Adoption support cap to remain until 2018
Neil Puffett
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Limits to the amount of money families with adopted children can claim for therapeutic support will remain in place until at least 2018 it has been announced.
As a result of demand for the Adoption Support Fund, which was made available nationally in May 2015, being twice as high as expected, in October last year the DfE announced it was limiting the amount of support families can receive to £5,000.
The so-called "fair access limit" was due to remain in place until March 2017, but the government has said it now plans to keep it in place for a further year - until March 2018.
The continuation of the cap was announced in a letter from children's minister Edward Timpson to directors of children's services.
"There has been wide acceptance across the sector that continuing to operate the fund with no limits in place is unsustainable, and a general consensus that the introduction of the fair access limit and the match-funding approach ensures a consistent offer for families," Timpson writes.
"It enables those with the greatest needs to access additional support and encourages smarter commissioning."
"In order to ensure as many families as possible get the therapeutic support they need we have decided to retain the ‘fair access limit' and match-funding approach."
However, the government has said it will introduce a separate amount of funding that families can access for children who require specialist assessment prior to therapy.
"We recognise that the cost of a specialist assessment can make a significant dent in the funding available for their therapy," Timpson writes.
"So, for 2017/18, we propose to offer a separate amount of up to £2,500 for a specialist assessment when children need it before therapy can begin. This will be in addition to the existing £5,000 fair access limit per child for therapy.
As has been the case so far, applications can be made for funding over the £5,000 limit, but it will only be granted based on individual circumstances and where a local authority agrees to provide match funding.
Adoption UK's chief executive Hugh Thornbery said he is concerned that some children with the highest level of need will not receive adequate support unless their local authorities match fund above £5,000.
"We know that in some circumstances this is not happening which is very concerning," he said.
More than 12,500 families have received therapeutic support through the fund since it launched.
