Informational aspect

It will be the firts time you meet your social worker. You will share intial information, the social worker will give you their take on the process.

You will probably be given a list of documents that need to be updated (as they will have expired since the start of the process).

• The medical evaluation (green document)
• The consultant authorization form
• The police authorization form
• Any other document you may be asked to update

Social worker suitability

Ensure you get to know the social worker on a personal level.

Do not hesitate to ensure the social worker has your best interest at heart. If you have doubts on the commitment of your social worker, or if (worse) you feel they may be predjudiced against your particulars (especially your sexuality), you have to ensure that this is discussed, and if needed you need to ask their management to be assigned another social worker.

Do not feel that you cannot “rock the boat”: you would regret it if their report reflects poorly on your true aptitude to parent a child.

Have a look here, to see what a good social worker should have considered before meeting you for the first time: FAQ – How can adoption professionals help LGBT applicants? (Includes questions from the Spanish framework)

Your check-list

Ensure that the social worker agrees on as many dates as is practical for yourself, and that they provide you with an offical  letter to avail of your right to attend the meetings on work-time: see http://irishpinkadoptions.com/adoption-process/stage-3-the-educationpreparation/prior-to-starting-the-course-get-time-off-for-the-classes-and-meetings/

Ask any question you feel you have concerning the way the following sessions/meetings, or that you may have prepared before the meeting.

Try to get softcopies of the templates the social worker will want you to use to prepare the meeting. If they give you hardcopies, ensure that every question can be read. We have provided example of soft copies for each session, but each social worker is using their own flavor.