ity A local authority (the service authority) may provide a service to a child on behalf of another authority (the assessing local authority). In this instance, the assessing authority would have carried out the assessment of the child which determined them to be in need. The assessing local authority has responsibility for the child and, therefore, it has responsibility for reporting the child in the children in need census. The service authority should not also report the child in the children in need census, otherwise the child will be counted twice. It is recognised that the service authority may 13 be spending significant resources on providing a service to a child for whom it is not responsible. Although information on this resource is not collected in the children in need census, it will be captured in financial terms in the annual section 251 return. 1.2.7 Adopted children The only children going through adoption who should automatically be included in the children in need census are those who have been adopted from care. Step-parent adoptions are not in the scope of the children in need census. Although a referral may be opened for a step-parent/relative adoption, this does not automatically mean that the child is in need. Of course, a child who is adopted by a step-parent or relative may be in need for some other reason, in which case they would be included. Children who have had an adoption order granted who are in receipt of post adoption service (not just payments) where there is a risk of breakdown, or behavioural support required should be included in the census. Children receiving adoption allowances only should not be included in the census. For the children in need census, post adoption support does not cover payments made, in accordance with the Adopt