In the wake of the Victoria Climbie case in 2000, greater numbers of children were taken into care, and now Baby P is expected to have a similar knock-on effect.
But while taking a child into care may sometimes be preferable to leaving it with its family, this is by no means an ideal solution. Studies highlight that children in care experience high incidences of mental ill-health and are susceptible to emotional and attachment issues - far more than those who are adopted, for example. Only 1 per cent of children from the care system reach university, compared with around 40 per cent who are adopted.
It is, therefore, of concern that adoption orders in the UK are currently declining. According to statistics from the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), adoption orders in England and Wales dropped from 5,680 in 2002 to 4,980 in 2006. In 2007 it was less than 3,500. In March 2008, out of a total of 59,500 children in the care of local authorities, only 4 per cent were placed for adoption.
Adoption has certainly changed since the days when childless, white, married couples experienced little difficulty in finding white babies to adopt - reflecting in part the parents' preference and in part local authority policy opposing mixed-race adoptions. Most of the children who now need new families have begun life with alcoholic, drug-dependent, abusive or potentially abusive parents. The majority of children awaiting adoption are black, Asian or mixed race, while the majority of available adopters are white.
Finding these children a new family has become an increasingly complex and drawn-out process. For each child in care, local authorities look through their own books for an adopter. But if there is no match in their own pool of parents, then there are funding considerations. Looking further afield and approaching other local authorities to search their waiting lists brings an 'inter-agency' fee. While there is always the aim to provide as much stability for a given child as possible, in reality this is very often impossible.
Committed carers
A child-centred approach to adoption pioneered by children's charity Coram is, however, providing a shining example. In the past eight years Coram has made 50 placements through its Concurrent Planning Project. The children involved have all come from disadvantaged backgrounds and the priority has been to give them the best opportunity to form secure attachments to carers who are committed to them.
As part of the scheme, Coram places babies and children under two years old with carers while plans for their future are being decided by the family court. During this time the children see their birth parents regularly while foster carers maintain care of their children. The project also undertakes parenting assessments for the court, contact supervision, support for birth families and support for the carers.
If the courts decide that the birth parents or other member of the birth family can meet the child's needs, the babies return to their care. The foster carers then have the satisfaction of knowing that they gave these children love and security when they needed it, and helped them to settle back into their own family.
However, a substantial proportion of these young children are unlikely to return home. If the courts decide that their birth family is unable to give them the security and care they need, the children then remain with their caring families and are adopted by them.
All Concurrent Carers have to be approved as adopters and as foster carers by Coram, and when children are first placed they are termed Concurrent Carers.
Acting project manager for Coram Concurrent Planning, Eefke Chasteauneuf, says, 'Most of the children we have placed are doing well and there have been no breakdowns in placement to the process.'
Secure attachments
The project officially started in November 1999 and placed its first child in December 2000. Ms Chasteauneuf says, 'The impetus came from research which showed that even children who come into the care system at an early age experienced huge delay before they were permanently placed and frequently had several changes of placements before being adopted.
'Coram has always been very interested in attachment theory and its adoption team has been actively involved in research. It is very aware of the importance for young children to have the best opportunity to form secure attachments, which is one of the advantages of Concurrent Planning.'
Concurrent Planning carers need to be able to cope with uncertainty - about whether the child will go back to the birth family or whether they will go on to adopt the child. There can also be uncertainty about health and future development, as many children come from a drug or alcohol background.
'Carers will need a good support network,' says Ms Chasteauneuf. 'They need to be able to manage contact and to establish a working relationship with birth families. They need to be robust and flexible, with a sense of optimism and recognition that Concurrent Planning is a positive way forward for the child, whether the outcome is adoption or a return to the birth family.'
Potential applicants attend an information evening and if they are still interested after that, they will meet with a member of the project staff for an initial interview to see whether Concurrent Planning is right for them. This is followed by core preparation groups and Concurrent Planning preparation groups. If the applicants wish to continue, they will be allocated a social worker, who will complete the assessment.
Ms Chasteauneuf says, 'The project genuinely makes a difference to the lives of very young children in the care system. We work hard at supporting our carers and the children's families so everyone gets the best from our service.'
She adds, 'But we need more adults to come forward as carers if we are to give more babies a better chance in life.'
CASE STUDY
With a five-year-old son of their own, Claire and James wanted to adopt a baby and decided to explore all the routes available. It was five years ago that Coram introduced them to the idea of Concurrent Planning.
'We had a series of meetings to help us to fully understand how the project worked,' says Claire. 'The training was very enjoyable and helped us to understand the advantages of concurrent planning. One of the things we really liked was the fact that it takes the burden of uncertainty away from the child and places it with the adults. As adults we have the ability to shoulder uncertainty, whereas a child cannot.
'The training also taught us about attachment theory and how a child is attached to its primary carer by the time it is six months old. The earlier and the more secure a child's placement is, the more likely it is to have a stable, happy life. Disruption to this can have a terrible effect. The fact that the child lives in one home with one family until the decision is taken is a very powerful argument for concurrent planning.
'It was some time before we had a placement. When eventually our son was placed with us, due to his birth family circumstances it looked likely that he would ultimately live with us, but we couldn't relax too much.
'I took my son to see his mother every week - but his contact with her did not develop. We also had separate contact with his father and grandmother, which together made for a fair amount of contact.
'Today, five years later, we are delighted with his progress. He still has contact with his siblings and maternal grandmother. What is really lovely is that through my contact with his mother during the first few months I have letters and photos that I can give to him when he is older. I got on well with his mother and this feels like a good thing.'
FURTHER INFORMATION
- www.coram.org.uk
- www.baaf.org.uk
