f the meeting, who will be present on the panel and their individual roles. Panels can be stressful for prospective adopters and, as far as possible, should avoid being perceived as intimidating. 3.69. If the panel recommends that the prospective adopter is suitable to adopt a child, then it may also give advice to the agency about the children the prospective adopter may be suitable to adopt but is not required to give such advice. Panel members should be made aware of the research of Farmer and Dance7 which explores the issues connected with ‘stretching’ adopters’ preferences when making a match. Panel advice will inform subsequent matching of the prospective adopter with a child but the agency is not restricted by this advice. Agencies may decide to follow this advice or may wish to take a more active approach to matching and explore a wider range of potential matches rather than limit their scope. Agency decision [AAR 30B] 3.70. The agency’s decision-maker must make a considered and professional decision as to the suitability of the prospective adopter to adopt a child. As well as making the decision, the decision-maker may express a view on any advice given by the adoption panel or review panel about the children the prospective adopter may be suitable to adopt. This is not the same as a decision on the prospective adopter’s suitability. Where the decision-maker expresses a view on this aspect of the adoption panel or independent review panel’s advice, this may be taken into account by the agency during the matching process together with other factors such as the further development of the prospective adopter’s capacity. This must be recorded in the prospective adopter’s case record. 7 Farmer, E and Dance, C (2010) Adoption Research Initiative study An investigatio