National Minimum Standards for Adoption Support Agencies

1.	Safeguarding and promoting welfare
2.	Services
3.	Staff
4.	Complaints and representations
5.	Records and accessing them

5. Records and accessing them
Records that agency must keep include:

• Service user case record - that is up-to-date, comprehensive and accurate. This should provide full details of the agencies contact with the service user
• Staff records including employed, independent, sessional and voluntary staff
• Complaints
• Allegations

Accessing information. This only applies to agencies, which have kept the adoption case records of the previous Voluntary Adoption Agency.

The agency should have a procedure for:

• Authorising access to adoption care records, and
• Authorising the disclosure of adoption information
• How staff should deal with requests for such access or disclosure
• Who is able to authorise such access or disclosure
• Making a written agreement that must be obtained from the person who is given the information that they will keep the information confidential. This requirement does not cover the child or adopter but does cover anyone else within or outside the agency, including agency staff and volunteers.