Adoption and Looked After Children

The Children and Families Bill would change the law relating to adoption and children looked after by local authorities.

Key provisions include, but are not limited to:

  • Clause 1 introduces a duty on local authorities to consider a "Fostering for Adoption" placement for looked after children for whom they are considering adoption.
  • Clause 2 removes the explicit legal wording requiring adoption agencies to give due consideration to religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background when matching children with prospective adopters.
  • Clauses 7 and 8 make changes to local authorities’ and courts’ approach to allowing contact between looked after and adopted children and their birth families and certain others.

MPs are particularly interested in your comments on the practical implications of specific clauses of the Bill. Please make clear whether your comment relates to a specific clause.

This forum is now closed.

109 Responses to Adoption

A B says:
February 26, 2013 at 12:23 AM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
My experience in this field is extensive - I have assessed more than 500 family/parent cases mostly cases with Black children. It is known that there is a massive excess of these children (X5).There is little doubt that many of them did not feel loved and wanted and this feature was most likely in trans-racial placements. One very tragic outcome of permanent removal is suicide. On follow-up the evidence suggests that this outcome can be avoided by alternatives to draconian attempts of placement like trans-racial placements.The options may not be extensive but there is no virtue in desperation without due consideration.
nicole g says:
February 26, 2013 at 12:04 AM
Subject: Clauses 1-6 Adoption
we said NO to the removol of due consideration of race for children adoption
Rume says:
February 25, 2013 at 11:27 PM
Subject: Clauses 1-6 Adoption
It would be detrimental to the wellbeing of the child to remove the clause (2)
In subsection (5) (due consideration to be given to religious persuasion, racial
origin and cultural and linguistic background). As a former transcultural placement, I am keenly aware of the role that race and culture can have in bolstering the identity and confidence of a child and how the abscence of such elements can have a profound and debilitating effect. 'Due regard' is a safeguard for children like myself who might in exceptional situations be placed in trans cultural and trans racial placements. What I think would be of great benefit is to provide support to carers that are faced in the short term with the 'exceptional circumstance' of caring for a trans racial/ cultural placement by helping them engage and helping the child engage with culture (s) of origin. This can range from exploring foods to travelling to countries of ancestry, to being given direction on how to manage the type of skin/hair of the child.
Princess B says:
February 25, 2013 at 10:56 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
WE SAY NO TO THE REMOVAL OF 'DUE CONSIDERATION' OF RACE, ETHNICITY, RELIGION AND LANGUAGE IN CHILD ADOPTION.
Shabaka A says:
February 25, 2013 at 10:44 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
I urge the government to reconsider its decision to amend this bill and then abandon this exercise, as if the government were to proceed with it that will be an ill perpetrated on these children with malice of forethought. It is of great important that children of different human groups should live and grow up amongst their own kind, so they can be infected with their own values, customs and tradition. For example, children of Chinese, European, African and Indian-Asian group should live amongst their respect kind. A lion cub is best suited to live with lions, instead of other members of the cat families. No amount of "love" will suffice for this basic necessity.
S.Z says:
February 25, 2013 at 10:32 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
As a foster carer looking after children from all backgrounds I am troubled by clause 2 of the Act. Whilst children that were placed with me were not from my ethnic background,I am also supported by the professionals as well as the certainty of established contact with the birth family which is crucial for the child's emotional and psychological development and future personality. Essentially as a foster carer you are prepared for the task of looking after a child who is in the middle of a child protection case with complex needs which is very different from an adopter who are looking for a replacement child for their family. I cannot see how it is in the best interests of the child to further compound their bewilderment and feelings of loss of the birth family, their foster family by then placing them in a family very unlike their own. The lives of these children are not business processes that need to be turned over as soon as possible. The children are the ones that will live to struggle with their identity and most importantly the denial of their history.
There needs to be more joined up working in recruiting adopters rather than placing a false sense of optimism in clause 2.
To sum up, I heard on a training course that 'You can take a child out of the family but you cant take the family out of a child.
Lawei B says:
February 25, 2013 at 10:18 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
Being an adopted black child myself, living in England I feel it is imperitive to place children within their cultural & ethnic setting! I feel this way because if a child is withdrawn from their culture or prevented from being raised without it, they become exposed to a high risk of not knowing or understanding where they actually come from, yes love and care can still be provided, however an authentic representation of original culture is key.
Ayanna says:
February 25, 2013 at 08:33 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
My family and i disagree with the governments plan, as we believe that it will have an overall negative impact on the children. There are many reasons why families fail. however it is always necessary to attempt to maintain a child's link to its own cultural, spiritual and racial background. The proposals are shortsighted and tend to make it more difficult for "minority" communities to participate in the adoption process. We are already vetted by people who lack a full awareness of our culture.
bilkis says:
February 25, 2013 at 06:02 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
I feel strongly about clause 2 being removed as a child's background is an integral part of their identity. Giving agencies the opportunity to disregard the clause will lead to unstable and unbalanced young people. Agencies should therefore continue to take careful consideration of aspects mentioned in clause 2.
Jo P says:
February 25, 2013 at 04:31 PM
Subject: General comment on Adoption clauses
I have 38 years experience working with children and families in the LA including 10 years as a Children's Guardian.
The complete removal of section 5 consideration of the child's religious, ethnic, cultural and linguistic needs is unnecessary and conflicts with the section 4 detail on the child's individual needs. Surely what is required is a rewording of section 5 that provides for placement
to be made following assessment and prioritisation of the individual child's needs that can be met within a timescale appropriate to the child.
Re: section 5 post adoption support. The provision has been in place since ACA 2002 but the reported experience is that adopters continue to struggle to obtain the support services their adopted children require. I would like to see a requirement for the LA to actively promote these services through publications and advertisements in health centres, early years centres and libraries.
Re: section 128A surely prospective adopters should be 'approved' rather than 'suitable'. Why should they have to pay? This should be a joint enterprise with the adoption agency or a service that they should receive from the agency.

Related information

What is Public Reading?


Public Reading is an initiative to give members of the public the opportunity to provide their views on Bills before they are made into law. This is the first Public Reading to be run by the House of Commons and is a pilot of the process. Comments on the Bill will be made available to the Committee of MPs responsible for examining the Bill in detail so that they can take them into account when deciding whether to make changes to the Bill.

About the Children and Families Bill


The Children and Families Bill contains provisions to change the law in several areas relating to children and families.

Explanatory Notes


The Government publishes explanatory notes alongside a Bill to assist readers in understanding the proposed legislation

Additional Comments?


Comments on areas not covered by the listed Bill topics, or broader comments on the Bill as a whole (including anything that you think should have been included in the Bill but is not) should be posted as an additional comment. As this Public Reading is a pilot, we are also keen to hear your views on the public reading process itself.

Public Bill Committees


A Bill Committee is appointed for each Bill that goes through Parliament and is named after the Bill it considers. Public Bill Committees have the power to take written and oral evidence. The Committee examines the Bill line by line and reports its conclusions and any amendments to the Commons, where MPs debate the Bill further.

Pre-legislative Scrutiny


Some provisions in the Children and Families Bill were published in draft form last year so that MPs could scrutinise them and recommend changes to be made before the Bill itself was introduced to Parliament. Four different Committees from the House of Commons and the House of Lords examined draft clauses.