- The Law in Scotland
- Find about major changes to the adoption process in Scotland
- Campaigning in Scotland
Promoting the concerns and interests of adoptive families in Scotland
- Links
- Useful websites for adopters and prospective adopters in Scotland
Scotland
Adoption UK provides support to adopters and prospective adopters in Scotland through a dedicated office, based in Edinburgh. This page provides information on adoption and the kind of support we can provide for adopters in Scotland. Check out the left hand links for more information about adoption and Adoption UK in Scotland.
Most of the children placed are in the care of the local authority; however, children can also be placed from other authorities in Scotland or the rest of the UK, or from overseas.
No matter where the child you adopt is placed from you will have to be assessed by a local authority or voluntary adoption agency.
As well as accessing all of Adoption UK’s standard support services – our magazines, Online Community and PAL, members in Scotland can access the following:
- Support groups run by experienced adoptive parents
- A dedicated helpline
- An adoption support coordinator to provide hands-on support and advocacy for families in Scotland
- Training and seminars for parents
- An Advisory Group for Scotland, to discuss adoption policy and practise
If you are based in Scotland and are interested in adopting a child you should contact your local authority to find out their procedures for placing children in your local area. Contact your local authority through our Find an Agency facility.
Dedicated Helpline
Dedicated support for Scotland is available from Adoption UK's Scottish Helpline from Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm.
Call 0844 848 7900 and you'll be given the option to connect to the Scottish Helpline.
Outside of these hours, feel free to leave a message, speak to the wider Helpline team or email your enquiry using the form on the Contact the helpline page.
Calls cost up to 5p per minute from a landline and up to £1.50 per minute from mobiles. Charges from landlines reflect the minimum costs associated with running the helplines.
Support groups
We currently run support groups in the following areas:
- Argyll and Bute
- Scottish Borders
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and surrounding areas
- East Lothians
- Glasgow, Clyde Coast and surrounding areas
- North Lanarkshire
- Paisley
- Perth
Groups are run by volunteer coordinators - adoptive parents who give their time to run support group meetings and provide advice, encouragement and support to adopters and prospective adopters.
Training and support
Adoption UK runs a range of popular training workshops, conferences and seminars on issues such as Getting ready for Placement to Parenting Adopted Teenagers to Children Who Struggle at School.
Adoption UK's acclaimed six-day traiing programme 'It's a Piece of Cake' also runs regularly.
Workshops run regularly in Scotland, and details of up and coming workshops and events will appear in the Training section of the site.
To find out about workshops running in your area of Scotland contact the Training Team.
Advisory Group
Adoption UK in Scotland is represented by the Scottish Advisory Group, a group of adoptive parents and practitioners with local knowledge who provide advice on adoption policy and practise issues.
Their advice is used both to develop Adoption UK’s services for adopters and prospective adopters, and to respond to government.