Adoption
For some children, adoption is the best way out of the care system.
There are around 4,000 children across the UK waiting for a new family (through adoption or permanent fostering) every year from a huge range of ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Who are the children waiting for adoptive families?
Most of them are in the care of their local authority and are currently living with foster carers. The local authority has to make every effort to return the child to their birth family if at all possible. But if this is not an option because the family can not care for them, or the child would not be safe at home, adoption or permanent fostering may be the best plan.
Many children up for adoption are of school age and over half of them are in groups of brothers and sisters who need to be placed together. Sadly some groups of brothers and sisters are split up because no suitable family comes forward for them. Some children available for adoption have physical and/or mental disabilities, and some - perhaps because of neglect while in the womb or in their early years - have developmental problems.
In contrast to the past when abortion was illegal, contraception was unavailable and enormous stigma was attached to unmarried mothers, very few babies are now available for adoption, particularly healthy white babies. After the age of seven, children will wait longer to be matched with a new family, because there are more adopters who want younger children. Permanent fostering may be considered as the best option for older children.
Ideally, a child's new family should meet all their emotional, identity, health and development needs. Research shows that children do best when brought up in a family that closely matches their ethnic and racial identity. Adoption agencies go to great lengths to find a family that matches the child's ethnic identity,although in practice this isn't always achievable. Social workers then have to decide at what point to consider alternative families in order to prevent the child lingering in the care system, surrounded by uncertainty.
Could you adopt a child or children from care? 
People from all walks of life can adopt. You can be in a couple (including same-sex couples) or single, and you don't need to own your own home. You do need to be over 21 but contrary to what most people think, there's no upper age limit (most adoption agencies consider an age gap of up to 45 years between the child and adoptive parent acceptable - sometimes even more, particularly if you are prepared to consider children with more complex needs).
If you are thinking about adoption, find out more here: http://www.bemyparent.org.uk/info-for-families/
Concurrent planning
Concurrent planning is a middle solution somewhere between fostering and adoption. It's particularly useful for young children who are unlikely to be reunited with their birth parents, although the possibility is there. In this scenario foster parents care for the child long term, while staying in contact with the birth parents where possible. They can adopt the child if it becomes obvious that the birth parents will never cope, or if they agree to an adoption.
For the child, this means far greater stability: adoption doesn't mean changing homes. They have a much better chance of forming strong bonds. Concurrent planning is still a comparative rarity offered by four or five organisations in the UK. It demands a lot from foster parents, who may eventually have to give up a child they hope to adopt. But it is great for children and the government is hoping to expand it.
News
- New publication for young people in care about post-16 opportunities - 27-Jan-2012
- Pay foster carers annual fees, says The Policy Exchange - 27-Jan-2012
- Care system found to counter offending - 27-Jan-2012
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