No Place Like Home: Improving Adoption Services in England
The need to ensure a secure, safe and stable home environment for every child cannot be overstated. For many of those children for whom the state has to provide long term ‘looked after’ care, the chance of an adoptive home offers the best opportunity to benefit from the stability and security of which they have been deprived. Yet, despite significant financial investment and considerable political will, the number of children in care who have been successfully adopted across England has fallen in recent years. Following an increase from 3,100 adoptions made in 2001 to 3,800 in 2005, improvement has not been sustained. The number of successful adoptions made fell back to 3,200 by 2008, only to recover slightly to 3,300 by 31 March 2009. Yet a sharp downward trend is likely to return in 2010, given that only 2,500 children were placed for adoption at 31 March 2009, representing a 13% decrease from the previous year. Thus it can be assumed that the number of successful adoptions recorded at 31 March 2010 will reflect this decline. The starkness and seriousness of this situation has been reinforced by recent research commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). This indicates that, despite good intentions, perhaps as many as 25% or just over 1000 of those children with adoption recommendations at any one time are never found an adoptive family.
Published : 31st January 2010
Author : James Groves [ More From This Author ]
Publisher : Policy Exchange [ More From This Publisher ]
Rights : Policy Exchange
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