An adopted 14-year-old girl has won a landmark case to return to her biological family in what is being dubbed a “highly exceptional” ruling.
As a result of the ruling the adoptive order that was set up ten years ago has since been revoked and the teenager has also been able to change her surname to that of her birth mother.
The National Audit Office have stated that the system for supporting young people when they leave care is not working effectively.
Despite a system and a legal framework being in place and an inspection unit, the number of care leavers obtaining employment, education and training has fallen significantly since 2007. According to the National Audit Office report, states that in 2013-14, over 10,000 young people aged over 16 left care, a significant increase of almost 50% since 2003-04. Furthermore, the report found that 33% of those aged 16 or over who left care did so before they turned 18.
Newly published guidance will help social workers navigate the reformed adoption system when considering adoption for vulnerable children, says the Government.
...Would-be adopters can now access a new map showing the areas with the highest number of children waiting for new homes.
The imposition of six month targets for placing children in care for adoption will lead to rushed and inadequate assessments, potentially making the process too fast for would-be adopters and open to abuse by predatory child abusers.
Councils must do more to ensure children awaiting adoption are not deprived of a loving permanent family because of council delays, children’s minister Edward Timpson has said.
Secretary of State Michael Gove has called on more people to adopt children. The call comes as it has emerged that more than 4200 children are ready for adoption but have not yet been able to move in with a family – a figure that has grown by 650 in each of the last two years.
New legislation announced in the Queen's Speech aims to improve family justice by reducing delays in the system and speeding up adoption processes.
A report published by Ofsted found that the most significant cause of delay for children needing adoption is the length of time it takes for cases to be completed in court. The average time taken to complete care proceedings in the cases inspectors examined was almost 14 months.
Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, has commented on the Government's recently announced adoption action plan.
The Prime Minister is to set out proposed changes to legislation to ensure that, when adoption is in a child’s best interests, they are placed in loving homes as soon as possible.
The Department for Education has released statistics showing a 2% increase in the number of children in care, combined with a 5% decrease in the number of children who are adopted.
A significant number of children in care are losing out because of long systematic delays in approving adoptive parents, according to an Adoption UK survey.
