Adopter Access User Guide
Self-Registration
Step 1 - Main Details
Step 2 - Matching Considerations
Step 3 - Family Members
Step 4 - Specific Considerations
Step 5 - General Notes
Step 6 - Photo & Video
Step 7 - Profile
Step 8 - User Details
Logging in
Searching for a Child
Saving a child’s profile
Making a link with a child
Other Options
Photographs
Exchange Days
Reset your password
View your record card
1
Welcome to the Adopter Access Pilot
Welcome to the Adopter Access pilot giving adopters from certain agencies (specified in
legislation) direct access to search the Adoption Register database.
Please note that this is a pilot and so there will be further developments to the system. We
would be grateful for suggestions of any improvements, amendments or additions that you
would like so that we can look at including these things in the next role out of developments.
This user guide is designed to show you the easiest way to use the system. We hope you find
the system easy to use and you find a successful match through our service. If you require
any assistance please do not hesitate to contact our team who are available to respond to your
queries Monday and Wednesday 10-6pm and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9-5pm
t: 0345 222 9058 or email [email protected] .
Self-Registration
If you wish to register yourself for the National Adoption Register for England, you can do
so through the website www.adoptionmatch.org.uk. Please hover your mouse over “Login”
on the top right hand side of the screen and then click “Registration” from the list that
appears. This will take you to the online form where you can enter your details. Please enter
as much information as possible - there are some fields that are mandatory which are marked
with a red asterisk.
Step 1 - Main Details
2
Please take care when entering your email address, as this will be used to create your login to
the National Adoption Register for England. Please note that where there are two applicants
in the same household, they will each have their own login to use, so both applicants can be
logged in at the same time from any machine.
Once you have clicked onto Step 2, clicking back in your browser may cause you to lose
information you have added.
Step 2 - Matching Considerations
Please choose the relevant considerations for number of children, age, gender and ethnicity.
3
Step 3 - Family Members
Please enter the details of anyone else in your household - click the green Add button to open
the popup window.
If you add any other family members please include all information requested.
Step 4 - Specific Considerations
Please select which contact issues or matching considerations you are able to either Accept,
Not Accept or Consider. This information will be included in searches. Please make sure
each contact issue and matching consideration are marked under one of the headings. You
must respond to each one. The system will let you move on without selecting each one
however you may miss out on possible links if you do not complete this fully.
Click into each box to get a list of considerations to appear, then click on as many as are
applicable.
4
Step 5 - General Notes
Please enter details of your employment, details of any pets, and a brief description of your
accommodation / neighbourhood.
Step 6 - Photo & Video
Please upload any photos or videos of yourself that you wish to be included in searches.
Before uploading, you must tick that you have read the disclaimer regarding the content of
any photos or videos uploaded.
Once this is ticked, you can click ‘Upload photo’ or ‘Upload video’ to proceed. When
uploading photos, you can set one as your profile photo, this will be the main photo against
your account.
There is a size limit of 10MB for photos, and 200MB for videos. To allow for this uploading,
please wait until the green notification box appears before clicking Save and Continue. The
length of time this takes to appear may depend on your internet connection.
5
Step 7 - Profile
Please use about 500 words to outline personalities, family life, interest, experience etc.
Highlight specific qualities which would assist in matching with child’s needs, paying
particular attention to the previous section on specific matching consideration.
Step 8 - User Details
Please create a password and passphrase to the site - you should confirm the password and
then enter a passphrase - please keep these safe as you will need these to log into the site.
Once you have clicked Submit, your record will be submitted to the National Adoption
Register for England.
Once your social worker has confirmed your identity, you will receive an email to confirm
that you can login to start carrying out searches.
Logging in
Once your login details have been created, navigate to the National Adoption Register for
England on the Adoption Match website at www.adoptionmatch.org.uk and click “login”.
The below screen will appear. Please enter your email address and password then click the
submit button.
6
You will then be directed to the next screen where you will be prompted to enter 3 random
characters from your passphrase; once you have entered the detail requested click Next.
You are now logged into the secure online system. You will first be presented with the
Terms & Conditions for using the system. Please click ‘I agree’ if you wish to proceed, or
‘Cancel & Logout’ if you do not.
You will then be taken to your own bespoke homepage. Please note that all users should
have their own login to the National Adoption Register for England, login details should
never be shared with anyone. If you wish to contact the National Adoption Register for
England for any reason, please call either 0345 222 9058 or email
[email protected]
Searching for a Child
7
There are two methods of searching for a potential match within the National Adoption
Register for England.
1 – Click the ‘Search Using Your Profile Details’ button. This will use the information
recorded by your social worker or on your self-referral form if you self-referred and
previously discussed with you to automatically find the best matches based on your current
profile.
Under this option you can choose whether to click the box shown above “show 100%
matching criteria only”. If you click this option only children that meet 100% of your criteria
will be included in this search. If you do not click on the box all children that meet your
criteria will be presented in the search results with those that meet the most of your criteria at
the top of the list. In the results list it will show what criteria are non-matching criteria.
2 – Click the ‘Run Your Own Search’ button, which allows you to directly choose the
criteria for the search, based on age, gender, ethnicity, religion, specific matching needs and
contact issues.
You can choose multiple search criteria in a number of fields, such as Num. Children,
Specific Needs and Contact Issues. For Specific Needs and Contact Issues, choosing the
8
‘None’ option will search for children with no specific needs and no contact issues, which
may impact the number of results you see.
Once you have run your search, a list of child records will appear below the search options,
as per the example below. The number of records that appear will depend on the search
criteria used.
To view more information about the child, click anywhere in the row to view more details in
a new window. If a child has a video stored in their record, you can click the video icon to
view this. If a child has siblings, you can click the sibling icon to view details of the child’s
siblings.
Saving a child’s profile
Once you have conducted a search if you wish to save a child’s information to read later you
need to open that child’s profile (click on the child’s photo or ID number). Once the profile
is open click save profile. Then when you close the child’s profile and refresh the screen the
child will be added to your Saved Profiles list on the left of the screen.
(Please note, in the future we anticipate you being able to do this directly from the search
results without opening the profile but this is not possible at the current time).
9
Clicking on the child’s name in the Saved Profiles will open the basic report, containing
information about them. If you wish to remove this Saved Profile, click the ‘x’ in the
Remove box. If your user account is linked to your partner’s account, any profiles saved will
be visible to your partner.
Making a link with a child
If you wish to be considered for a child, once you have read the basic report, you can click
the ‘Make A Link’ option against the particular child in the search results or on the child’s
details screen.
Clicking this option, will open a box to confirm you are sure you want to proceed:
If there is any additional information you wish the social workers to view, please enter some
notes. If you are certain you wish to proceed with this link, add some notes into the box, then
click ‘Save Changes’. If not, please click ‘Close’.
10
Once you have made a link refresh your screen and the details will display at the bottom of
the screen, and the child’s social worker will be emailed to inform them of your interest. The
social worker should provide a response to the link with a reason for their response.
You can only have 10 active links at one time.
If a child linked to you is no longer available for adoption, you can remove them from the
links section by clicking on the ‘x’ in the Remove column. This ‘x’ will only appear if
the child is no longer available to you. This would be for reasons such as the child has been
matched with someone else or they couldn’t be placed in your geographical area for
example.
Other Options
Photographs
If you wish to change the photographs associated with your profile, click ‘Email the
Register’ on the navigation menu. Choose an Email title from the dropdown box, then enter
any notes
11
If you wish to amend the photographs on your account, tick the disclaimer then either delete
the photos or upload new ones as appropriate.
To upload a photograph, click the Upload Photo button and select a photo from your
machine. If you wish this photo to be set as your profile photo, tick the ‘Set as profile photo’
box - this will then be used as the main photo for your profile.
Please note that there is a maximum size of 10MB for your photographs.
Exchange Days
The National Adoption Register for England will run exchange days throughout the year. If
you wish to book onto an exchange day, click Events on the navigation menu. On this screen
you can view upcoming and previous events.
If you wish to book yourself onto an exchange day, please click the ID number of the event
to take you into the enrolment screen. On this screen, you can view some more details about
12
the event, and click the Enrol button to book yourself on. The National Adoption Register for
England will confirm your booking via email.
Any events you have booked yourself onto will now show in the My Events section at the
bottom of the screen. If you need to cancel your booking, please click the Cancel button.
Reset your password
If you wish to change your password, please click the ‘Reset your password’ link - you will
be prompted for your current password and to confirm your new password twice.
View your record card
Use this link to view the information that the National Adoption Register for England
currently has stored about you, including any photographs. If you wish to make changes to
this information, please use the ‘Email the Register’ link on the navigation menu, or advise
your social worker or practitioner.
13
Future Developments
At the top of your home screen it states ‘x number of children have been added since you last
logged on.’ This will be a future development to the site and is there for demonstration
purposes at this time.
14