LGA responds to education secretary's speech on adoption

14 Oct 2020 02:34 PM

Cllr Judith Blake, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responded to a speech by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson on the adoption system 

“Councils are committed to finding loving homes for all children who need them, including encouraging people of all backgrounds and circumstances to come forward to adopt if they are able to provide loving, stable homes. Progress has been made in recent years, with delays cut significantly and the Adoption Support Fund providing invaluable support to families, including preventing adoption breakdowns.

“In the face of significant funding reductions, large increases in the number of children needing help and working through government-mandated reorganisations of the adoption system, councils and their voluntary sector partners have continued to do all they can to ensure that children are safe and in loving permanent homes.

“Finding the right match for a child is not simple, and councils and their partners rightly take a holistic view of children in their care to make sure they thrive in their forever home and do not go through the trauma of an adoption breakdown. For many children, placement with a family of the same ethnic background is exceptionally important for cultural and identity reasons, and this must not be overlooked.

“We must also remember that adoption is not right for every child in care and for this reason we must continue to invest in the full range of permanency options, including foster care, kinship care and children’s homes. We call on the Government to use the forthcoming Spending Review to fully resource children’s social care to ensure every child can be found a loving, stable home, whatever their needs.”

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