Commentary on Sections Part 1 - Adoption Chapter 3 - Placement for Adoption and Adoption Orders
In this Act, Freeing Orders as provided for in Articles 17 & 18 of the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 are replaced with a new pre-adoption order, a ‘placement order’. This order retains the successful aspects of freeing but provides a more effective balance of the competing interests in the adoption process, primarily establishing a clearer focus on the child’s welfare as paramount and the rights of the child.
Sections 15 to 26 introduce new provisions for the placement of children for adoption. An adoption agency may (except in the case of a child who is less than 6 weeks old) only place a child for adoption with the consent of the parent or guardian (referred to in these notes as the 'parent') under section 16 or under an order made by the court authorising an adoption authority to place a child with any prospective adopters chosen by them ("a placement order"- see section 18). Adoption authorities are not required to have identified a potential placement to obtain the order. Provision is made for who is to have parental responsibility for the child and the other consequences of placement with consent and placement orders.
The intention is to ensure key decisions are taken earlier in the adoption process than at present, with court involvement where necessary. This is intended to provide greater certainty and stability for children by dealing with consent to placement for adoption before they have been placed (at present this issue is often not addressed until the final adoption order hearing); to minimise the uncertainty for prospective adopters who, under the current system, possibly face a contested court hearing at the adoption order stage; and to reduce the extent to which birth families are presented with a ‘fait accompli’ at the final adoption hearing (as they may be under the current system, where their child has not been freed for adoption but has been placed with an adoptive family for some time before the application for an adoption order is made).