Adoption support services across England are patchy despite the new duty on councils to ensure the availability of adoption and support services, says The British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF).
Speaking at a meeting during the Labour Party conference in Brighton,the organisation warned that the new duty was being slow to takeeffect.
"We haven't begun to take on the potential lifelong consequences, not ofadoption, but of the effects of the damage done to children before theyare adopted," said BAAF's chair Anthony Douglas.
He said junior children's minister Maria Eagle was struck by thelifelong nature of adoption support. Ian Wright, a father of two adoptedchildren, told the meeting he had "fantastic" support from socialservices but noted that "98 per cent of parents who have adopted are notin that position.
"The conditions in which social workers work are laughable, and theresources are ridiculously low," he added.
