birth family at different stages of planning for adoption, as their views are likely to change as the decision for adoption becomes more likely. It is difficult for birth family members to discuss this issue realistically if they are contesting the plan for adoption. However, they will need to understand, at some point, that post adoption contact is different from the contact that they will have been used to for a looked after child. After adoption, parental responsibility lies only with the adopters and establishing a cooperative relationship between the adopters and the birth family will be essential if the arrangements are to work reasonably smoothly and continue in the longer term. It is also important that the birth family understands that the needs of the children for contact may change in the future and that an agreement can be altered.
Thought will need to be given to the sort of contact that is realistic. For example, if the giving of cards or presents at Christmas and birthdays is agreed, (and thought may need to be given about what it might mean for a child to receive presents from a birth parent of whom they have no memory), then advice may need to be given about keeping the number and size of presents small or helping the birth parent to think about how to sign a card or to avoid becoming over emotional. A more appropriate way of a birth parent saying how they feel, can be through a letter written for the child to read when he or she is older. If birth family members are not able to give cards or presents in an appropriate manner, it may not be possible to forward these to the adoptive family and this can be upsetting.
2.4 Post Adoption Support
Both birth parents and adopters need to be made aware of the contract that exists between Kensington and Chelsea and After Adoption who can offer support post adoption to adoptive families who live within the M25 ring. An additional service is available to birth parents for support and/or counselling after adoption has been agreed as being in the best interest of the child and before an adoption order is granted. Social workers may need to access this service on behalf of birth parents as they often find it difficult to initiate the referral to After Adoption, but can still benefit from this more independent support and counselling. The child’s social worker maintains the responsibility of offering verbal and written information and counselling about the nature and effect of adoption to birth parents. Written information for birth parents about adoption is available within the Family Placement Unit . (FPU 123) After Adoption and The Post Adoption Centre operate telephone advice lines for those affected by adoption.
2.5 Contact Arrangements and Adoption Support Plan
Discussion about post adoption contact should continue in an ongoing way between the time of the best interest decision at the Adoption and Permanency Panel through to when an order is granted by the court. It will also need to be addressed as part of the Adoption Support Plan required under The Children and Adoption Act 2002. (See FPU pro forma on intranet). Discussion should take place with birth family, adopters, link workers either in the Adoption Team of Kensington and Chelsea or any other Adoption Agency involved in the placement of the child, professionals or adopters involved in the placement of any siblings of the child and the Post Adoption Social Worker in the Adoption Team.
A referral form for post adoption contact arrangements is available from the Post Adoption Social Worker in the Adoption Team. This can be submitted once arrangements are clarified but early discussion can take place with the Post Adoption Social Worker, who can also be available to meet with the birth family and adopters. Leaflets for birth family and adopters about post adoption contact should become available in 2003. Any conflict or difficulty that may arise may need to be resolved with the involvement of the Team Managers of the Locality and Adoption Teams.
If there is only letter box contact envisaged, it may be helpful to arrange a meeting between the adopters and the birth parents, if both parties feel able to consider this. It may also be helpful between the time of the placement of the child with the adoptive family and a court hearing for an adoption, to try out the arrangements as they are likely to be post adoption so that people can get used to them and any teething problems or possibly major difficulties can be identified. This can be particularly helpful where there is direct contact, supervised or unsupervised.
For direct contact in London, Coram Contact Centre has so far proved to be a good venue as it is has comfortable surroundings, separate small rooms and either continuous or more distant supervision. There is a park close by. Rates are quite reasonable. For direct contact outside of London, discussion will need to occur with various professional agencies in the area or with any independent adoption agency involved in the placement.
2.6 Written Agreements
Written agreements regarding post adoption contact arrangements will need to be drawn up at some point, ideally before an adoption application is heard by the court, but if this is not possible because of adopters or birth families reluctance, then after the adoption order is granted. Separate agreements will be drawn up with adopters and birth parents in order to maintain confidentiality. If any party is not willing to sign an agreement, which is anyway voluntary and not legally binding, then a written record will still be made of the understanding of contact at the time of an order being granted. On rare occasions, a contact order can be made by the court with the adoption order but courts tend to prefer the agreement with the adoptive parents to be a voluntary one. There are pro forma agreements (FPU104 and 105) to give suggestions for written agreements but as each situation is different, individual written agreements will be needed. Agreements can be drawn up by the social worker for the child or the post adoption contact social worker in conjunction with the social worker for the child. Full discussion will be needed with the birth family and the adopters in order to reach a satisfactory and workable agreement. Any agreement needs to be included in the Adoption Support Plan.
2.7 Post Adoption
Responsibility for arranging and financing contact remains with the Locality Social Work Team until an adoption order is granted at which time responsibility is transferred to The Adoption Team. The Post Adoption Social Worker in the Adoption Team will liaise with all parties after adoption and try to ensure the implementation of the agreement regarding post adoption contact.
Current policy is that all correspondence is read and copied and when original correspondence and photographs or gifts are sent on through the post, this is done via recorded delivery.
Arrangements for post adoption contact may change as time goes on and the interests of the child change. The Post Adoption Social Worker and Team Manager in the Adoption Team would be involved post adoption in any changes to the agreement made with the adoptive parents.
Birth family members can continue to expect a service from Kensington and Chelsea post adoption and can discuss any difficulties with the Post Adoption Social Worker or the Adoption Team Manager who would hope to be able to liaise between the birth and adoptive families about any difficulties. However, post adoption, the parental responsibility for the child is held only by the adopter(s) and decisions about the child would be remain with the adopter(s). A birth family member could apply to the court for a Contact Order but the views of the adopter(s), as the legal parent(s) of the child, are still likely to be given more weight, and a voluntary agreement sought. The child’s own views about contact will become more important with time and should be sought in accordance with the age of the child.
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