It usually takes at least three months for adoptive parents to be matched with a child after they have been approved to be adopters – again, have a look at the local authority ‘score cards’ data.

Only 6% of Looked After Children in England were under one year old at 31 March 2013.

Just 2% of children adopted in England in the year ending 31 March 2013 were under one year old. Even though local authorities have targets to match children in their care with adoptive parents faster than before, in England the average age at adoption was three years and eight months at 31 March 2013.There are no targets for taking children into care in the first place. The targets that local authorities are working to refer to the process for assessing prospective adopters and the process for finding adoptive families for children who have already been taken into care.In fact, there is a lot of evidence that this is not happening, including: For further discussion, please see our post on Forced Adoption. There is no evidence that this is happening in the UK. This is because local authorities get paid a financial bonus to meet targets for removing children and getting them adopted. Social workers are targeting families, particularly white working class families, to meet targets for the number of children adopted and to provide babies for adoption by middle class families. The British Association of Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) is another useful source of statistics. As of 31 March 2013, 5% of children leaving care in England were placed with their parents and 5% were placed for adoption. The Government publishes statistics (‘Adoption scorecards’) showing how local authorities place children for adoption, so you can check the figures there. In England between 20, 9% of permanence plans (on average) moved away from adoption to another option, such as returning to a parent, residency with another family member or long term foster care. There are a number of reasons why plans might change, including if you can demonstrate that you are willing and able to make the necessary changes to address the concerns that led to adoption being considered as an option for your child. My social worker has told me that they are thinking of applying to the courts for my child to be adopted. This doesn’t mean that your social work doesn’t care about the impact this would have on you, but that they are obliged to put the child first and foremost. Where this isn’t possible, or the courts believe that this would not be in the child’s best interest, the court can make an order to remove a child from their parents. Often that means supporting parents so that children can remain at home with them, as that would be in the best interests of the child. Section 1 of The Children Act 1989 creates a statutory obligation to put the needs of the child first. My social worker only cares about taking my child and doesn’t care about what happens to me. Your social worker cannot just refer to the fact that you have had a previous child taken into care, and they need to get an independent judge to agree that there is a sound reason for removing this baby. If you have previously had a child removed, if you get pregnant again social services will need to be certain that you are able to look after this baby and will work with you to conduct an assessment and support you in getting any help you might need.Įven if your social worker decides that you are not currently able to look after this baby, they need to have evidence to support this conclusion.

Even a group of siblings living together with the same parents will be considered individually rather than a blanket assumption being made that they should all be treated the same. The Department of Education has published guidance about how the Children Act works here Because my other children were taken that means they will take any future children as well.Įach and every decision relating to child protection has to be taken individually taking into account all the facts at that time. We also examine the investigation and referral procedures here. We have given an explanation of the key legal processes here. But always remember, even if you find your social worker difficult to work with, it is the court who makes the final decisions, not the social worker. We know that sometimes the working relationship between social workers and parents can break down. Any decision to take a child into care- even for a very short time – has meet the criteria set out in legislation. My social worker has is it in for me and is going to make sure that my child is taken off me.Īll social workers have to work within a clear legal framework and cannot do anything without having a sound legal reason.

Turn up the cheat rachel foster