Adoption Procedures

On 30 December 2005 the Adoption and Children Act 2002 was fully implemented. It represents the most radical overhaul of adoption law for 26 years, replacing the Adoption Act 1976 and modernising the legal framework for domestic and intercountry adoption. As a result we have fully reviewed our adoption procedures, which are set out below. These reflect all the key provisions of the 2002 Act, which include:

Ensuring that the child's welfare is the paramount consideration in all decisions relating to adoption
Placing a duty on all local authorities to maintain an adoption service, including arrangements for the provision of adoption support services
Providing for adoption orders to be made in favour of single people, married couples and, for the first time, unmarried couples
Introducing a new special guardianship order
Introducing new measures for placement for adoption with consent and placement orders

Adoption Agency Policy and Procedures - January 2007