Adoption UK statement on Ofsted Report, 'Right on Time: exploring delays in adoption'

4 Apr 2012

Adoption UK’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Pearce, gave the following comments on the publication of Ofsted’s report, Right on Time: exploring delays in adoption:

“The report provides a good insight into the reality of placing children for adoption and recruiting, preparing and assessing adoptive parents to meet the needs of those children. The findings and recommendations chime with many of the points and issues raised by Adoption UK in relation to adopters’ experiences of the system.

“The limited attention paid to longer term support services is not surprising given the report’s focus on the front end of the system. It does re-emphasise the importance of training adopters, however, and how much this is valued by the parents themselves, especially given the parenting challenges presented by children placed for adoption who may be traumatised because of the abuse and neglect early in their lives.

“Feedback from adopters saying that the length of the adopter assessment process is about right when it’s done in line with current statutory timescales’ mirrors what adopters tell Adoption UK – something that’s important to remember when the current government focus is on shortening this process, perhaps to the detriment of well-prepared and trained adoptive parents.

“The hard data provided by the report on the reality of mainstream adoption practice is a useful counterpoint to the misrepresentations and myths that circulate around the adoption process. As Adoption UK has regularly pointed out, issues of overly prescriptive approaches to racial and ethnic matching are not a nationwide issue. While there are pockets of such practice in the country, this is more of a practice matter for specific agencies, requiring training and advice in those localities.”

ends

Ofsted's full report, Right on time: exploring delays in adoption, can be read in full on the Ofsted website.

For further information:

Erika Pennington, Press & PR Officer – erika@adoptionuk.org.uk or 01295 752960