In the article, Dr Carol Homden said: “It may be only relatively few children, but these are the ones that agencies need all the help with that they can get. They are the ones left behind.”
The Adoption Register holds the details of children waiting to be adopted and details of approved adopters waiting to be matched with a child. For many children who are more difficult to place – often those with additional needs, developmental uncertainty or in sibling groups – the specialist child-led searching of the Adoption Register by a dedicated team in Leeds has provided a safety net for over 15 years.
The Department for Education has communicated that the Adoption Register will be suspended for an indeterminate period from 29 March 2019, while future needs across adoption and fostering are considered.
In the Guardian, Dr Homden raises concerns about the impact of the Adoption Register’s closure on the most vulnerable children in our society at a time when the gap between available adopters and children on the Register is the “biggest that anyone can recall.”
Listen to Dr Homden’s interview on the Adoption Register on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme
Dr Homden comments on the closure of the Adoption Register in Sky News
A family who were matched through the Adoption Register share their story for Sky News
Find out more about the suspension of the Adoption Register
Read Coram-i’s new analysis on the impact of the Adoption Register