Law change to speed up adoption process for babies

The Government intends to change the law so that local authorities will have to consider placing children with approved adopters who will foster the child first, so that a permanent stable home can be provided as soon as possible.

Ministers believe that the current practice is too slow because it leaves babies on average having to wait 15 months before being placed in a permanent home.

The Government intends to legislate so that fostering by potential adopters becomes standard practice.

Under the current system many local authorities tend to wait until a court order is received before starting to look for a permanent home.

Analysis shows that among babies who are placed in care at less than a month old, half were eventually adopted, but the process took on average 15 months.

Such delays put babies’ development at risk because it makes it harder for them to form secure attachments.

Just 60 babies under one were adopted in 2010/11.

David Cameron said, ‘Children’s needs must be at the very heart of the adoption process - it's shocking that we have a system where 50 per cent of one month old babies who come to the care system go on to be adopted but wait 15 months to be placed in a permanent, loving home. That’s why today I'm changing the law and calling for urgent action - both from local authorities and from potential adopters - to get the system moving.

‘These new plans will see babies placed with approved adopters who will foster first, and help provide a stable home at a much earlier stage in a child's life. This way, we're trying our very best to avoid the disruption that can be so damaging to a child’s development and so detrimental to their future wellbeing.

‘I'm determined that we act now to give these children the very best start in life. These babies deserve what every child deserves: a permanent, secure and happy home environment to grow up in.’

The Children and Families Bill will also speed up the process of court hearings for children in care, so that they should last no longer than 26 weeks.

It also aims to stop delays in matching parents to ethnic minority children.

Fostering for Adoption and concurrent planning, which has been pioneered by Coram, are both ways of speeding up the adoption process.

Coram says that concurrent planning means that children have fewer placements and are able to live with adoptive families more quickly.

Concurrent planning is suitable for children under two and in cases where local authorities believe that adoption is the best option, but where children may still be able to return home.

Research by Coram has found that in the 57 cases where concurrent planning has taken place, 54 children were adopted by their concurrent planning carers and three were reunited with their families.

All of the children that were adopted this way, some of whom are now 12, have stayed with the same carers.

More than half of the referrals were made during pregnancy and nearly all before a child’s first birthday, with 25 of these straight from hospital following their birth.

Dr Carol Homden, chief executive of Coram, said, ‘A consistent, loving and permanent relationship is vital for children and it is urgent for those particularly vulnerable infants who may later need adoption.  

‘Concurrent planning provides that precious consistency of care and puts the welfare of the child first. There have not been any breakdowns in adoption for children placed thorough this scheme.

‘We look forward to working with local authorities and the judiciary to extend its use and wider means of achieving earliest possible placement.’

Fostering for Adoption is used when local authorities deem that children will not be able to return to their birth family.

Martin Narey, the Government’s Adoption Adviser, said, ‘I have seen Fostering for Adoption operate successfully in East Sussex, and I know from my extensive contact with adopters the importance they put on establishing a permanent bond with their child as soon as possible. They are prepared to take the risk that the adoption will not proceed, because they know how important early stability is to a neglected child. ‘This development is great news for adopters and even better news for neglected and abused children and infants.’