4. Approval Panel

4. Approval Panel

The approval panel is an independent body that recommends whether you should be approved as an adopter. They will read your PAR, references etc then make a recommendation whether they feel you are suitable to be approved as adopters. Panels may vary slightly between authorities but they generally operate in the same way. The panel is made up of a group of individuals from various personal and professional backgrounds which can include the medical adviser, social workers, adoptive parents, people who were adopted or fostered and lots of other backgrounds and experience. When you enter you are likely going to be faced with a room full of complete strangers all smiling at you, they will have name cards in front of them and will go around the room introducing themselves and what their role is (not that you will remember).

You will be invited to attend panel with your social worker and the panel chair will usually meet you beforehand to explain how it works and help you feel more comfortable. If you are anything like me you will be really nervous beforehand not knowing what to expect. With things running through your mind such as; What will they ask? What if I say the wrong thing? What if they don’t like us? What if they don’t approve us? The panel members will know you are nervous and this is far more endearing than over-confident or arrogant.

This is what I imagined it to be like:

This is closer to what it was like (apart from the nice office, it is more likely to be in a run down 70s council building):

Some are happy to go in without doing anything, as you will be able to answer the questions ad hoc anyway. If you are more nervous and want to try and prepare I would recommend meeting with your social worker before panel so they can help alleviate some of those nerves. They wrote your PAR, therefore they are usually very good at pre-empting the questions that are likely to come up. Most find panel scary and intimidating but you will be fine. They will have discussed it in depth and will have asked your social worker any difficult questions before you get in there. It is unlikely they will ask you anything you’re not already expecting and you should have explored any potential issues already with your social worker during the assessment.

They might only ask a couple of questions. Some will be totally unique to you and your circumstances, so there is no point fretting and reading everything you can find on forums. Though some examples could include:

- Why you chose adoption

- How you found the process

- Why you have chosen the sex, age etc of the child you want

- What you have to offer a child

- How you feel about going from a challenging job to being a full time parent (I got this one)

- They might ask about any medical conditions or disabilities if relevant

- How you think it might affect your child(ren) if you already have some and how they are being prepared

…the list goes on. Honestly, it’s a lot quicker and easier to just talk to your social worker.

The panel will make their recommendations to the ADM (Agency Decision Maker). This is a senior person in the agency who makes important decisions about children in care. Once this decision has been made you can then move onto the next stage of the adoption process.

In some circumstances the panel may defer their recommendation. I don't think this happens very often as any issues should have been addressed before you go to panel. But sometimes they might want further clarification on something or there may be something outstanding that needs doing before they are happy to make a recommendation.