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BAAF comment on today's High Court ruling re the Essex County Council adoption case
Issued: 18 December 02
This press release applies to England
Leading adoption charity BAAF Adoption & Fostering (the British Association for Adoption and Fostering) today commented as follows on the High Court ruling re the Essex County Council adoption case.
Felicity Collier, BAAF's Chief Executive, says:
“This case highlights how challenging it can be to adopt children who have had distressing pasts. It demonstrates how important it is to prepare adopters for the task ahead and also to provide them with ongoing support. We must remember however that most adoptions are remarkably successful and it would be very sad if this case discouraged people from coming forward to adopt children who are currently waiting for families.”
“We believe that it is in everyone's interests that adoptive parents have as much information as possible about a child?s background so that they can make an informed decision about whether to proceed with an adoption. This is a legal requirement and we believe that this information is now provided as a matter of course across the country. It is also a key principle in the new Adoption and Children Act 2002.”
“But we must remember that social workers do not always know everything that has happened to a child before they come into local authority care. While every effort is made to establish a full picture of a child?s background, it is often only after children feel settled and secure in their new family that they begin to speak about the traumas they have experienced.”
“Sadly, in situations like these there are no winners but we must learn from this case and it will have important implications for how adoptions are managed in the future. Agencies may need to consider more carefully how they give adopters information and also how they ensure that this information has been fully taken in and understood by prospective adoptive parents. Equally it is important that local authorities continue to take brave decisions that allow our most disavantaged children the security and opportunity that adoption provides by giving them a permanent and loving family.”
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Lucy Handford, Media Assistant, 020 7593 2054
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