We believe a child is best off growing up as part of a secure, caring and supportive family.
So, when a child is unable to live with their birth parents, it’s really important to find an adoptive or long-term foster family who can offer them unconditional love and the start in life they deserve.
By adopting, you become the legal parent of a child (or parents if you’re a married couple), which means taking on all of the responsibilities and rights of a birth parent.
You’re also committing to taking care of the child into adulthood and beyond – with Hounslow’s support if you want.
At Hounslow, we make every effort to place children with families that will reflect their own ethnic and cultural origins. We think it’s especially important to respect any preferences the birth family have regarding religion and culture.
Depending on the circumstances of the child’s past, the birth family and your family may exchange photographs by mutual agreement through a service called Letterbox. For some children direct contact with birth relatives is encouraged as it helps the child form a strong sense of identity.
We look for adopters that reflect the child’s racial origin, cultural and religious background. Adopters who come from similar backgrounds are more able to give the child a sense of identity.
Your Assessing Social Worker will now become your Linking Social Worker. They will look carefully at the children awaiting for placements in Hounslow. We’ll then consult you on any child identified as a possible match, and send you detailed information on them. At the same time, your assessment report will be sent to the child’s Social Worker.
If we do not find a suitable match between you and a child in Hounslow, your details will be circulated to The West London Consortium, and to other agencies and registered on the National Adoption register.
The whole process from initial enquiry through to approval should take no more than 8 months.
Adoption information sessions
The Adoption and Permanence Team organise adoption information sessions every 6 weeks. The information sessions are designed to give prospective adopters more detail about the process of adoption and what it entails.
If you are interested in attending an adoption information session please contact a member of staff who will advise you of the next adoption information session date.
Contact us
The Adoption & Permanence Team
The Civic Centre
Pavilion BF
Lampton Road
Hounslow TW3 4DN
Tel: 020 8583 3437
Email: adoptioninfo.sshp@hounslow.gov.uk
