DfE unveils four-year adoption strategy

It said it will seek to change legislation “as soon as possible” to make clear to both councils and courts that they must place children with the person best able to care for them right up until they reach 18.

The Adoption and Children Act 2002 currently requires courts and adoption agencies to have regard to the relationship the child has with “relatives and any such person the court considers relevant” when making decisions relating to the adoption of a child. This will be changed to include “prospective adopters” as well.

The government first announced its intention to change the law on adoptions earlier this year in response to number of adoptions, and the number of children being placed for adoption, both falling in recent months.

The four-year strategy, outlined in Adoption: A Vision for Change, also details plans for more babies to be placed with foster parents who may want to adopt them permanently.

This “early placement practice” will be a priority area for a new £14m fund intended to support innovative ways of finding new parents for children in care more quickly.

Meanwhile up to £16m will be provided in 2016/17 and 2017/18 to local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) to further develop and implement regional adoption agencies (RAAs). Early adopters have already received support of £4.5m for 2015/16.

The new cash is intended to support RAAs and VAAs develop and deliver new ways of working, or to expand the reach of existing effective practice. The money will also pay for a VAA capacity building fund that will support the voluntary sector to “strengthen its position as key players in RAAs”.

The strategy also reveals that, from next month, the government’s Adoption Support Fund (ASF) will be extended to support adopted young people up to age 21. It will also be extended to support special guardians who care for children who were previously in care, and children adopted from other countries via intercountry adoptions.

Meanwhile funding for the ASF will increase to £21m in 2016/17 and £28m in 2017/18, with further increases in every year of the current parliament.

The government has also announced the appointment of Andrew Christie, current director of children’s services in the tri-borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Westminster, as the new chair of the Adoption Leadership Board.

Christie will replace Sir Martin Narey, who announced his intention to resign at the end of this month, in November last year.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan described the strategy as a “watershed moment”.

“For the first time ever, we are explicitly setting out how we will transform the lives of our most vulnerable children by making sure they get the opportunities they deserve,” she said.

“This radical new vision will make sure decisions rightly prioritise children’s long-term stability and happiness, so that children are placed with their new family as quickly as possible – helping them fulfil their potential and get the very best start in life."

Adoption UK described the four-year strategy as “both ambitious and necessary".

Hugh Thornbery, Adoption UK’s chief executive, said: “There are different routes to permanence and adoption is transformative for those children for whom it is the right route.

“We especially welcome the focus on the voice of the adopter and adopted child in this paper. We will only get things right if we listen, learn and respond to the knowledge and experience of those most directly involved. Adopters are the ones who transform lives."