The Prime Minister has announced that the Government will be publishing a Green Paper setting out new minimum standards for local authorities on the number of adoptions and what happens to children in care.
The Green Paper, which aims to increase the number of adoptions and make the process easier for prospective parents, will challenge those local authorities who have long delays in placing children with adoptive parents.
In September, statistics from the Department for Education revealed that the number of children in care and chosen for adoption has fallen to a record low, with only 60 children under the age of one adopted in the last year.
The same figures showed that the average length of time children wait to be adopted is two years and seven months, when the current requirement to complete an adoption is within 12 months.
Under the plans, announced at the start of National Adoption Week (31 October-6 November 2011), the Government will also publish, for the first time, separate league tables on how local authorities perform on adoption, which will be published on the DfE’s website.
Councils deemed to have failed to deal with adoption cases efficiently, or struggled to find suitable and stable foster placements for children, could face having their responsibilities handed over to another local authority or sub-contracted out to the private sector or charities.
Mr Cameron said, ‘It is shocking that of the 3,600 children under the age of one in care, only 60 were adopted last year – this is clearly not good enough. So we will publish data on how every local authority is performing to ensure they are working quickly enough to provide the safe and secure family environment every child deserves.’
Along with the adoption reforms, the Government has launched a new national adoption and fostering campaign, ‘Give a Child a Home’.
The campaign website, which is led by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network, includes information and advice on how people can adopt or become foster carers.
The Prime Minister said, ‘We need more people to think about fostering and adoption so this National Adoption Week I would encourage anyone who is considering adoption to find out more about whether they could provide a home for a child. People who foster and adopt make a fantastic difference to a child’s life and there are children waiting for families right now.’
David Norgrove, who is undertaking a review of the family justice system - responsible for processing all care cases and adoption orders - is also expected to report back with his findings this week.
In September, statistics from the Department for Education revealed that the number of children in care and chosen for adoption has fallen to a record low, with only 60 children under the age of one adopted in the last year.
The same figures showed that the average length of time children wait to be adopted is two years and seven months, when the current requirement to complete an adoption is within 12 months.
Under the plans, announced at the start of National Adoption Week (31 October-6 November 2011), the Government will also publish, for the first time, separate league tables on how local authorities perform on adoption, which will be published on the DfE’s website.
Councils deemed to have failed to deal with adoption cases efficiently, or struggled to find suitable and stable foster placements for children, could face having their responsibilities handed over to another local authority or sub-contracted out to the private sector or charities.
Mr Cameron said, ‘It is shocking that of the 3,600 children under the age of one in care, only 60 were adopted last year – this is clearly not good enough. So we will publish data on how every local authority is performing to ensure they are working quickly enough to provide the safe and secure family environment every child deserves.’
Along with the adoption reforms, the Government has launched a new national adoption and fostering campaign, ‘Give a Child a Home’.
The campaign website, which is led by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering and the Fostering Network, includes information and advice on how people can adopt or become foster carers.
The Prime Minister said, ‘We need more people to think about fostering and adoption so this National Adoption Week I would encourage anyone who is considering adoption to find out more about whether they could provide a home for a child. People who foster and adopt make a fantastic difference to a child’s life and there are children waiting for families right now.’
David Norgrove, who is undertaking a review of the family justice system - responsible for processing all care cases and adoption orders - is also expected to report back with his findings this week.