This news is about the children in care, their adoption, the analysis of fall in adoption, and the effects of Covid in this process. Based on the UK Government statistics, only 3,440 children out of 80,080 children in care have been adopted since 31 March 2020. However, this number was 5,360 in 2015 in England. What is the reason for this situation? According to Margaret Reynolds-the author, these changes in number related to the following factors:
- The amendments in a review of the adoption system in 2015 such as support for adopters and – reflecting changing attitudes – broadening the field of prospective adopters to include single parents and the LGBTQ+ community.
- The significant adoption reform programme in 2011 and its support by experts and organizations.
- The appearance of special guardianship orders (SGOs) give approved carers a greater share of parental responsibility (but not a complete transfer, as with adoption) and can be delegated to family members other than parents.
- The changes in preference of the parent candidates toward choosing to have birth children and see adoption as a last resort.
The author also empathized the situation with children who have no relations for safely caring. In this situation, Link Maker is an online service matching potential parents with those released for adoption. However, there also appears to be a problem especially with over the age of three, differently-abled, with special needs, a sibling, or from a black and minority ethnic background.
According to the writer, all these obstacles have to be solved and mustn’t stop parents while there are many children who are very sad because they have no family who can safely care for them. As the poet, Lemn Sissay’s citing Superman Was a Foundling.