The global economic downturn has affected families in myriad ways -- including, according to a Jan. 8 article on thevisitor.co.uk, making it more difficult for parents to adopt:

According to Adoption Matter Northwest, potential adopters, including some who have already signed up for preparation groups, are having second thoughts, with some withdrawing their interest altogether.

The agency reports that 10 percent of those enquiring about becoming adoptive parents over the last six months subsequently pulled out. ...

Agency chief executive Norman Goodwin said: "We completely understand people's concerns and reasons but it's still bad news for the 4,000 children across the UK who are waiting for the opportunity of a fresh start with a new family."

Labels: UK, economy, adoption costs

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The United Kingdom childrens charity Coram has pioneered a unique adoption system designed to help at-risk women and their children. Called concurrent planning, the plan places newborns with a potential adoptive family within days of the birth, while providing the birth mother with the support she needs.

A Nov. 2 article on the British news website TimesOnline provided the following details about the effort:

Concurrent planning runs for up to one year, during which the baby is cared for by the adoptive family while the natural mother is given a chance to turn her life around and show she could look after the child.

Unusually, the prospective adoptive parents agree regularly to bring the baby to see the mother up to five times a week so that the relationship can be maintained.

The charity offers the mother intensive support during this time to give her the best possible chance to sort out her problems. At the end of the year, if social workers judge she still poses a risk to the child, the adoption goes ahead immediately.

Labels: international, UK

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In 2000, Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced new "reward grants" in an attempt to increase the number of domestic adoptions taking place in the United Kingdom. Though adoptions have increased, they've increase so dramatically that many government officials are asking for an explanation.

"Critics say very young children are specifically selected - even before birth - by social workers to get the bonuses. It is believed that 1,000 each year are wrongly taken from their parents."

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming has called the practice "social engineering". So many babies are being taken from mothers and families that there are not enough foster parents to care for them.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk.

Labels: UK, adoption_policy, critics

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