Which agency should I choose?
Help with choosing an adoption or fostering agency
You have a choice of agencies to contact, although most prefer to work with families within a 50-mile radius to enable you to be adequately supported. Therefore it is best to choose an agency that is located near you. Sometimes, an agency might also consider arranging for another agency to assess you for adoption or fostering on their behalf.
Bear in mind that there can be a lot of travelling involved in the adoption and permanent fostering process, from your initial meeting with an agency, right through to introductions with a child.
Some agencies focus on recruiting families for certain groups of waiting children, such as older children, disabled children, or sibling groups, so it’s important to find out before you apply. Prospective adoptive and foster families can only be assessed or approved by one agency at any one time.
Types of agencies available:
- Local authority adoption and fostering agencies are usually based in the children’s services, social services or social work department of your local authority. There are over 200 local authority or government agencies in the UK.
- Voluntary adoption and fostering agencies are usually smaller than local authorities but they often cover a wider geographical area. They tend to offer high levels of support and training.
- Independent fostering agencies (IFAs) are independent agencies, run both on a not-for-profit and commercial basis, who recruit, train and support foster carers. They tend to offer high levels of support and training, and often specialise in placements for children with complex care needs. Because of this, independent agencies prefer to take on more experienced foster carers. Many of them run fee-paying schemes and may employ foster carers in the same way as any other business. Local authorities may approach IFAs if they cannot find a suitable family for a child from their own pool of foster carers.
Please also see our article on 'The different types of fostering agencies'.
You may now be ready to find an agency!
Last updated: 26 May 10
