Once you have been approved to adopt your social worker will start working with our Family Finding Adoption Team to identify children whose needs you could meet. You will also be referred to the Adoption Register for Wales and/or you may choose to respond to a child/children featured in Linkmaker. Again, your social worker will be there to support you and work closely with you throughout and beyond adoption.
During the course of your assessment your social worker will have got to know you really well. The purpose of your assessment visits aren’t just to gather lots of information about you but to help your social worker to form an understanding of your own particular skills and abilities and in doing so, ensure that you are matched with a child or children whose needs you can meet.
It’s difficult to put a time frame on how long the matching process will take, for some prospective adopters the process will be quick for others it can take a lot longer. There are currently less children coming through the system for adoption – currently most adopters wait around 6 – 12 months, but for some it may take a bit longer.
We know it can be a difficult time waiting for a successful match and this where the connections you’ve made earlier in the process, your support networks and the Western Bay community will be key. We run regular support groups for our Stage 2 prospective adopters where our social workers and therapists can explore further with you subjects such as therapeutic parent and birth family contact.
Our Buddy Scheme can also be helpful at this point – teaming you up with seasoned adopters who’ve been through the same emotional rollercoaster likely being experienced now.
National Adoption Service Podcast
Episode 3
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