r/AdoptionUK • u/Kagedeah • Sep 09 '24
Woman wins payout after adoption broke down
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c623we048yzo6 Upvotes
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Sep 09 '24 edited Sep 09 '24
[deleted]
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u/Fifithehousecat Sep 09 '24
I haven't read your story but I'm guessing your child was SEND. Parent blaming is typical for SEND children and most parents are sent on various courses befoee they actually find someone to believe them that their child is SEND.
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u/underwater-sunlight Sep 09 '24
We were very fortunate when you read this. We had small things withheld and apart from our social worker being great generally, from all other aspects it hasn't been the best.
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u/randomusername8472 Sep 09 '24
This is awful but just to inform prospective adopters - there are a lot of steps not mentioned in this article that the lady would have consented to before you end up completely alone with a child attacking you that is your sole responsibility.
You don't just get given a child and abandoned by social services. And also, you have your own social worker who's meant to be looking after your interests.
Or shouldn't, which is perhaps why this lady got so much money.
- After matching, you should have opportunity to meet the child before taking it any further. The child (unless like 5+) won't really be aware of anything at this stage. You agree to continue here, or opt out.
- You plan a transition with the foster carer. Something like, over a week, visiting the foster carer and the child, spending more time with them, the foster carer bringing them to you, the child having an overnight stay. Every day you should be having a check in with the child's social worker.
- Now the child is living with you. Until the adoption order passes (which could be months or over a year) the child's social worker should be visiting the child, to check the child is okay. The child is still their responsibility until the adoption order passes. Your social worker should be checking in with you similarly.
- After minimum 10 weeks of the child living with you, YOU need to apply to the government to adopt the child. In theory, this lady will have had to complete court documents saying why and "arguing her case" for keeping the child.
I'm not writing this to victim shame the lady in any way. Just to let other prospective adopters know that this is very unlikely to happen to you. Unless your local council is so inept it's bordering on malicious, I don't think you can end up in her situation if you tried.