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During the year ended 31st December, 1966, we received 86 applications; 14 came from
the London Borough of Hammersmith, 30 from the Greater London Council area and 42
from outside the London area. It was found possible to approve 28 of these applicants.
During the first year all applications were considered without geographical restrictions.
This proved to be unmanageable and it is the current practice to refuse applications
from outside the Greater London area unless they are for "Hard to place" children.
ii) Procedure:
Couples are interviewed jointly by the Adoptions Officer in the office for a preliminary
and general discussion about adoption and if they wish to proceed they are given application
and medical forms.
On receipt of the completed application form, enquiries are made about the applicants
of the Local Authority where they live. New Scotland Yard, two personal referees, and
the applicants' General Practitioner.
If all is well further interviews are then arranged with each applicant individually and
at least one interview must take place in the couple's home, when the premises are
inspected. If the applicants have a child or children, there is at least one lengthy home
visit when the children are there and awake.
All efforts are made to meet members of the extended family if there is close contact.
Referees who should be personal friends who have known the applicants for at least two
years, are also interviewed.
When the Adoptions Officer is indecisive whether or not to recommend a couple as
suitable, her Senior Child Care Officer visits the home to give a "Second opinion". If it
is considered necessary and helpful to have a man's "Second opinion", the Deputy
Children's Officer is asked to interview the applicants.
iii) Health:
Completed medical forms are usually returned direct by the examining doctor. If there
are medical queries further enquiries are made with the applicant's permission and all
reports and forms are submitted to the Deputy Medical Officer of Health for her signed
approval. In some cases, the latter contacts other doctors to obtain further information.
No application is submitted to the Panel without the signed approval on the medical form
by the Deputy Medical Officer of Health.
iv) Rejections:
As can be seen from the figures given in 7(i) a large proportion of applicants are turned
down. While it is desirable and good adoption practice to give a couple the opportunity
to withdraw their application of their own accord this is not always achieved.
All applicants are told at the initial interview that the Authority can refuse an application
without giving a reason. Nevertheless, if at all possible couples are told why their
application has been refused. However, in some cases where adverse factors have become
known to the Department in the course of their enquiries but not through the adopters
themselves no reason can be given and a formal letter of rejection is then sent to the
applicants in which they are invited to discuss the refusal in the office if they so wish.
8. Pre-adoptive Foster Homes:
The Department has a small number of foster mothers who are prepared to undertake this
exacting task. They usually receive the baby at ten days of age after his discharge from hospital.
They have frequent sleepless nights and when the baby is beginning to settle, he goes to his new
home. These foster mothers must be prepared to deal with the natural mother who may be under
severe emotional strain. They must also receive adopters in their homes and be prepared to teach
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