Jeanne Kaniuk OBE, Managing Director of Coram’s adoption services, said:
“Children in the care system are there because they have experienced profound adversity and damage. We commend the courage of the Government in ensuring that legislation strengthens these children’s entitlement to lifelong stability and need for reparative parenting in decisions around where they should live.
“We therefore encourage government to enable more direct access to the Adoption Support Fund 1 and review the level of the Inter-agency Fee 2 to reflect the reality of providing the highest quality and consistency of services to adopters and children – no matter where they live or which kind of agency/service is supporting them.”
Media contact:
For further information or to speak to a Coram spokesperson and/or arrange filming please contact Kate Summerside.
Notes to editors:
1: The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) was introduced by the Government to address the therapeutic support needs of families following adoption. Interventions funded include creative therapies, theraplay and therapeutic parent training. Find out more at First4Adoption.
2: The Inter-agency Feeis paid to local authorities and adoption agencies when they have successfully found a family for a child. The fee supports prospective adopters during the approval stage, prepares them for the adoption of their child and helps families to initially settle and bond.
3: About Coram
Coram, the UK’s oldest children’s charity and outstanding adoption agency has been finding new ways to help children for 275 years. In 2015, we will touch the lives of a million children in the UK. Coram equips young people with the skills they need to make healthy life choices; supports their voice if they are in the care system and not being heard; and gives them the confidence they need to make their way in the world.