Panorama, ‘The Truth About Adoption’ – 14 December at 9pm, BBC1
Posted: Thursday 15 December 2011
You may have seen the Panorama special on BBC1 last night, which followed six children in Coventry who are waiting for permanent families, having been in care for most of their lives. Two of the children featured were almost 10 years old.
65,000 children in England are in care and only 5% of them will be adopted this year. Panorama focused on the search for (and breakdown of) adoptive placements. For siblings Kieran, Chloe and Katie this sadly occurred three years after they were adopted. The reasons for the breakdown were not explored and it was noted that there is a lack of research and statistics in relation to this issue. Kieran (aged 10) said that he would like to be adopted again. He and the other children who appeared in the programme seemed to a have a lot of information about the social workers’ search for their future parents. In a separate case, five year old Connor was told by his social worker that he would be staying with his foster family (who had decided to adopt him). Meanwhile, his natural mother was in the process of contesting the social work department’s plans, and no final decision had been issued by the court.
In Scotland, when a local authority applies to the court for a Permanence Order with Authority to Adopt in respect of a child who is in care, the court must be satisfied is that the child has been, or is likely to be, placed for adoption. In many cases, the child will already have been matched with prospective adopters by the Adoption and Permanence Panel. There are of course no guarantees that the prospective adopters will go on to adopt the child but having found and matched a child with a family in advance of the commencement of legal proceedings is a significant step.
The experiences of these six children highlight every child’s need for certainty about their future. All of the children know that the social workers are searching for new parents for them and that they have been doing so for years. One can only imagine how that feels for a child. In appropriate circumstances, adoption can provide the legal and emotional security which long-term foster care cannot. Despite the breakdowns documented by Panorama, adoptive placements are less likely than foster placements to break down and can give children a stable, permanent family for life. The younger a child is when they are adopted, the easier it will be for them to form secure attachments to their adoptive parents and family.
The stories of these boys and girls are perhaps even more poignant at this time of year. There were no hopeful messages that progress has made since the programme was filmed - just more waiting, more uncertainty.
For further information on adoption please contact Louise Laing by emailing louise.laing@morton-fraser.com or call on 0131 247 3172.
