Inter Country Adoption

To provide a Pre-Assessment Inter Country Adoption Service Users on behalf of the five Local Authorities who are represented by Adoption Counts RAA. We require a registered Adoption Agency to provide this service for this group of LAs as a collaborative commission.

We expect the provider to deliver :

The provider must be a registered Adoption Agency to be able to deliver the statutory duties. Social Workers employed by the agency must be registered with Social Work England.

The service will include advice, information and counselling to Service Users seeking to adopt a child(ren) from outside the United Kingdom. This will include parents, guardians and relatives who wish to adopt a child(ren) from overseas. Any services purchased will only be from the range of services the Provider is registered to provide.

The service provided must be compatible with statutory requirements and nationally recognised standards and codes of practice.

The Provider will provide initial counselling and information for those Service Users seeking to adopt a child(ren) from overseas.

The Provider will provide appropriate written information, advice and counselling which will enable prospective applicants to understand the process of adopting a child from oversees and reach an informed decision as to whether to proceed with an application.

The Provider will provide a service which is fully compliant with the Adoption and Children Act 2002, Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 and Adoption with a Foreign Element Regulations 2005. This service provision will fully satisfy the requirements of Ofsted in respect of meeting the requirement to provide an Inter Country Adoption Service.

The Provider will maintain membership of the Inter Country Adoption Centre, which will provide access to local authority staff, to current information regarding each country's adoption laws.

The Provider will maintain and provide the Purchasers with up to date information about the adoption status of various countries and their practices and conditions.

The Provider will ensure that should potential adoptive parents decide (after initial consultation with the provider re: inter country adoption) to adopt domestically, that the relevant Local Authority is informed of this fact and provided with background information and contact details of the potential adoptive parents. The Local Authority must be permitted to approach these prospective adoptive parents in priority to any other agency to endeavour to find a suitable do