In April 2021, we wrote an article titled Why the wait which sought to share some understanding about the adoption landscape at the time. Many individuals and families hoping to welcome a child into their family found they were waiting long periods, and weren’t sure why.

At that time, we had seen a large number of prospective adopters approved and waiting for a match with a child whose needs they were able to meet. We also saw the number of children with a Placement Order waiting to be matched had decreased quite significantly, due to a number of factors. We explained what this could mean for children waiting for permanence, what it might mean for prospective adopters and what the impact could be for approved adopters waiting for a match. You can read the whole article from April 2021 here.

Almost two years later, we know that many individuals and families exploring adoption are facing similar circumstances: they find that they’re waiting, and they’re not sure why. Once again, we’d like to shed some light on the current adoption landscape, and share what this could mean, firstly for children but also for individuals and families considering welcoming a child into their family through adoption.

We’ve asked some questions to our Policy and Research Officer at Home for Good, Sam Lomas, who shares some really helpful insight as to why some children and some prospective and approved adopters are still enduring long waits.

In 2021 we found that in many cases, long wait times between approval and matching were due to court proceeding delays related to the pandemic. With lockdown behind us, have those wait times returned to normal?

When we look back on 2021, we saw a dramatic decrease in the number of children who were adopted; this figure fell by 17%. It would appear that long wait times caused by the pandemic are still an issue, given that there has only been a small increase in adoptions (in England) since 2021; the number of children who were adopted from care increased by 2% in 2022.

Although court proceeding delays certainly aren’t helping the issue, there is another reason approved adopters are waiting long periods for a match. A likely reason for long delays is that at the moment, there are more approved adopters than there are children with Placement Orders.

More approved adopters than there are children with Placement Orders – what does that mean?

Recent figures showed that in 2022 there were around 2440 approved adoptive families waiting to be matched, but only 1880 children with a Placement Order who were waiting to be matched with an adoptive family. In short, there are more adopters than there are children waiting to be adopted. What’s really important for us to understand, though, is that of those 1880 children, 1140 have what many in the sector would call ‘hard to place’ characteristics. At Home for Good, we don’t like that phrase; it can make it sound like it’s the fault of the child that they are having to endure instability or long waiting times. Instead, we find it’s better to understand these children as those who wait longer because the right family is harder to find.

So although there are more approved adopters than children with Placement Orders, there are still children waiting for the right family?

Yes. Children aged over five, children who are male, children who are from an Ethnic Minority background, children with a disability and children in a sibling group are among those who wait the longest for the right family to be found for them. Of the 1140 children waiting for an adoptive family in 2022 who were part of this group, 700 children were waiting with a Placement Order for 18 months or more since entering care, and 200 waited 18 months or more since their Placement Order was granted. Because there are fewer families who can meet the needs of these children and offer them the right kind of care, these children continue to wait long periods even though there are approved and prospective adopters who are also waiting to be matched.

Currently there are more approved adopters than there are children waiting to be matched with an adoptive family. Yet there are still huge numbers of children who are waiting too long for stability and permanence because the right family can’t be found for them.

It will never stop feeling like an honour that we at Home for Good get to journey with individuals and families who feel they could open their home to a child or young person in care. Everyone’s story is unique, and we want to ensure that all prospective foster carers, adoptive parents and supported lodgings hosts are well-equipped with all the information and understanding they need to make wise decisions. For those interested in exploring adoption, this information is important.

We have heard from some of the adoption agencies and local authorities that we’re connected with that given the number of prospective adopters already approved and waiting for a match, some adoption teams have had to readjust their recruitment requirements. We know of some enquirers who have been asked to wait until their birth children were well into their primary-school years before applying.

The exception to this is when a prospective adopter may have the capacity to provide the right home and family environment for a child or sibling group who are part of the cohort of children who wait the longest. We’re still seeing a huge openness from adoption teams to explore this with prospective adopters and they will usually be very keen to undertake assessments in this case.

But for prospective adopters who don’t feel they can meet the needs of a child among those who wait the longest, there may not be scope for you to begin the assessment process. This isn’t necessarily the case everywhere, so we would really recommend that you gather a clear idea of what the story is in your local area. If you haven’t already, contact the Home for Good enquiry team who would love to journey with you as you consider your next steps.

It's important for us to remember that while adoption can offer stability and permanence, it’s not the right outcome for every child in care; in fact, in every nation in the UK, only a small number of children who leave care are adopted. And right across the UK, there is a huge and urgent need for more foster carers, and supported lodgings remains under-recognised and underutilised.

At Home for Good, our vision is that the right home be found for children and young people at the soonest possible moment. We will continue to raise awareness of the need for foster carers, the need for adoptive parents who can care for those children who wait the longest, and the potential we believe supported lodgings has to offer young people the support they need as they step towards adulthood. You can support this work by donating to our urgent appeal here.

References:
Department for Education. 2022. Children looked after in England including adoptions. Available online.
Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board. 2022. Headline Measures: Q2 2022/23. Available online.