4.10.12 Disruption of Adoptive Placements |
Where an adoptive placement breaks down (including where the breakdown occurs during the introductions and before the actual placement), a Disruption Meeting will be held to identify the reasons for the breakdown and to learn lessons from the events surrounding the breakdown.
The Disruption Meeting will be held within two weeks of the placement breaking down, and will follow a set agenda.
The manager of the adoption service or nominee will chair the meeting unless he or she considers that an independent person should be appointed to act as chair. A minute taker will also attend.
When a Disruption Meeting takes place, the meeting will be convened by the child's social worker, who will invite the prospective adoptive parents, the link worker for the adopters, the current carers and any other relevant people. The team managers for both the child's social worker and, where the placement was with in-house adopters, the adopters' link worker must also attend. The child's social worker will also ensure that the child's views and feelings are given to the meeting in the most appropriate way.
The child's social worker and the prospective adopters' link worker should attend the Adoption Panel to present a report from the Disruption Meetings. The Adoption Panel should also receive copies of the Panel minutes recommending the adoption plan for the child, the prospective adopters' approval (where the adopters were approved by Dudley) and the matching, to enable learning points to be shared.
The child's social worker should contact the Panel Administrator to book a date for the Adoption Panel and copies of the relevant documents should be sent to the Panel Administrator 14 days before the Panel meeting.
The Adoption Panel may consider whether the plan for the child should be reviewed and/or, in the case of adopters approved by Dudley, whether the prospective adopters' approval or category of approval should be reconsidered, and these issues may need to be further investigated and reports be presented to a subsequent meeting.
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