Combined Executive Agenda 120410.pdf - North Ayrshire Council

7.3. These campaigns will be held within the spring and autumn of 2012 and a
range of methods will be deployed, such as local radio, newspapers,
billboards, advertising on local buses, employee
pay slips and via ‘word of
mouth’ from current adoptive/permanent carers.
8.
Recruitment
8.1. The effective recruitment of adopters is key to
the children who require adoptive placements.
meeting the diverse needs of
8.2. There has been an increase in the number of families applying to adopt.
Seven families were approved in 2011 with a further seven in the assessment
process. The majority of adoptive families however wish to adopt young
children.
8.3. It is increasingly difficult to source adoptive families for our children with
additional needs and we have continued to widened our search. In one case
we advertised in a national publication unfortunately this produced no result. A
welcome development has been the increase in the number of existing North
Ayrshire council foster carers who have applied to adopt
or foster (on a
permanent basis) children they are currently caring for.
8.4. Attracting adopters for children over five years and for children with additional
needs, continues to be a challenge. For example, we presently have four
children, over the age of 5 years, for whom we have been unable to find
families. A number of children awaiting adoption experience the effects of
foetal alcohol or conditions such as cerebral palsy or developmental delay.
8.5. On occasion it has been necessary to source suitable adopters from
elsewhere; for example where it is seen to be in a child’s best interests to be
placed at a distance from the natural family or where a child’s special needs
cannot be met from within the adopters approved locally. In these
circumstances placements are sourced from the West of Scotland
Consortium, the North and East of Scotland Consortium,
or registered
Adoption Agencies approved through the Care Commission.
8.6. In addition, discussions are ongoing in relation to attempting to identify if a
smaller group of local authorities would be interested in establishing a
consortium, which would
give a wider pool of both adopters and children to be
placed for adoption.
8.7. In accordance with the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007, protocols
have been amended to include a wider range of people entitled to apply to
adopt (i.e. unmarried couples, couples who are civil partners, couples living
together as if married, or as civil partners in an enduring family relationship
and single people). It is hoped that this will help provide a greater
range of
permanent and adoptive families to meet the needs of children.
8.8. North Ayrshire has seen an increase
in applicants who are not married and
are in same sex relationships.
9.
National Adoption Register
9.1. The National Adoption Register was introduced in Scotland in 2011 and is run
by British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering. It is a computer database that
collects and stores data on children who
have a plan for adoption and
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