28 September 2007
A 12% drop in the number of children adopted between 2006 and 2007 means vulnerable children could be missing out, Public Finance has been told.
Figures published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families on September 20 showed that although the number of children in care (60,000) barely changed between 2006 and 2007, adoptions dropped by 12% from 3,700 in 2007 to 3,300 in 2007.
Barbara Hutchinson, executive director of the British Association of Adoption and Fostering, told PF: 'This is a concerning trend because we know that adoption has very good outcomes for children. The drop means that children who may have had good chances won't get them.'
She said that as the numbers of children being matched with families for potential adoption had also dropped, it was likely that the downward trend would continue. Recent accusations in Parliament that social services departments were 'stealing' babies to meet government adoption targets 'may have had an influence', she added.
But John Coughlan, co-president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said he was 'absolutely confident' that the drop was not due to social workers being intimidated by anti-adoption campaigners. 'These decisions are all based on the best interests of the children concerned,' he told PF.
However, referring to the BAAF's expressed concerns, he added: 'The last thing we need to happen is that social workers are caught between politicians and lobby groups.'
In 2006, new 'special guardianship' orders were introduced, under which parental responsibility can be shared between a birth parent and a foster parent, and 740 such guardianships were established in 2007. Coughlan said that could be a factor causing the lower adoption figures.
But Hutchinson said that even if that were the case, that would also be a concern as the orders were designed for older children for whom it was appropriate to maintain family ties. Yet the biggest drop in adoptions was of babies and children under five.
A spokeswoman for the DCSF said: 'The government continues to promote adoption as one of a number of routes by which children in care can achieve a permanent placement… We expect that the fall in the numbers of adoptions will at least in part be compensated by an increase in the number of special guardianship orders.'
PFsep2007
