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Hi, I have friends who've adopted in that area & have heard that both Essex and Waltham Forest are good

I would recommend phoning about 3 or 4 different LA's/agencies and getting them to send you info packs. When you speak to them you usually get a feel for their efficiency and it may rule some out straight away. Similarly, they may decide straight away they don't want/need adopters like yourselves (very rare!). I think I phoned about 6 or 7, and quickly narrowed it down to two, and had initial interviews with both. You can find a list of local agencies either on this website, on the BAAF website or the first4adoption website. Good luck :-)

I would agree contact several LA/Agencies and attend their information meetings. You will get a feeling of if you will be able to work with the LA/Agency at this meeting one we tried was to big so unwelcoming we told them we would not be back as it was a sausage machine chasing statistics. Consider using a LA that is not the one you live in but within an hours drive, they are more likely to take you on as it will be easier to place their kids with you and avoid inter agency fees. They may also earmark kids that would match you even before you are approved. If you are in the forces use SAFFA as they understand military life. Good luck.

I agree with other phone serval and go with your gut we first went with LA and from the off we new things wernt right stuck with it for a while as we felt we would be rude not to go ahead in the end we could,nt suffer them any longer and jumped ship to a VA who were fab go withyour gut

Also starlight says how they respond to your phone call is a big clue go with somone who is keen

Many of us don't have many options depending on area, but if you're fortunate to have several options then as others say, ring them, go to their info/open days.....and even better, try to contact other adopters who have used the ones you're looking at....also important is if you fit their 'profile' ie some have long list of people wanting to adopt 1 child between x ages, but not many wanting siblings or older children - if you want siblings/older you're likely to go to top of their list when they're planning prep courses etc...but may be waiting ages if they have lots if adopters on their 'books'.

Some great advice on here, but the only thing I would add in is, be wary of going from Ofsted reports alone... I have recently been approved with an agency who had a very poor Ofsted report, yet I have been approved, and heading towards a match within a year of my first contact with them! It's a little like schools - if they are in special measure they will do every thing they can to improve...

just to agree with others really We called our LA, the first thing they said was " we will send you an info pack, but it has a scond class stamp on because we have to save money" When I called back for additional information, they replied, " I will have to send it second class…. blah blah blah…" They never sent the second info. When we went to look at VAs we knew straight away, one stood out above the others in really appreciating us and what we were doing. You really should go to as many information evenings as you can. Good Luck

Thank you all so much for your advice. We are booked to go to 3 LA info evenings; Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Essex. Re. VA, can anyone recommend a good VA in Essex/London area? I called Barnados but they didn't seem right for us. One other question. A couple of LA's I called stated that it was mandatory to contact mine and my husband's ex's even though neither of us have children with anyone. Is this standard practice? Thanks in advance.

Hello ndaistc You might want to edit you post to take out your location. Most adopters are a little cagey about where they are, as they want to avoid disruption from BPs after placement. Not all BP are overjoyed about their LOs being adopted and may be able to piece together info on public bulletin boards that will localise where there children are. Would agree that OFSTED report is not a good place to start, our LA had a glowing one, then we scratched the surface and found out what they were really like. Suggest you contact AUK helpline for suggestions of VAs in your area. Yes you do need to track down old significant others SO (our LA counted SO as over 3 months) I believe this was because a serious case review turn up that had a previous SO of an adopter been contacted approval would not have been given for that person to adopt. It all comes down to the LA being the corporate parent during the initial period of placement before the AO is granted. I got carried away the other night and wrote quite a long bit about what to expect from you first home study visit from your the agency that accepts you which includes abit about SOs. http://www.adoptionuk.org/forum-topic/eek-phone-call-we-have-been-assigned-sw

I phoned several agencies (council and voluntary) and found that the response on the phone was enough to help me make my decision. Snooty, off-hand, indifferent, and then two which were welcoming, informative, popped info in the post and invited me to an information evening. Of those two I didn't get to one open evening because of a bad winter and the roads so I suppose fate made the final decision. You absolutely must be comfortable with these people and trust them completely. Personal experience within each does vary though. I was really happy with mine but some friends are spitting tacks about the same agency. It has to be what feels best for you. I would suggest you ask what their support package is like (I don't mean financial) and what their post adoption support is like.

Like Spinnaker said, if you are forces go to SSAFA. We were turned away by two LA on our initial meeting due to their lack of understanding of the military life style. We were then match with our son from one of the initial LA's. SSAFA were fantastic all the way :-) so much so that we are in the process of being approved for Number 2.

ndaistc, I have sent you a pm

Hi, just to answer your question, yes it is standard to contact previous partners, even if there were no children, however i had been divorced for a while and had no idea where he was, so no contact was made. If you are worried about what might be said by them, dont be, they are used to ex partners being less than positive or even hostile, just let them know in advance that might be the case. I went with Southend on Sea LA, not Essex (who turned us down for no good reason!) and they were fantastic, we have been placed for a year and a half now and its great! Good luck.

I really would speak to as many agencies as possible. Explain your decision and your situation and then see what they think. You will get a feel for who you like and who might support you the most. We are using our LA and they are incredibly supportive.

I was given very bad advice 9 years ago from our LA. It has taken us since then to feel we are ready to adopt and have gone with an independent agency...they have been brilliant, and even though we have been put on hold due to my father-in-laws death, we have been kept informed all of the way and they have been very supportive. Would have been ready to go to panel in December initially, but now looks like it will be April!

Coram are supposed to be really good or action for children