Adoption rate had fallen to a new low - as reported in The Times today

[SallyDon]

The fall in the number of adoptions is a tragedy for children in the care system. There still needs to be honesty about domestic adoption though. Parenting children who have suffered early neglect and abuse is very challenging and the support available is, in our experience, often poor. An estimated 30% of adoptions break down, with severe consequences for all involved. Get the support right, particularly medical and educational support and perhaps adoption rates will improve and the rate of adoption breakdowns will reduce.
I'd love to say adoption is all wonderful and many aspects of it are, but it's not as simple as that.

[Lilka]

I was just about to post a thread about this!

National adoption and children in care statistics for March 2010-March 2011 now released. To summarise:

1. The number of children in care now stands at 65,520. However, the number taken into care in the last year fell slightly, from 28,090 to 27,310
   
2. However, the total number of adoptions fell again, from 3200 to 3050. Definite downward trend continuing
   
3. Of these, the number of babies under 1 whose adoptions were completed fell from 70 to 60 (it was 150 in 2007)
   
4. There were 2450 children matched to parents this last year (adoptions uncompleted)
   
5. 72% of children adopted were placed within a year of the decision being taken to have them adopted
   
6. 335 of the adopted children were matched with their parents via the national register

[NanaNina]

I too saw this article in the Guardian and am a retired sw and tm mgr of a fostering & adoption team for a LA with 30 years experience. I agree with you that it is regrettable that the adoption rate has fallen to a new low, but I am not surprised.

The chief exec of Barnardoes has been saying for a long time that care cases should be speeded up and less time spent on trying to keep the child with the birthfamily and I agree with this, but of course the first duty of the sw is to keep families together wherever possible. Judges will not grant Care Ordesr if he/she feels that the birthparents haven't been given every opportunity to learn to keep their children safe.

The sad truth is that if babies are neglected or abused in their earliest days, weeks and months this will have dramatic effects on the way they function through life. There is evidence now that babies can be harmed in utero if there is domestic violence and tension in the mother. The first 3 years are the most important in a child's life and lay down the foundation for their entire life.

Many adoptors think that if they love and care for these children all will be well, and sometimes of course this is the case, but for many many children they have been so seriously damaged in their early life, that they are unable to settle into normal family life. I have seen adoptive families torn apart by the difficulties of adoption, marriages break up and mental health difficulties suffered by one or other of the adoptive parents.

You mention break down rates and the older the child the more likely that the adoption placement will break down. I think you are right that there should be far far more support available, and post adoption support is now a legal duty for LAs. The trouble is that LAs are struggling with 30/40% vacancy rates inthe inner cities, large numbers of sws off sick with stress related illnesses, and now have to spend around 60/70% of their time before a computer screen (thanks to Lord Laming) and child protection is the main priority.

With the cuts that this govnmt are making (well slashing budgets rather than cutting them) the situation can only get worse.

[Lilka]

I have several articles today about this and I have to say, the one in the daily mail is really bad. Poorly written, and several innacurate things mentionned. The picture caption makes out that there were only 60 adoptions overall. Evidently only babies count. Plus some of the people commenting are insisting that 40 is considered too old, and that since biological parents don't have checks there's no real need to do extensive checks on adopters
Also, it says that the sole reason for the drop in adoptions of babies from 1976 to now is red tape. Um, actually I think it's mainly because we've stopped forcing single women to sign away their rights just because they're single! And yet people are making out that it's some kind of travesty this has happened?? Aargh

I feel it's not about having huge numbers of people wanting to adopt, its about having the right people. 30 ish percent of children in England weren't matched within a year, I'd guess many were those who are 'hard-to-place' ie. more serious physical and emotional special needs. It isn't so easy to find parents for them

That said, I believe children are waiting too long BEFORE the placement order is granted. We seriously need to speed up the court process once the paperwork is lodged for a placement order. It can take ages to actually get to the hearing, not because the legal teams are preparing paperwork, but because of the backlog of cases. Sadly, I think only putting a lot of money in is going to fix that, and I doubt the gov will want to do that

[MysteriousHamster]

It concerns me that this kind of article will make more people say to infertile couples 'you should just adopt'. While considering adoption is certainly worth doing, it doesn't follow that every infertile couple is suitable for all that adoption entails - which is certainly not a guarantee of any child.

It does strike me that it is taking too long for approved couples to get matched (or perhaps get approved in the first place?), but I don't know enough on the subject to comment knowledgably.

[methusulamum]

My adopted daughter and i made this clip today to encourage more adopters for the 3,500 children in care.

[fasparent]

Lot's of profit from Private Orgs sadly . ??? who does it pay keep in care. private childrens homes , Profitable off sure private equity make millions off UK Fostering and Adoption . www.corporate watch.org.uk .search fostering. Doubt if Canadian Teachers pension fund are aware they make vast profits from UK Fostering and Adoption.

[flapjackfairy]

Excellent post NanaNina. I agree wholeheartedly.

[Italiangreyhound]

Zombie thread.

[donquixotedelamancha]

An estimated 30% of adoptions break down

I'm pretty certain that isn't true. I've never found any large scale research into absolute rates of disruption. The highest LA figures I've ever heard of ran close to this number over a specific period and I only know this because it was considered spectacularly high.

I have heard that figure many times- taken from the Bristol report (a large scale study) by people who haven't read it.

That actual figure is that 30% of respondents experienced substantial difficulty, including some who disrupted- not 30% disrupted. The Bristol report deliberately recruited a cohort skewed towards difficulty and disruption because that was what they were trying to study- those rates don't represent the 'normal' adoption experience.

The only thing we can say for sure is that rates of severe difficulty are likely to be much lower than that- but I agree with the general point that too little support is available for the most difficult adoptions.

Get the support right, particularly medical and educational support and perhaps adoption rates will improve and the rate of adoption breakdowns will reduce.

There are more adopters than adoptees at the mo for the 'easy to place' kids. The children who wait a long time will always be hard to place- though I think more adoption allowances and a beefed up ASF might help a bit (and should be in place anyway), I don't think it's the main barrier.

The main reason for the recent decline in rates is that LAs are placing fewer kids for two reasons:

1. Recent legal decisions and huge cuts have created a fear that courts will criticise or overturn SW decisions and that it is difficult to build a very strong case in the timescales demanded. So non 'easy wins' are not going to court.

1. SGOs are being preferred. They are cheaper for the LA and much easier to justify. Unfortunately this means a lot of placements with BF members who may not be appropriate. There is even less support and training available than with adoption.

[donquixotedelamancha]

Zombie thread. Doh. RTFT next time Don :-)

Isn't it interesting how the adoption world just recycles it's dramas- this sooo could have been about today's situation.

[sassygromit]

fasparent thank you for linking that. The idea of millions of profit being made out of these situations turns my stomach.

don
Recent legal decisions and huge cuts have created a fear that courts will criticise or overturn SW decisions and that it is difficult to build a very strong case in the timescales demanded. So non 'easy wins' are not going to court the case you are thinking of slammed SWs and courts because the paperwork was utterly inadequate. There should be zero "fear" - the criticisms were of paperwork very below par, fundamental parts missing. It was a few years ago and I thought that adoptions were on the up now.

I know that this is a zombie thread, I am grateful for fasparent linking all the same.

[FelicityLemon]

@sassygromit at the risk of keeping a zombie thread alive, the most recent figures are here: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/757922/Children_looked_after_in_England_2018_Text_revised.pdf

Adoptions from care continue to fall ...
3,820 children ceased to be looked after due to adoption, a decrease of
13% on 2017, continuing the drop in numbers seen last year and down from a peak of 5,360 adoptions in 2015.

[Italiangreyhound]

FelicityLemon if you want to really engage people it might be easier to start a new thread.

[sassygromit]

Thanks, felicity. I had thought they were rising because I had heard anecdotally that prospective adopters had heard that from social workers. Do you know why numbers are falling?

And numbers of children in care seem to be steam rolling scarily upwards.

[FelicityLemon]

Sorry Italian, just saw sassy's question and wanted to give the info.

@sassygromit there have been various theories floated including improving IVF treatment and greater acceptance of surrogacy. For my part I think it's a number of small effects combining to have an impact. But I'm not a part of an adoption triad so don't have inside experience so to speak.

[Italiangreyhound]

No need to apologize. I just meant you might get more takers with a new thread.