in each individual case need to determine whether prescribed checks and/or references should be sought depending on the time since approval and, in the case of foster carers, the time since a child was placed with them. In all cases, the prospective adopters should be given a copy of the Adoption Passport (which can be found on the First4Adoption website). Agencies are required to complete the fast-track process within four months. This includes the time taken to access information from adoption agencies and fostering services which have 15 working days to provide such information. Guidance on sharing information for the purposes of foster carer or adopter assessments can be found in ‘Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers’. 3.75. Foster carers who express an interest in adopting children in their care or prospective adopters expressing an interest in a specific child should be given advice about the fact that the adoption procedures apply in their case as in any 8 The fast-track process does not include a person with whom a child is placed under regulation 24 (temporary approval of relative, friend or other person connected with C) or 25A (temporary approval of prospective adopter as foster parent) of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010. 76 other. Biehal et al9 found that outcomes for foster carer adoptions were, on the whole, positive. Although foster carers have a legal right to institute their own adoption application once the child has lived with them for a specific period of time (known as a non-agency case), the local authority should encourage them to participate in the adoption agency process. 3.76. The foster carer needs to understand the eligibility for adoption support, i.e. if the foster carer applies direct to the cour