The Thurrock, Havering and Southend adoption teams are staffed by experienced personnel and seeks to provide permanent and temporary families for 'children in need' in their respective areas.

By implication, when placing children in new adoptive families it is better if there is a degree of geographical distance between the adoptive family and the area from which the child originated.  Also it is necessary to have a range of adopters to meet the varied needs of children requiring placement, and give a degree of choice.  All of this is difficult to achieve in a small borough.  The new government standards on Adoption place very stringent requirements on local authorities, and strongly encourages small authorities to enter into Consortium agreements, to maximise the quality and efficiency of the service.

What does this mean in practice?

Havering, Thurrock and Southend still maintain their own independent adoption service, managed locally and subject ultimately to the control of elected council members.  They make their own decisions about which individual applicants to assess and approve for adoption.  However, the formal agreement is that the three areas will, wherever possible, harmonise their practice, procedures and eligibility criteria.  Managers and social workers from the three areas meet together regularly to identify common issues and agree procedures, and report to central government on targets achieved, taking account of the existence of the Consortium.

How does this affect me as an Adopter?

You can apply to any of the Consortium members to be assessed as an adopter.  They each run their own assessment and training, within their own authority, although there is much common material and sometimes shared training.  When your assessment is completed, you will be presented to the Adoption Panel in the area that has assessed you.  (You will be given more detailed information about this at the time).  If the Adoption Agency agree that you should be approved as a prospective adopter you will be placed on the Consortium Register of approved adopters, which covers all three authorities.  You may then be selected for a child from any of them, and any adoption support you require will be delivered as a package from your original authority.

The benefits to you as an adopter are that the existence of a Consortium greatly increases the number of children who might require an adoptive placement.  In addition, it is easier for the Adoption Agencies to deliver the adoption support services if they collaborate.