The Outbound Permanence Service (OPS) 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.
It began in 2016 with an initial grant from the Department for Education in England and has since responded to over 2,000 referrals from local authorities. The Service joined CoramBAAF in July 2023 and from 1 April 2025 access to the Service will become a membership benefit for all local authority AFKA Scotland members. The OPS provides information, advice, resources and training to local authorities’ professionals considering the placement of children in care with kinship carers overseas on all legal orders. It has amassed a wealth of information, knowledge and experience to share which it shares via an advice service for individual cases, training and resources.
The Service provides:
- a written response laying out the legal and assessment options
- ISW and lawyer details
- 30-minute consultations on specific cases with our legal researcher
- Country Guides on popular countries
- Viability guide with an overseas focus
- Guides to the Convention Adoption process
- An overseas kinship carer’s leaflet explaining the UK process
- Workshops on Special Guardianship Orders, Convention Adoption, and Viability and Support Plans
- Bespoke training
Find out more about the Outbound Permanence Service here.