October 14, 2019
National Adoption Week 2019 begins today and runs until Sunday 20th October. This year’s campaign will focus on the need to find parents for those children who wait longest in care, including sibling groups, older children and those from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
The statistics are stark. Children from BAME backgrounds wait an average of 483 days from entry into care to being adopted – 65 days longer than non-BAME children. For children in a sibling group, the journey to adoption takes on average 495 days; 103 days more than single children. And children aged 5 and over face the longest wait of all, waiting an average of 701 days between entering care and being adopted – a staggering 334 days longer than children aged under 5.*
The latest statistics* from the Adoption & Special Guardianship Leadership Board (ASGLB) also reveal that of the children awaiting adoption:
Andrew Christie, Chair of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board says: “Finding families for some of the most vulnerable children in our country is at the heart of this year’s National Adoption Week campaign.
I urge anyone who has been thinking about adoption to reach out to an adoption agency and talk about what it might mean for you. Please don’t rule yourself out because there is something about you or your family’s circumstances that you think would make you unsuitable – all sorts of people make great adopters!
To those that have adopted a child from care, I want to thank you personally for the commitment and love you bring to parenting some of our most vulnerable children. And, if you know someone that has adopted or someone that is considering adoption, please give them your support.”
SFCS is a voluntary adoption agency (VAA). VAAs offer potential adopters an alternative to adopting through their local authority, placing almost 25% of all children adopted each year in the UK.* Like many VAAs, SFCS is especially committed to finding and supporting families for those children who wait longest for adoption.
We’re delighted to have this opportunity to join together with our colleagues to increase awareness of the children who are waiting for adoption and improve the understanding of what it takes to become an adoptive parent in the UK.
SFCS will be very busy online throughout this week! Across our website, Facebook page and Twitter feed, we’ll be sharing real adoption stories, advice from our adopters, plus a range of films and testimonials.
We are delighted that one of our adoptive parents has agreed to share her family’s adoption story, which will be published on our website later this week. We will also be releasing a series of short films made by one of our adoptive families. They and their children will be busting some of the myths surrounding adoption and encouraging people who may have previously ruled themselves out to consider adoption.
We’ll also be offering potential adopters an opportunity to come and meet us and find out more about adoption. On Saturday 19th October, we will be hosting an adoption information event at 10.30am. You will get to hear from our social workers and adopters, ask any questions you may have, and speak one-to-one with a social worker if you want to.
As always, it will be a busy week for adoption agencies across the country, and you can support our campaign by simply liking, sharing and retweeting anything you see on our website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. And you can add strength to your posts by using the campaign hashtag, #YouCanAdopt.
Thank you so much for your support – we look forward to sharing National Adoption Week 2019 with you!
* All statistics from the latest available quarterly data returns for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board.
Can a person on ssi able to adopt children. It’s been my dream to have a child or children. But I had ovarion cancer lost that dream to have one of my own but I want to be able to love any kid . they are supposed to be loved spoiled.
Can I see picture of all children u have to adopt out or foster out.
Hello Debra,
Thanks very much for dropping us a line. SFCS does not have any children in its care – we are an independent adoption agency, which means we train and support adopters so that they can be approved to adopt children who are currently being looked after by Local Authorities in the UK.
If you have specific questions about how your personal circumstances could affect your chances of adopting, it’s best to get in touch with our social work team on 01908 572700 or email enquiries@sfcs.org.uk. The team are very knowledgeable and will be happy to talk things through with you.
I hope this helps.