ARC Adoption North East has reached a new milestone in its essential work to recruit and support adoptive families for children across the North East and the UK, as the team received its 300^th Registration of Interest’ to adopt, this October.

A ‘Registration of Interest’ is the formal registration made to officially begin the process to adopt, and is made with just one adoption agency, who the prospective adopter or adopters have chosen to guide them through the approval and family matching process.

This achievement comes at a time where many of us are transitioning back to (a semblance of) normality, following over 18 months of working remotely or in other adaptations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time the ARC Adoption team has continued to recruit, train and support potential adopters on their journey to become parents, successfully approving over 50 adoptive families, and placing upwards of 60 children in new permanent homes.

ARC Adoption Director, Terry Fitzpatrick said:

"During the pandemic we had an exceptionally high number of enquiries coming in from people wanting to find out more about adoption. We believed many of these people were using unexpected additional downtime to research and consider if it was an option for their family. A year and a half down the line, it is fantastic to see our Registrations of Interest also grow as more people become ready to take that first official step on their journey to become adoptive parents, and that they are choosing ARC to support them."

There are a number of different types of adoption agencies within the UK, for example Voluntary not-for-profit agencies, such as ARC Adoption, charities that specialise in adoption, and larger, local authority funded, regional adoption agencies. Prior to submitting a Registration of Interest, people interested in adoption can talk to as many of these adoption agencies as they wish, to help them find out as much information as possible about adoption, as well as to choose the right organisation for their needs, to accompany and guide them on their adoption journey.

As an independently managed not-for-profit adoption agency in the Voluntary sector, ARC Adoption is able to provide a holistic, often bespoke, forward thinking and adaptive service to its adopters, delivering a level of support not always possible from other types of agencies, with a dedicated Therapeutic Adoption Support Service which provides extensive ongoing support for adoptive parents and their children.

We are supporting a national call for adopters that can provide a permanent, loving home to children who often wait the longest; brothers and sisters that need to stay together, children that are aged four or older, children of black and ethnic minority groups, and those that have specialist needs.

If you are interested in finding out more, our team would be happy to provide you with more information on the adoption process, the children waiting for families and the support available from ARC. Please get in touch with us here.