Since The Narey Report early this year, adoption has been of high priority within politics and has received a great deal of media attention including BBC’s Panorama programme “The Truth about Adoption”.
The programme begins with some shocking statistics, 65,000 children a year are put into care, a 40% rise since the tragic death of Baby P. Even more shocking is that only 5% of those 65,000 children will be successfully adopted this year.
Panorama followed six children’s adoption progress that clearly demonstrated just how distressing the process can be for all parties involved. Overall the longwinded and sometimes unsuccessful process left the children anxious and remaining within long term foster care.
Examples of the kind of distress children in care go through are shown frequently throughout this programme. Six year old Katie talks about her sisters being separated “Our sister was separated and we might have to be separated. I want me and Sophie and Chloe to live together, because sisters live together” and within seconds asks for “the next question please” clearly an emotional subject for Katie. Also, ten year old Kieran who was reduced to tears when asked how many placements he has had in his life.
Fortunately, the government is hoping to dramatically alter the adoption process, reducing the time it takes to get a child adopted to 12 months, with a much smoother process and more responsibility to social workers.
Gavin Poole, executive director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has issued the following statement about Panorama: The Truth about Adoption.
“This powerful documentary underscores the realities of our failing adoption culture and the heartbreaking impact it has on young children.
We need a streamlined adoption system that is not unduly risk-averse or overly bureaucratised, and follows the changes called for by Professor Eileen Munro in regards to the wider child protection system.
Faster and more concurrent fostering and adoption would shift the balance of risk away from vulnerable children and to where it should belong - onto the adults.
Far too often children are held in limbo, ferried from one set of parents to another, harbouring deep-seated anxieties about rejection and loss.
A reformed adoption process would act with speed, sensitivity of support and put the welfare of children at its heart.
We welcome recent announcements from the prime minister to simplify and speed up the adoption process. An inability to get a grip on this problem will transfer a social and economic failure from one generation to another.”
Additionally, BBC news education and family reporter Hannah Richardson recently commented on plans to “shake-up” the child protection system. Whilst consistently referring to Professor Munro’s review, Richardson sheds light on the government’s plans to invest eighty million pounds into these important changes and to develop social worker’s expertise that will hopefully result in many more children across the country being successfully adopted.
The programme begins with some shocking statistics, 65,000 children a year are put into care, a 40% rise since the tragic death of Baby P. Even more shocking is that only 5% of those 65,000 children will be successfully adopted this year.
Panorama followed six children’s adoption progress that clearly demonstrated just how distressing the process can be for all parties involved. Overall the longwinded and sometimes unsuccessful process left the children anxious and remaining within long term foster care.
Examples of the kind of distress children in care go through are shown frequently throughout this programme. Six year old Katie talks about her sisters being separated “Our sister was separated and we might have to be separated. I want me and Sophie and Chloe to live together, because sisters live together” and within seconds asks for “the next question please” clearly an emotional subject for Katie. Also, ten year old Kieran who was reduced to tears when asked how many placements he has had in his life.
Fortunately, the government is hoping to dramatically alter the adoption process, reducing the time it takes to get a child adopted to 12 months, with a much smoother process and more responsibility to social workers.
Gavin Poole, executive director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has issued the following statement about Panorama: The Truth about Adoption.
“This powerful documentary underscores the realities of our failing adoption culture and the heartbreaking impact it has on young children.
We need a streamlined adoption system that is not unduly risk-averse or overly bureaucratised, and follows the changes called for by Professor Eileen Munro in regards to the wider child protection system.
Faster and more concurrent fostering and adoption would shift the balance of risk away from vulnerable children and to where it should belong - onto the adults.
Far too often children are held in limbo, ferried from one set of parents to another, harbouring deep-seated anxieties about rejection and loss.
A reformed adoption process would act with speed, sensitivity of support and put the welfare of children at its heart.
We welcome recent announcements from the prime minister to simplify and speed up the adoption process. An inability to get a grip on this problem will transfer a social and economic failure from one generation to another.”
Additionally, BBC news education and family reporter Hannah Richardson recently commented on plans to “shake-up” the child protection system. Whilst consistently referring to Professor Munro’s review, Richardson sheds light on the government’s plans to invest eighty million pounds into these important changes and to develop social worker’s expertise that will hopefully result in many more children across the country being successfully adopted.
