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Scotland’s Adoption Register nears ‘100’ landmark

17 Feb 2014 11:30 AM

Family-finding scheme expands nationally under Children’s Bill.

Almost 100 young lives have been turned around over the last three years since a national Adoption Register was established to help find loving families.

The Register, which is being placed on a statutory footing in the Children and Young People Bill, which the Parliament will vote on this Wednesday (February, 19) enables children to be matched with potential families from across the country, rather than limiting opportunities within a local authority area.

Funded by the Scottish Government and managed by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) since being launched as an initial three-year pilot in April 2011, the family-finding scheme has already helped place 95 young people.

Building on that progress, the CYP Bill will require local authorities and registered adoption services to provide specified information to the register and will ensure that all councils are using the register.

Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell said:

“The Scottish Government recognises the importance of providing safe, stable, nurturing and permanent homes for children in care at the earliest possible opportunity. This can be especially difficult where a young person has particular needs or challenges to be addressed.

“Adoption agencies work very hard to make the right placements in every case and an increasing number of agencies have been using the adoption register, which will soon match its 100th young person. That is testament to the work of groups like BAAF in raising awareness and providing information and support.

“This comes on the back of year on year increases in adoption in Scotland from 137 in 2008 to 272 in 2012

“The Children and Young People Bill is about giving every child the best start in life, and ensuring every one of them gets the support they need while growing up. By creating a truly national adoption resource, underpinned by statute, we will open up much greater possibilities and further improve the chances of finding the right family and a loving home for many of our most vulnerable children.”

The Adoption Register began in April 2011 and offers three core services; linking children to adoptive parents, hosting matching events and producing a publication called Scottish Children Waiting.

Now in its third year, the Register celebrates its most successful performance to date with 53 matches made in 2013 compared to 34 in 2012, and eight in the first year.

Sue Brunton, Project Leader for the Register at BAAF, said of the achievement: “I am so proud that BAAF is so close to the landmark of finding families for 100 children in Scotland just three years into the service.

“The Adoption Register is so important in identifying families for children who need them, and I look forward to continuing our success over the next three years and beyond.”

Notes to editors

Provisions in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill, which will be debated on the 19th February, will require adoption agencies to provide details of children looking for an adoptive family and details of prospective adoptive families on the register. For more information about the Adoption Register in Scotland and BAAF online and on social media visit www.scotlandsadoptionregister.org.uk/, www.baaf.org.uk, www.facebook.com/BAAFAdoption and www.twitter.com/BAAFAdoption

BAAF is the UK’s leading charity for children separated from their birth families, providing services to meet the needs of some of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people.