Between the financial year April 2012-13, Coram placed the third highest number of children out of all Independent Adoption Agencies in England.
Children placed by Coram benefitted from stability in their adoptive homes, with no placement disruptions.*
Coram Head of Adoption, Jeanne Kaniuk, said that Ofsted’s figures also confirmed that Coram has placed significant numbers of older children: “Nearly half of all the children adopted through Coram were aged between 2 and 5 years old, and just over a quarter were over 5.
“Family finding for older children is extremely important because they typically wait longer for adoption.
“Their need is just as great as that of younger children needing adoption, and time and time again we see older children thrive when placed with the right family.
“There are still 4,000 children in care in great need of a permanent, loving home, so we absolutely urge people considering adoption to come forward.”
This follows news from the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) in November that Coram placed 17% more children in 2012 compared with the previous year.
Coram’s local authority partners
Ofsted has also evaluated local authority adoption services, as well as the independent adoption sector.
Coram was the first Independent Adoption Agency to partner with local authorities on adoption, and today works strategically with Kent, Harrow, Cambridgeshire and Redbridge to share expertise aimed to improve services and place more children with adopters.
In Kent, more children living with adopters received an adoption order than anywhere else in England.**
Kent was praised by Ofsted earlier this year for making ‘significant progress’ in reducing delays in placing children for adoption. 110% more children were placed by Kent with adoptive families in the year 2012-13, compared with 2011-12.
Coram’s Director of Operations and lead for the Kent/Coram partnership, Renuka Jeyarajah-Dent, said: “More children are coming into the care system and in Kent we now need to find adoptive families for 50% more children compared with the previous year.
“Adoption is a life-changing experience which can only succeed when people take the inspirational decision to provide a loving, secure home for a child.
“At Kent, we are open to all enquiries but we particularly want to hear from people with room in their lives for sibling groups of more than one child and older children.”
To view the figures on Ofsted’s website, click here.
* No placement disrupted prior to the final adoption order being made (where the placement was with adoptive families approved by your agency.)
**How many children were subject to a final adoption order (where the adoptive family was approved by your agency (where the adoptive family was approved by the same local authority adoption agency.)
Useful links
Our local authority partnerships Adoption