# Shortage of children for adoption



## GoofyGirl (Apr 1, 2013)

Hi there

I received an email from adoption link saying something along the lines that there's been a court ruling about placement orders and that as a result adopters may find there are a shortage of children available. 

We are with an LA and not yet on the national register. 

Our LA is being very secretive and we don't know what's going on. 

Anyone on the national register know if there are many children available under 2.5 years old or is it true and we could be waiting a long time? 

Thanks
GG xx


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## GERTIE179 (Apr 20, 2005)

From these boards & others I think this is quite true for the main. National Reg always has "harder to place" babies and children. But the reason for "HTP" can be security risk, ethnicity matches as well as unknown histories and medical issues.

Given the Govt guidelines for the new process & now the Courts slowing things down, I think there's a huge mismatch & SWs should be honest with prospective adopters that the general wait of 6-12 months is more likely for matches.

Unfortunately I think some SWs will want people to stay in house for financial reasons & also may hope some prospectives open their age criteria etc. in an area close to me, I've only heard of one under 2.5yr old being placed and it was Foster to Adopt (and I've heard the baby was returned to BPs). 

This stage in the process is the hardest by far as at least with HS you have something to focus on.

Your SW should give you more local info & what to expect.
X


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## Laws1612 (Dec 12, 2011)

Hello lovely.....
Not sure about national register. But. When we first started the process back in feb the social worker rang me the day before coming round and asked what citera we were aiming for when I told her as young as possible she refused to come and see us as she said they had a backlog of adopters due to the quick turn around and the county were not accepted anymore it was only when we mentioned we would accept siblings that she came to see us......just something to bear in mind xxxx good luck xxx


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## Sq9 (Jan 15, 2013)

Hello,
We've been waiting just over 10 months for a child around 12 months and the child we were to be linked with had their final hearing adjourned last week until October as the court wants paternal grandfather to be assessed as a carer.  The family court system has undergone the biggest change for several decades recently which is meaning there are fewer cases and therefore children in the system while local authorities get to grips with what they have to do as cases must now conclude within 26 weeks unless there are exceptional circumstances.  Unfortunately this doesn't fit with the case law adoption link are talking about as that says everything must have been tried  (at least given serious consideration) hence the child we were to be linked with having their final hearing adjourned so that every avenue can be looked at before a final order and placement order is made.  Very difficult for those of us waiting and I do think there should have been much more done of the training and hs about this.  We knew because we want as young as possible that we would have a wait, but didn't expect it to be as long as we have.  I think sw wants us to increase the age which doesn't feel right for us, but we'll just have to see what the next few months brings.  Sorry this probably isn't the response you wanted to hear.  Try as much as you can to make the most if this time, doing jobs you've been putting off or booking a holiday for a few months time so your life doesn't just revolve around waiting to hear something.  I know that that it is much easier to say that than do it as I've been failing miserably at it! Good luck


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## Barbados Girl (Jul 7, 2012)

The re BS case has seen a drop in the number of placement orders made nationally in the past year, that is not in dispute, I think.  I have heard from one sw that in her borough it had become a lot harder to secure placement orders- this was in the context of a child who we were considering in respect of whom a placement order had been made and had a baby sibling subject to an interim care order.  Despite the fact it seemed that very little had changed with bm since the final order was made in respect of the eldest, the LA were still uncertain about the odds of getting a placement order for baby immediately.  

Anecdotally what I am hearing is that in a lot of instances bps are being given more chances and/or kinship placements are being more widely used but that they often do not work and the children end up back in fc and placed for adoption perhaps a year-18months later with more issues and another 1-2 moves under their belts.  

A lot of people are questioning whether what is happening at the moment is really for the benefit of the children involved or the bfs.  I think the guidelines in re BS are correct but, in my view, do not match in a world where services and LAs are cash strapped and simply do not have the resources to carry out the throrough assessments within the timescales the government are demanding.  So, I would have said it is inevitable that more children are going to end up back with bfs or in kinship care placements or there are going to be delays in adoption orders being granted- if ss do not have the money or resources to get their house in order for Court then the judge will err on the side of caution (a la BS) or the ss will not plough money into Court hearings and go with the kinship placement.  Until the psychopaths who are in power understand that stripping money away from people that most need it so the people who do not are not required to pay more tax (and I count myself amongst that number, I would happily pay more tax if it were ploughed into child services and think I should pay more tax) then I cannot see this changing.  Either that or there will be more awful, awful Peter Connelly type cases and/or a case in which a judge goes mad at ss for leaving a child at risk and the judicial tide will turn the other way.

So, put it all together and it equals not fewer children needing adoption but children becoming available for adoption when they are older and perhaps more damaged.

I would also think it is fairly inevitable that LAs will try to keep adopters in house to save money and I cannot really blame them.  Of course it is not best for the children or the adopters in all cases but they have to work within the system they have.

To answer your question, GG, there are not many 0-2s available for adoption and some LAs refuse to assess adopters looking for children under 2.  I was told by a sw at an Exchange Day that our matching criteria was far too narrow, the LA never would have assessed us and we would have to widen our criteria if we had a hope of being matched.  In our case she was wrong.  Her LA was quite rural/home counties and I don't think she quite appreciated how many black/white dual heritage children there were in care in larger towns/cities compared to the tiny number of adopters reflecting that heritage.  However, I doubt that if we decide to adopt again in a few years (not even had mp yet, can you say jumping the gun!) we will be matched so quickly if the situation remains as is.

Very sad and everyone is right- your sw should be open with you about the matching timescales etc.


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## GoofyGirl (Apr 1, 2013)

Thanks everyone. I thought 2.5 might be a reasonable age to expect. Oh well. 
Have been enjoying DH company etc it's just not knowing whether to use his annual leave it save it for intros. 
SW called this morning and will be more involved from now on. 
So thing looking up in that respect.


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## Keeping busy (Apr 13, 2011)

Gosh its very worrying isn't it. I am not an expert in any way shape or form but thought the changes were meant to make things better for children not worse and it certainly sounds like things will be worse for lots of them if they end up being pushed between birth family and foster care


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