The Outbound Permanence Service is a specialist advice service for local authorities who are looking to place children in care with kinship carers living overseas and the only one offering advice on all legal orders including adoption.   

The service began initially with a Department for Education grant and has now been in operation for eight years. We have a wealth of information in our database to share with you, aiming to save you time and money by giving you accurate information and guidance from the outset. We will research specific overseas issues and provide a bespoke response.   

From April 2024 access to the service became a benefit to members within local authorities, regional adoption agencies, regional collaboratives, and health and social care trusts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

You can access the Outbound Permanence Service from Tuesday to Thursday between 10am-1pm. The service is staffed by an experienced social worker and a legal researcher. 

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What we offer

  • Written response laying out the legal and assessment options plus any available feedback from other local authorities regarding the overseas country you are looking to place the child. We include contact details for ISW’s and legal experts for each country.  
  • Country specific guidance, resources and research covering a range of aspects, for example the cost of living, health, education and any available benefits where available. 
  • Guides on the Convention Adoption process, overseas viability, and for kinship carers.  
  • Workshops on special guardianship, Convention Adoption, and viability/support with presentation and discussion on related topics.  
  • Bespoke training for members and non-members. If you have specific requirements, we can adapt an existing course or work with you to design and deliver something specific. 
  • Case consultation on Convention Adoption cases with our legal researcher to provide guidance on next steps. 

Fees

The service can be accessed via CoramBAAF membership which allows unlimited queries on an annual basis. Alternatively, non-members can pay for a spot purchase for unlimited advice per case for the fee of £500, payable via credit/debit payment or invoice. 

If you are interested in this service, please email outbound@corambaaf.org.uk and we will be happy to arrange a time to talk through options, the benefits of the service and the time we can help save in care planning on complex cases. Our specialist adviser is happy to attend local authority meetings to give a summary of the service.