Children Placed Against the Wishes of the Birth Parents
These children will already be known to the Social Work Service and the Children's Hearing system. They will most likely be subject to a Supervision Requirement under Section 70 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1995. Under the Children's Hearing system, a Children's Panel will make all of the important decisions, including where a child should live and who the child should have regular contact with.
The Children’s Panel are also required to provide advice to Sheriff’s in relation to the adoption plan for the child.
The process of adoption for these children can be time consuming. A Court Hearing is held in which the Local Authority will seek to have the child “Freed for Adoption”. This means removing the birth parents rights in respect of the child.
In order to try and provide security and stability to young children it is the practice of Aberdeen City Council to try and place these children with prospective adopters on a fostering basis prior to Freeing Hearing being concluded. This is only done when it is considered to be in the child’s best interests and the plan has been endorsed by the Adoption/Permanency Panel.
When the social work service and the Adoption/Permanency Panel have matched a child with a prospective adoptive family a Children's Panel must be held to decide whether the child may be moved into that family. The child will thereafter continue to be subject to a Supervision Requirement and cared for on a fostering basis until the Court Case has been concluded.
Birth parents have a right to attend Children's Hearings, and also to know where and with whom their children are living. These details may be withheld from the birth parents when it is not felt to be in the child's interest to share them e.g. when the child may be at risk from the parent.
Back to the Adopting in Aberdeen home page.
