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This story published May 25, 2001
Forum calls for radical changes to new adoption Bill
Page 1 of 6
A adoption pressure group has called for radical changes to the Adoption and Children Act which is expected to become law later this year.
The Adoption Forum has welcomed the Bill but pointed to many weaknesses which, it argues, will just perptuate current problems in the adoption and care system.
Among its most radical suggestions in its 33-page report to the Adoption and Children Act Commons select committee, is a call for money to be allocated to children in care on an individual basis from a centrally held budget.
This, says the Forum, would prevent cash-strapped local authorities making decisions about a child based on budget pressures rather than a child's individual needs.
It also called for all children entering care to be placed in special assessment children's homes where their needs could be identified before they were placed with foster families.
Its report, in line with criticisms from other organisations, including the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, also called for the adequate provision of post adoption support to be made a legal obligation.
As the Bill stands at the moment, local authorities will have an obligation to assess a family for post adoption support - but there will be no legal requirement for the support to be provided.
"Proper post-adoption support is crucial if adopters and potential adopters
are to feel any real faith in the system," says the report. "Without faith on the part of
adopters, there will be little improvement in the statistics or, more
importantly, the outcome for children."
The Forum supports provision in the Bill which makes the interests of the child paramount in any decision.
"We are particularly pleased to see, among other things, steps to cut delays, including the introduction of timetables," it added.
Other aspects which the Forum supported included:
But the Adoption Forum complained that not enough use of computer technology was being used to keep track of children in the care system to monitor their progress and outcomes.
Its report said: "This Bill is a once-in-a-generation chance to provide a spectacularly good,
modern, effective and efficient service for society's most ill-served
children.
"There has been much talk...of the lack of grip in the care system. Getting a better grip seems to
have been a prime motive for new legislation. Yet, remarkably, there is no requirement to use the wondrous technologies
available to us in this age of computers.
"If all the children looked after were on a computer system there would be less chance of children going missing, a check that plans are being made and fulfilled, an opportunity to ensure that the money allocated to children actually reaches children, a way of establishing a system of independent visitors, a method of monitoring outcomes."
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