On Monday 15 July, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Adoption and Permanence published their first report ‘Investing in Families: The Adoption Support Fund beyond 2020’. The report summarises the findings of a three-month inquiry into the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) by a cross-party group of Parliamentarians. The report incorporates the views of more than 1600 young people, families, guardians, social workers and practitioners consulted through the inquiry. Secretariat to the group is provided by charities Home for Good and Adoption UK.

The ASF enables adoptive and some special guardianship families to access therapeutic support and is currently only guaranteed up to July 2020. In its lifetime of four years, the fund has enabled 38,000 families to access support and is described within the report by families as “life-changing” and “transformative”. The overarching message of this report is that the Government should continue the fund beyond 2020 on a longer-term basis to enable many more families to receive the therapeutic support they need.

Alongside making the case for the fund to be continued, the report also outlines some of the fund’s challenges, which emerged from the large-scale consultation held by the APPG and the two oral evidence sessions conducted in Parliament. The report goes on to make recommendations to Government to address these elements, including timeliness, administration, enabling continuity of support, eligibility and clinical input. The full report and its recommendations are available here.

The report was launched in Parliament on Monday 15 July where Parliamentarians were invited to receive a copy and learn more about the findings and recommendations from adoptive parents, special guardians and representatives from the sector. A creative installation showcasing the views of families, young people and carers served as a reminder to guests of the real lives impacted and affected by the fund.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Children and Families Nadhim Zahawi, praised the report saying: “It is great to hear that the fund has been life changing to many [of these children] and their families. The report adds to our knowledge of how the fund has helped and what we can do to improve it… The APPG has identified a number of areas for improvement and I want to assure you that these will be considered carefully over the coming months.”

Phil Green, CEO at Home for Good commented on the report, saying “Adoptive families and special guardians have told us that the fund has made a huge difference to them, but we recognise that it has the potential to achieve much more. The report published today makes a strong case for the fund to be retained and also outlines specific recommendations on how the fund can be improved to ensure that the support truly enables adoptive and special guardianship families to thrive.”

For more information about this report or the APPG for Adoption and Permanence, please contact our Policy and Research Officer, Natalie, at [email protected]