We welcome applications from single people and married or unmarried couples.

About half the individuals and couples approved to adopt by Devon County Council have already had the experience of caring for children by birth or adoption.

We have no fixed age limits for adopters and have approved as many people over 50 as we have under 30.

We welcome applicants from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The greater the diversity of people and families wanting to adopt, the better are our chances of finding a family to suit each child's needs.

Although adoption services hope to help individual adults, couples and families to achieve the family life they wish for, their fundamental purpose is to meet the needs of children. Because of this, each adoption agency sets priorities for the kinds of adopters they need.

Devon Social Services has to recruit families likely to meet the needs of the children currently in need of adoption in Devon and the South West region. Our greatest need at the moment is for families who could offer a home to school aged children - especially boys - or to groups of brothers and sisters. At times we need to concentrate our efforts on these needs and if you only wish to consider adopting a child under school age we may not be able to start an assessment straight away.

The government has set target timescales for adoption agencies in England; these are set out in the Adoption Standards on the Department for Education and Skills' website.