Families wanting to adopt a child from overseas will now have their assessments carried out by Nugent Care so Cumbria County Council can focus its resources on the task of finding families for local children needing adoption.
The county council's cabinet today agreed to commission the inter-country adoption service to Nugent Care, a highly regarded adoption agency based in the Diocese of Liverpool. The agency specialises in inter-country adoption and provides this service on behalf of most authorities in the North West.
County councillor Philip Chappelhow, cabinet spokesman for children's services said:
"Commissioning this service will make best use of the resources we have to find families to adopt local children here in Cumbria. This is a very complex and specialist process and allowing Nugent Care to carry out this work on our behalf will make sure that the best possible service is offered to applicants."