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Contents

1. When a Disruption Meeting will be Held
2. Purpose of the Disruption Meeting
3. Chairing and Convening the Disruption Meeting
4. Agenda of the Disruption Meeting
5. Minutes and Report of the Disruption Meeting
6. Reports of Disruptions to the Adoption and Permanency Panel

1. When a Disruption Meeting will be Held

Where an adoptive placement breaks down prior to the granting of an Adoption Order, a Disruption Meeting will be held to identify the reasons for the breakdown and to learn lessons from the events surrounding the breakdown.

The Disruption Meeting will be held no sooner than 28 days after and no later than 42 days after the placement breaking down, and will follow a set agenda.

In addition where an adoptive placement breaks down within 5 years of the granting of an Adoption Order, a Disruption Meeting will be held and should take place within 3 months of the disruption.

2. Purpose of the Disruption Meeting

The purpose of the meeting is to examine various elements of the placement in order to bring some logic in the sequence of events leading to the disruption. 

This will:

• Help the child by understanding his or her needs better
• Improve practice by understanding what went wrong
• Recognise all the positive work and good experiences for the child amongst all the difficulties
• Support every-one and help them carry on and recover
• Demonstrate that disruption is never the fault of one or two people or the result of a single factor; it is invariably the outcome of a whole series of connected factors

When disruption occurs, no one person should blame themselves but equally everyone involved should accept their share of collective responsibility for what has happened. 

Please note: The Disruption Meeting is not a planning meeting, but is an opportunity to review the past as a preparation for the child’s future. The planning should occur within the Adoption Review which should be convened as a matter of urgency to consider future

3. Chairing and Convening the Disruption Meeting

The Family Placement Team Manager will arrange an Independent Chair for the meeting - either the child’s Independent Reviewing Officer or another experienced practitioner or manager who is not involved in the line management of the case responsible social worker, family finder or adopters’ link worker.

The Disruption Meeting will be convened by the child’s social worker, following discussion about the date, time, venue and invitees with his or her Team Manager and the Independent Chair.  As well as the Independent Chair, the child’s social worker and his/her Team Manager, the meeting will be attended by the prospective adopters/adopters, the link worker for the adopters, all social workers involved in the placement, the current carers (unless this is not appropriate) and a minute taker.  It may also be appropriate to invite a therapist, but not teachers or other professionals.  It will rarely be appropriate to include the child or members of the birth family.  The child’s social worker will always ensure that the child’s views and feelings are given to the meeting in the most appropriate way.

At least 48 hours before the meeting, the child’s social worker will arrange for the Independent Chair to have copies of:

• The Child’s Permanence Report
• The Prospective Adopter’s Report
• The Panel minutes recommending the placement
• Minutes of Adoption Reviews held since the placement

4. Agenda of the Disruption Meeting

The meeting should follow a set agenda as follows:

1. Apologies
2. Purpose of meeting – to identify the positives and learning points for the child/children and for general practice
3. Circumstances of the child’s reception into care
4. Pattern of child’s life in care
5. Decision to seek an adoptive family
6. Assessment and preparation of the child
7. Assessment and preparation of the adopters and the Panel recommendation of their suitability
8. Matching and Panel recommendation
9. The introductory period
10. The Placement
11. Events since the placement ended
12. The child’s current priority needs

5. Minutes and Report of the Disruption Meeting

The minutes of the meeting will be prepared within 10 working days of the meeting and copies will be sent to all participants.  .

The minutes will be written using the same headings as the agenda and should include key information to inform future planning for the child.

The Independent Chair will produce a full report of the Disruption Meeting which will also be distributed to all participants.

The Independent Chair will arrange for a copy of the minutes and the Report of the Meeting to be sent to the Adoption and Permanency Panel Adviser.

6. Reports of Disruptions to the Adoption and Permanency Panel

The Adoption and Permanency Panel that approved the placement will consider the minutes and report from the Disruption Meeting. 

It is preferable for the Panel to consider the disruption well before a new adoptive placement is identified for the child. This will allow time for Panel members to consider the report and learn from the information presented so that future plans for the child are well informed.

The child’s social worker will not usually be required to attend the Panel when the disruption is considered but must arrange for the Panel Administrator to have a copy of the Adoption Placement Report and the Panel minute recommending the placement.  This will enable Panel members to learn from the information presented so that future plans for the child or children are well-informed.

The child’s social worker should send a Standard Booking Form to the Panel Administrator to book a date for the Adoption and Permanency Panel to receive the minutes of the Disruption Meeting and the relevant documents should be sent to the Panel Administrator 14 days before the Panel meeting.

End