The government’s recently launched adoption map is “a gimmick and not a solution”, the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has claimed.
The colour-coded map highlights the number of children available for adoption in different parts of the country.
BASW Acting Chief Executive Bridget Robb said that although the government’s promotion of adoption was to be welcomed, the map highlighted a particular attitude amongst ministers.
“It is…difficult to avoid a…perspective on this latest government adoption launch, that ministers are utterly obsessed with gimmicks aimed at ‘exposing’ an apparent world of local authority failure to find good homes for children – implying that central government is the only area of public life taking seriously the need to offer long term stability to young people.
The map betrayed “…this government’s simplistic approach to an incredibly complex subject”, she added.
Ms Robb also stressed the importance of adequate resources and additional support after an adoption has taken place.
“Better resourcing [of] the assessments process, without introducing unacceptable risks into the system is key, while improved post-adoption support would help to prevent the worrying, and little researched, area of adoption breakdown, where a child is handed back to social services and so suffers twice over.”
Sixteen years ago the USA federal government put new pressure on states to facilitate adoptions, (just like the UK is doing now). But it never bothered to track how many of those adoptions fail. Now, there’s increasing concern about children getting adopted out of foster care, then returning to it. A report, Capital University Law Review by two lawyers representing children and parents in NYC’s child welfare system, “The Revolving Doors of Family Court: Confronting Broken Adoptions,” they say they have seen over the years large numbers of children coming back 5 or 10 years later, when they have grown into traumatized and troublesome teens. Jeremy Kohomban stated, “When we choose to sever the relationship that a child has with his biological family, we have taken on an awesome responsibility of making sure that kid doesn’t become statistic.” Over 6000 up for adoption in the UK, how many will end up back in care?
In the 4th and final section it states: the answer to the problem of broken adoptions is clear. More needs to be done to keep families together. It’s not just about investing more in preventive services, executive director of the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP), says, but about recognizing that “in the most fundamental of ways,” we as a society are “not doing enough to build communities that are conducive to healthy family life…[including] access to living wage employment, decent affordable housing, safe schools, health care. This is why families fall apart,” says Arsham.
Lessons learnt from the USA? Doubtful.