ABSTRACT
Planning support for adopted children and their families should be based on a careful analysis of the information which has been collected about child’s current developmental needs, the capacity of the adoptive parents to respond to those needs, the impact of any relevant family and environmental factors on the child’s needs and on the parenting capacity of the adoptive parents. On the basis of this analysis the worker can make an assessment of the interrelated needs of the adopted child and family. Using this assessment, the worker can then identify the support or interventions to recommend for the adopted child and/or the adoptive family (and the birth family where appropriate) to help meet the child’s needs. The DfES Practice Guidance on assessing adopters and on assessing support needs of adoptive families provides indicators abut the areas to be addressed in relation to planning adoption support.
