Inter Country Adoption

The Agency has a service level agreement with the Inter Country Adoption Agency (ICA) whereby for an annual fee they carry out the initial counselling and provide information for service users seeking to adopt a child from overseas.

They will provide appropriate written information, advice and counselling which will enable prospective applicants to understand the process of adopting a child from overseas and reach an informed decision as to whether to proceed with an application.

If they subsequently wish to proceed, the assessment will then be carried out by an agency they recommend (likely to be a local VAA such as Adoption Matters) but the financial arrangements for this will be between the applicant and the assessing agency.

The responsibilities of the local authority (Section 6) relates to the need to be involved when a child is placed. There is a duty on local authorities to visit and hold reviews relating to a child placed in the Bolton area to look at the progress of the child in placement until their eventual adoption.

If the Agency receives an enquiry about inter country adoption, they will be sign posted to ICA.