www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Becoming an adoptive parent
Wiltshire County Council is an approved adoption agency, which arranges adoptions for children; approves adoptive families; matches children needing adoption with suitable adoptive families, who can meet their needs, and provides a support service to adoptive families.
Enquiries are welcomed from people of any ethnic, cultural or religious background with an interest in being considered for assessment as adoptive parents, including couples whether married or not, gay or lesbian, and single people.
You can enquire online by filling in the Online Application Form
Some applicants may choose to apply to adopt a child from overseas rather than a local child (domestic adoption), view the Inter-country Adoption page.
What are the legal requirements for prospective adopters?
There are three ‘eligibility criteria’ which apply:
- Minimum age – an individual or both if a couple must be over 21 years of age.
- Specified offences – where an individual or another member of their household has committed or been cautioned for a specified criminal offence at age 18 or over, they will not be considered eligible to adopt.
- Residency – a couple must have been habitually resident in part of the British Isles for at least one year ending with the date of the application to the court for an Adoption Order.
What is the process for preparing, assessing and approving adopters?
Provided applicants meet our eligibility criteria, they will be invited to take part in training/preparation, as well as a detailed assessment process, involving a number of home visits, checks and references.
An assessment report (Form F) will be completed and presented to Adoption Panel, which will make a recommendation to the agency about the applicants’ suitability to be adoptive parents.
Contact Details
By Post
Chippenham Family Placement Team
357 Hungerdown Lane
Chippenham
Wiltshire
SN14 0UX
Salisbury Family Placement Team
Riverside Centre
Churchfields Road
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP2 7NH
Trowbridge Family Placement Team
53 Rutland Crescent
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 0NY
By Email
By Telephone
Chippenham 01249 444321
Salisbury 01722 333552
Trowbridge 01225 752198
By Fax
Chippenham 01249 445959
Salisbury 01722 422052
Trowbridge 01225 775334
