David Cameron has announced plans to pass new laws encouraging adoption in a bid to improve the chances of in social care.
Writing in the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister said that vulnerable children had been let down by society “for too long” and promised “zero tolerance” or state failure around social care.
New laws will encourage the permanent adoption of children by foster carers, even if that means overriding family relations.
“Courts and social workers have begun to favour less stable placements with distant relatives such as great-aunts and uncles, rather than adoption by new families that would produce more permanent solutions and better outcomes,” he said, adding that adoption numbers have almost halved over the past two years as a result.
The government will outline the plans in the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday, when new laws awaiting approval will be announced for the next year.
In March it was announced that children taken into care would be fast-tracked into permanent away from their natural parents if it was deemed to be in the child’s best interest.
Currently it can take up to 18 months for children to be in care to be adopted – a time scale ministers admit is too long.
In his article, Mr Cameron wrote that he was “unashamedly pro-adoption”.
He said: “We will legislate to tip the balance in favour of permanent adoption where that is the right thing for the child — even when that means over-riding family ties. This is a vital move that will mean much greater importance is attached to the long-term stability and better outcomes that it can offer.”
Furthermore, the new legislation will introduce a care-leavers’ covenant. This will mean more personalised help for those leaving state care, providing care-leavers with a mentor until they are 25.
Reforms will also set “new, demanding standards” for all child and family social workers to meet by 2020, with a new regulator introduced to oversee the care system.
According to government statistics, a third of people who have been in care become homeless in the two years immediately after they leave.
Almost half of children and young people in care are said to have a diagnosable mental health disorder compared with around one in 10 children who are not.
Emma Smale, Co-Chair for the Alliance for Children in Care, said: “Investment in monitoring [care] outcomes is vital and we want to see the introduction of the measurement of children’s emotional wellbeing. This will help ensure that the system recognises the long lasting impact of traumatic experiences and help towards giving children in care the future they deserve.”
