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Adoption process letting down
Welsh children
The most vulnerable children in Wales are being let
down by local authority care services, according to a damning new study.
It found that children in care are missing out on the chance of adoption
because of the “inefficient or poor” way potential parents are dealt
with.
The study author, George Cooney, director of St
David's Children Society — Wales' main voluntary adoption agency — said
authorities assume couples only want to take babies. Because of this
assumption, he claims, older children are losing out on the chance of
being part of a family. His study, undertaken as part of an MA degree at
Cardiff University, found that people inquiring about adopting are often
put off by a poor or inefficient response from adoption authorities,
particularly if they say they want to adopt a baby.
“These are kids who could be yours or mine,” said Mr
Cooney. “The lives of children in care are often fragmented and in some
cases utterly broken. Some are children with no history of attachment to
adults or families.
“Their young lives are about transition rather than
permanence. The findings of this research suggest that adoption agencies
need to do more to ensure that children do not experience further delays
because of apparently unchallenged assumptions.”
Mr Cooney's research found that 19 out of 21 families
across Wales, who had contacted St David's Children Society, had already
approached at least one other adoption agency first and hadn't found the
response to be supportive. In some cases families had approached three
or four adoption agencies meeting similar negative responses.
“My research found that many of these families report
being informed that there were very few infants available and the
adoption agency infant lists were closed,” said Mr Cooney. “The families
said that little if any further discussion took place. In some cases,
the adoption agencies didn't even respond to inquiries for infants.”
His research also found that people who initially
considered adopting a baby were often prepared to adopt older children
instead. This finding directly contradicted assumptions made by most
adoption agencies.
“While it is the case that fewer infants are now
placed for adoption, my research identified that while these 19 families
had made an initial inquiry for an infant or toddler, all later adopted
an older child or a sibling group of children,” Mr Cooney said.
“It seems the need to be a parent was a greater
driving force in these cases than the need to have a baby.
“What made the difference was an emphasis on a
constructive process of engagement.”
The research findings, said Mr Cooney, suggest that
there is “a powerfully and commonly held assumption is that many
childless families will only consider infant adoption placements”.
This assumption could perhaps be a key factor, partly
responsible for directly reducing the number of potential new families
available for adoption, he said. Mr Cooney says assumptions like this
are down to under-funding and inefficiency in the care services.
“It is well known that social workers are often faced
with many pressures such as under staffing, heavy caseloads, low pay and
poor morale.
“Often there is not the space to challenge or question
commonly held assumptions.”
There are about 285 children in Wales who need to be
adopted. That is out of the 4,219 who were in the care of local
authorities last year. The other children are in foster homes,
children's homes or living with their families. Only about five of those
up for adoption are babies.
Mr Cooney said, “We have to invest in these vulnerable
children — for their sakes and for society as a whole.
“The care experience generally does not provide
children with good outcomes — figures from the Department of Health
(2000) show that 40% of prisoners under 25 are ex-care leavers, 40% of
homeless adults are ex-care leavers and three out of four young people
who leave care have no formal qualification.”
A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said, “Adopting
a child requires a great deal of commitment and people wishing to do so
need to have easy access to the right help and support.
“The Welsh Assembly Government has been consulting on
the 2002 Adoption and Children Act and will be issuing new guidance and
regulations to simplify the adoption system by September 2005.
“This Act puts the child's interests first and ensures
that people wishing to adopt receive the advice and support they need to
provide the children with a stable and loving home.”
A spokesperson for the Welsh Local Government
Association refused to comment.
Anna Morrell
20 August 2004
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=14551837&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=adoption-process-letting-down-welsh-children-name_page.html
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