It is important to identify areas of concern and to provide opportunities for those who are intimately involved to express their views. However strategies have to be devised to effect change if improvements are to occur.

Whilst it is impossible to prevent certain placements failing (after all, the breakdown of the parent child relationship is not unique to adoption), it is our belief that services could be both improved and developed in ways which would lessen the frequency and the trauma of post-adoption disruption.

Furthermore, some of the suggestions made below have more to do with attitude than expenditure. We therefore suggest by way of conclusion that consideration be given to the following:

Policies and Procedures

The "high risk" nature of current adoption work needs to be recognised in policies and procedures, both in respect of post-adoption work in general, and specifically for those situations where a placement fails. Staff and families need to be aware of what can be offered. Families also need to be aware of complaints procedures and in many instances to have information, arrangements and agreements in writing.

Resource Considerations

Children placed for adoption in recent years are among the most damaged and vulnerable young people in society. Adoption does not offer a cure, neither should it be viewed as 'cheap'. Many adopted children will continue to need a range of services throughout their growing-up years and beyond. There are implications for budgets and for a more realistic financial appraisal of this particular form of care in the community.

Attachment

There need to be opportunities for workers to develop their knowledge of post-adoption disruption and to hear the views of service users who have experience of this. A key component in many disruptions seems to be attachment. There is scope for a greater awareness of the way in which family life affects, and is affected by children who display abnormal attachment patterns, and strategies for addressing the feelings and behaviours which result.

Worker stress - consequences of investment in placement success

Working with adoptions which are disrupting is likely to be exhausting and stressful. For a worker who has had prior involvement - eg. in preparing the adopters, feelings of guilt and being de-skilled can arise. There may be a tendency to overlook or deny indications that the child may have to return to the care system. There are implications for allocation of cases and worker supervision in these situations.

Rights and responsibilities following disruption

Clarification and the opportunity for discussion should be available for the parties to adoption regarding issues such as inheritance and kinship. As for any parent whose child is in care, information about financial liability, childcare law and agency policy and procedure is vital. Legal advisers to Adoption Agencies and information provided by orgonisations such as Family Rights Group and Parents Aid can be particularly

Preparation of adopters

Social workers, their managers and the adoption panel need to be satisfied that the possibility of disruption has been covered in the preparation and assessment of adoptive parents. Adopters should be advised to establish the post adoption disruption policy of a particular local authority before committing themselves to a link with a child in their care.

Ethnicity and religious considerations

The Agency response to a troubled placement needs to take into account the ethnicity of the parties involved. It will be important to maintain a child's racial identity and religious observance in any subsequent placements.

Families and children may wish to work with someone of the same ethnicity, as may the child, and wherever possible agencies should facilitate this. It is necessary to know more about the services black and Asian adopters would find helpful should difficulties arise within a placement. Research which considers this issue would be welcomed.

Services for adoptive families

Parents need services in their own right. These may range from advice, guidance and general support to specialist counselling focusing on trauma and loss. There is a need for Adoption Agencies to identify and liaise with such services, and to advise on the means by which they can be accessed.

Comparable resources may also need to be identified for other parties to the placement. There may be a role for an Agency which is totally independent of the placement to suppoprt the adopters, especially in respect of advocacy. This has budgetary implications, or may be possible through a reciprocal arrangements between agencies.

Ethos of Support as a right - the 'seamless' service

If the expectation is that adoptive families keep in touch with Agencies and that support services (eg. respite) are available as a right, the stigma and sense of failure experienced by families when a placement is in difficulties is dramatically reduced. This ethos needs to be shared by the whole agency and communicated to families at every juncture. Furthermore it complements a preparation process which includes the subject of disruption.

Monitoring

Agencies may find it helpful to routinely monitor their adoption work and to use the learning from placements which disrupt to inform current work. It would be informative to interview children who have left adoptive homes as well as their families to broaden our understanding and bring about an improvement in service design and delivery.

Review of contact arrangements

Discussion will need to take place with adoptive parents, and where appropriate the child, about the maintenance of contact arrangements and the sharing of information if a placement disrupts There are resource implications for working with birth parents who are likely to be distressed to hear that the child has returned to care, particularly if they are geographically distant.

Support Groups - a vital component

Linking with others who have had similar experiences is invaluable in many situations, not least that of troubled adoption placements. Whether the communication is in writing, by phone, between two individuals face to face or in a group, the power of peer support can never be over-estimated. On a more structured level, healing weekends~12~ can be particularly helpful.

Organisational Issues within Agencies

Social Services Departments may wish to consider ways in which area teams and specialist workers can best combine their knowledge, skills and resources when adoptions are in crisis. This is unlikely to be achieved unless post-adoption training is routinely provided and strategies are in place to avoid the marginalisation of those with a specialist remit. The learning from this approach can usefully inform current adoption placements.

Organisational Issues between Agencies

Post-Adoption disruption can result in the prolonged involvement of statutory and voluntary provision across a range of sectors. Urgent attention needs to be given to achieving effective multi-agency working in these situations.

There is the potential for a wide-ranging research and consultation initiative to produce guidance on practice and to clarify resource responsibilities, especially when families have moved and the child's situation both past and present involves several Agencies.

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