Adoption and Children Act 2002 (UK)

Product Information

For the first time, the legislation recognised the needs of birth relatives who want the opportunity to let their adult adopted relative know of their interest for contact.

The Adoption and Children Act 2002 received Royal Assent and therefore became law on 7th November 2002. Significant harm is defined in as a situation where a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, a degree of physical, sexual and / or emotional harm (through abuse or neglect) which is so harmful that there needs to be compulsory intervention by child protection agencies into the life of the child and their family. But the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, told the BBC that if society takes the view it does not discriminate against same-sex couples, people couldn’t be given exclusions on the grounds of their religion. Unless it is the child or the adoptive parent applying, leave of the court is required first via a C2 form. No Blanket BanIn the past some adoption agencies had a policy that would ban certain groups of people from adopting children.The adoption agency has written procedures for dealing with allegations of historical abuse which may be made by service users during the course of service provision. If you are not currently working, or not in direct practice, you could think about how your CPD activity might benefit people you come into contact with or the profession as a whole.

The child’s permanence report is now more detailed and gives you as the possible new parent of the child more information to decide if the child is a good match with you and your family. Trials are provided to all LexisNexis products and content, excluding Practice Compliance, Practice Management and Risk and Compliance, subscription packages are tailored to your specific needs.

This legislation also means that there will be hopefully fewer children in care homes and more with homes and families of their own. Local authority services and third sector adoption agencies must meet national minimum service standards. The UK has recently ratified (put into effect) the 1993 'Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-Country Adoption' (The Convention). The review also confirms that the time between entry into care and adoption has, in fact, increased rather than decreased.

Local Authority foster parents: The child must have had their home with the applicants at all times during the period of one year preceding the application. Subtitled: A failure of implementation, the review considers a range of relevant issues including adoption, family justice, employment rights and building a better future for children and families.g. a partner of the child's parent) - the child must have had his/her home with them for at least three years preceding the application. Adopted people can still apply to the Registrar General for the information that enables them to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate and other information to find out which agency (if not a private adoption) was involved in their adoption.