Adoption Services – new strategy to deliver “excellence everywhere”

The Department for Education has published a new strategy, titled “Adoption Strategy – Achieving Excellence Everywhere”, which aims to improve adoption services across England.

The strategy, which published last week, “is set to improve adoption services in England by putting in place better recruitment across the country and removing any unnecessary delays, through more training for front line staff, improving approval process and funding for targeted recruitment campaigns”.

Building on advice for councils that was issued last year asking them to prioritise adopters’ abilities to provide a stable, loving home, rather than their socio-economic background, this strategy sees the Department for Education re-iterating the message that adopters from all social backgrounds, ethnicities, sexualities, or ages, should be encouraged to pursue adoption.

The new strategy is reported to be supported by an investment of £48 million for 2021-2022, which builds on the £200 million plus that has been set aside for adoptive families so far. This includes £46 million to continue post-adoption help for families through the Adoption Support Fund to provide family support sessions, cognitive therapy, and activities to help children recover from earlier traumas, helping them settle into their new families and homes.

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responded to the strategy, saying that it,

“builds on the good work already in place and will help us to ensure that those children for whom adoption is the right choice don’t have to wait too long for their permanent homes”.

She continued,

“the Adoption Support Fund has been a lifeline for many adopted children and their families and we would like to see a long-term commitment to this by the Government to ensure ongoing specialist support when it is most needed”.

Rachel de Souza, Children’s Commissioner for England commented,

“I am pleased to see that this new strategy puts the voice of adopted children at its heart and commits to their views being demonstrably used in the shaping of support services they receive”.

She also highlighted the importance of providing support to families, saying that,

“there is an important recognition too that as children enter adolescence some may start to raise questions about their birth family or try to find them via social media. Contact might happen via social media without the consent of the family or an adopted child, and where this happens support needs to be provided quickly”.

The Government is also prioritising improved support for children looked after by their family members or close relatives. A further £1 million in funding for 2020-2021 is aimed at increasing the number of local kinship carers support groups, increasing funding to the Family Rights Group kinship carers helpline and including children in kinship care arrangements in the priority groups which local authorities must include in their school.

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board said,

“it is positive to see additional funding for kinship care, recognising the range of support for children and their carers”.

But, she said,

“it is vital that councils are able to provide all children in care with the loving homes and long-term support they deserve, whether this is in foster care, kinship care, children’s homes or through adoption or special guardianship. The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the forthcoming spending review are key opportunities for the Government to work with councils to ensure this can happen”.

The report can be viewed here.