8. Adoption

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on adoption as a means to terminate the legal relationship between a child and their birth parents. It considers the human rights aspects of adoption and different types of adoption and discusses adoption proceedings in England and Wales under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The chapter then explains the role of local authorities and adoption agencies under section 2 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, and placement for adoption, parental responsibility, and parental consent. It also highlights the welfare of children as considered by an adoption agency or a court when making a decision affecting the child. Finally, the chapter examines alternative orders: child arrangements order, parental responsibility, special guardianship order, and no order. This edition now includes reference to the Special Guardianship (Amendment) Regulations 2016.

A child for every family? Characterizations of “adoptable” foster children in online permanency advocacy publications

Despite the prevalence of children in need of adoption from the U.S. foster care system, only one of every 28 individuals who contact an adoption agency adopt from foster care. In response, adoption professionals create photolistings to maximize the pool of available prospective adoptive families and enhance the visibility of fostered youth. Yet, creating photolistings is challenging because professionals must navigate helping to place children without exploiting or misrepresenting them. Framed by relational dialectics theory, a contrapuntal analysis of 104 photolistings examined the discursive tensions of what it means to be an “adoptable” child. Findings revealed three discourses that constitute meaning: (1) discourse of child as unadoptable, (2) discourse of child as special, and (3) discourse of child as typical. The findings illustrate triadic interplay of all three discourses, wherein framing a child as special and/or typical counters culturally pervasive and damaging assumptions that fostered youth might be unadoptable or less adoptable than other children. Theoretical, methodological, and practical applications are discussed.

8. Adoption

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on adoption as a means to terminate the legal relationship between a child and their birth parents. It considers the human rights aspects of adoption and different types of adoption and discusses adoption proceedings in the UK under the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The chapter then explains the role of local authorities and adoption agencies under section 2 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, and placement for adoption, parental responsibility and parental consent. It also highlights the welfare of children as considered by an adoption agency or a court when making a decision affecting the child. Finally, the chapter examines alternative orders: child arrangements order, parental responsibility, special guardianship order, and no order. This edition now includes reference to the Special Guardianship (Amendment) Regulations 2016.

The Cradle Society (A)

Provides an account of how The Cradle, a nonprofit adoption agency, went from the brink of dissolution to become a thriving organization carrying out its mission. Under the leadership of Julie Tye, the organization and its board underwent an extensive strategic planning process and made significant changes to the organization's strategy, structure, and culture. Describes the condition of The Cradle before Tye's arrival.

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency: 2 The Enchanted Egg by K. George

George, Kallie. The Magical Animal Adoption Agency: 2 The Enchanted Egg. Illus. Alexandra Boiger. Toronto: Harper-Collins, 2015. Print.As this story opens, the proprietor of the Magical Animal Adoption Agency, Mr. Jams, has only recently returned from a journey, bringing with him a large, mysterious, and enchanted egg. Suddenly, he is off and away to consult with an expert on the potential nature of the egg’s unknown inhabitant. Clover, our young heroine, is left in charge of the entire Agency and its assemblage of fire salamanders, fairy horses, bewitched kittens, unicorns, and, of course, the incubating egg. Within a day of Mr. Jams’ departure, the egg hatches, unseen, and its occupant is nowhere to be found.Children will be fascinated with the detail, the drama, and the sheer unbounded imaginativeness of the world that Kallie George unfolds. They will be engaged as well with Alexandra Boiger’s black and white drawings which enhance, but do not totally define the text, leaving much to the imagination. Finally, they will relate to Clover, an ordinary little girl with extraordinary staying power.For the most part, George’s literary style is typified by imaginative vocabulary, varied sentence structure and good pacing. That being said, her writing contains some weaknesses which seem to arise in the context of colloquial usage. One example will suffice. Though dialogue is a reasonable place in which to insert a colloquialism, grammar teachers of the world will be pained by this one, “You must like animals as much as me,” said Clover.Though she has problems with spelling, Clover is, nonetheless, a remarkably clear thinker. She is also well-spoken. It would not be too much out of character for her to say, “You must like animals as much as I do.” (Dare we then to hope that her devoted readership would emulate this speech pattern? Probably not—but it’s worth a try!)If this observation seems quibbling, it stems from a noble conviction: childhood is so brief a time that what we read in its few and formative years should be the best it can be.Quibbles aside, this book would be suitable for and appealing to independent readers in the elementary grades. Primary school children would be avid listeners. All will be borne away on the magical tide of the story.Reviewer: Leslie AitkenRecommended: 3 out of 4 starsLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special and academic libraries. She was formerly Curriculum Librarian for the University of Alberta.