Adoption system flawed and needs overhaul warns charity

Annual survey reveals a continued failure to understand and meet the lifelong needs of adopted people

Today’s disjointed adoption system is not fit for purpose and needs a radical rethink, warns leading adoption charity Adoption UK as it unveils the findings of its seventh national adoption survey.

Adoption is a vital alternative for children who are unable to safely grow up with their birth family. But this year’s Adoption Barometer reveals yet another year of significant failures by the government and the sector to provide the lifelong support needed to address the impact of abuse, trauma, loss, and neglect that adoptees have experienced.

Adoption UK says that the adoption system frontloads attention on finding adoptive families for children but then neglects the long-term support most adoptees need to thrive once adopted. With a longer view and more strategic, joined-up planning between adoption and other public services, there are opportunities for money to work harder and outcomes for adoptees to be better, the charity insists.

With falling numbers of prospective adopters coming forward and growing numbers of children growing up in care, fixing adoption support would also reassure people considering adoption to come forward.

According to the Adoption Barometer, more than three-quarters (77%) of adoptive parents in England say support is hard to find once their child has joined their family. This is a growing battle as the child gets older, meaning the challenges become more complex, serious, and lasting.

Many adult adoptees are having to live with the significant consequences of poor support earlier in their lives and the ongoing impact of adoption as they get older, with support for adults almost non-existent.

Across the UK, nine out of ten (90%) adopted teenagers and young adults have sought help with their mental health, with only 29% feeling that support from CAMHS made a positive difference. Over a quarter (29%) of adoptees in England aged between 16 and 25 years old are not in education or training – more than double the national average.

Just 16% of adult adoptees say there is an appropriate range of counselling and therapeutic services, even though 72% have sought counselling, therapy, or mental health support. There are additional hurdles including lack of support for accessing personal adoption records and for tracing and reunion with birth families.

CEO Emily Frith said: “The system is still based on the fallacy that being adopted is the fairy-tale ending. But it is only the beginning of the story for children who have faced incredibly traumatic starts in life and who must grow up away from their birth families.

Despite consistent evidence of the lifelong challenges for adopted people, most families tell us that help evaporates as their child gets older, and adoptees say support is virtually non-existent in adulthood. “Many of those now entering adulthood were children when the Barometer first began. It’s tragic that there have been so many missed opportunities to help them reach their potential and put support in place for them as adult adoptees. We urgently need to start building an adoption system that delivers lifelong support.”

Clinical Psychologist Dr. Chris Tennyson is an adoptee with firsthand experience of the lifelong impact of adoption. He says: “Adoption touches every part of a person’s life – our identity, relationships, health, and how we make sense of who we are.

“Working closely with adoptees, public services, and governments have an opportunity to reshape how they work, not only to better support adopted adults but to strengthen the systems around children being adopted today. Improving support for adopted adults is not separate from helping today’s children. It is part of the same long-term solution. If we want adopted children to grow into thriving adults, we must start by listening to those who already have.”

Despite a manifesto commitment to adoption, the government has so far failed to deliver. It has even rowed back on existing support in shock 40% cuts to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), a vital fund for therapeutic help, causing widespread anger and distress among families who say the Fund has been transformational for their children.

Of those who had accessed the Fund, 85% of parents responding to the Barometer had seen a positive impact. The ASGSF has been confirmed for next year, but with no clarity yet about funding levels. Good progress is being made in some parts of the adoption system, for example, with early support planning, and provision of core adoption support such as support groups, general training, and advice.

But to deliver lifelong support, the system needs radical change and accountability. Pressures on other public services mean reform of the adoption system is more urgent than ever. A squeeze on government spending and spiralling demand for support in mental health and special educational needs is putting huge pressure on adoptive families, who often rely heavily on these services.

This year’s Adoption Barometer reveals: Only two-thirds (66%) of adoptive parents say they feel optimistic about their family’s future – fewer than in any previous Adoption Barometer report. 65% of parents reported experiencing violence in the home due to their child’s difficulties in regulating their emotions and actions because of the trauma they have experienced.

More than eight out of ten (84%) parents believe their adopted child needs more support in school than their peers. This is backed up by Government evidence of a gap in GCSEs between adopted children and their peers. More than half (57%) of adult adoptees do not feel they have the information they need about their early lives or their adoption.

Adoption UK is calling for an independent review of adoption support in England, leading to a new national adoption strategy. It says investing in reliable lifelong support will ensure adoptees can reach their potential as well as saving the government money.

There are also some simple, inexpensive steps, like ensuring health and education professionals have adequate training about the impact of early childhood trauma, creating new national guidance on contact with birth families, and setting up adoptee reference groups to advise on government policy relating to adoption.

Among the recommendations, the charity is calling for: Robust support plans that are regularly reviewed, particularly at moments of major change, such as the move between primary and secondary school and the transition to adulthood.

Training for health and education professionals from the start of their careers to equip them to understand and meet the needs of the adoptees they will be expected to support. Ring-fenced, permanent funding for well-evidenced therapeutic support for adoptees of all ages, combined with opportunities for adoptees to connect with each other for mutual support.

Reliable support for adult adoptees to access personal adoption records, connect with birth families, and be able to access the health treatment they need even if their family medical history is unknown.

The picture used is AI