How to apply
Step 1 – Read the information pack and attend an online information session
Our comprehensive information pack will provide you with everything you need to know about the adoption process and will help you decide whether adoption is right for you.
To request an information pack email adoption.partnership@kent.gov.uk .
Join one of our online information sessions to help you decide if now is a good time to keep going with your adoption journey.
Use one of the links below to join an upcoming online session. Each session starts at 6pm:
- Tuesday 12 May 2026
- Thursday 11 June 2026
- Wednesday 8 July 2026
- Tuesday 4 August 2026
- Thursday 10 September 2026.
Step 2 – Meet and connect with adopters and social workers
After the online event, if you would like to learn more about adoption and ask questions relevant to your situation you can attend an in-person evening.
This is an informal evening with an opportunity to meet and connect with experienced adopters as well as social work staff. It is a safe space to ask questions and to learn more from your adoption community.
If you feel ready to continue, you can register your interest in moving forward.
Step 3 – Stage one assessment
Once accepted into stage one, we'll invite you to attend a three-day training course. You’ll meet other people who want to adopt, learn what adoption means for children, and how it can change lives.
You’ll also have a health check while we do some important background checks. A social worker will come to your home to talk with you, and later you’ll have a meeting with them and a team manager.
Step 4 – Stage two assessment
After you finish stage one, you’ll move on to stage two. You might have to wait a bit, or you can choose to take a break for up to six months before starting this next part.
Stage two includes a two-day training course that you go to in person. You’ll meet other people who want to adopt, learn more about what children need, how adoption affects them, and ways to be a good parent.
A social worker will keep helping you during this time. They’ll visit you at home to talk more about your life and then write a special report called a Prospective Adopters Report (PAR). You’ll get to read it and share your thoughts before it’s sent to the panel.
Step 5 – Adoption panel
When your PAR is finished, your social worker will share it with a group called the Adoption Panel. This is something that has to happen by law.
If you are approved to adopt, you’ll be connected with someone who has already adopted a child. They are called a peer, and they will help and support you over the next few months while you get matched with a child and prepare for them to join your family. We’ll try to match you with a peer who has had similar experiences to you.
Step 6 – Matching you with a child
Once you’re approved to adopt, you’ll get help to find the right child for your family. There will be special events called Family Finding, where social workers talk about children who need to be adopted.
If a good match isn’t found nearby, we can look across the country to find the right child for you.
Every match is shared with a group called the adoption panel, and a senior manager must agree before it can go ahead.
Step 7 – Placement of a child
When it’s time for the child to join your family, there will be a carefully planned time to help everyone get ready. You’ll get all the important information about the child, and you’ll start getting to know each other at their foster home. This helps make sure the child feels safe and happy, and everything moves at their pace.
Social workers will keep helping you after the child comes to live with you. You can also join local support groups and go to more training to help you as a parent.
Step 8 - Adoption Order
With our help, you can ask to make the adoption official after the child has lived with you for 10 weeks. This is called an Adoption Order. Once it’s made, it can’t be changed, and you become the child’s legal parent. The child also becomes a full part of your family in the eyes of the law.