Dr Carol Homden, CBE, Chief Executive of Coram and member of the Board said:
“The work which has been undertaken under the Government’s Adoption Reform Programme has been transformational. We have seen greater numbers of children than ever before afforded the permanency that being adopted by loving forever families brings. It has to be a concern to us all if, for whatever reason, there is a reduction in Placement Orders. Best practice shows what’s possible to achieve through robust and timely co-operative working.
Doing everything possible to ensure the best start for very vulnerable children and exploring all the options available, particularly in the critical early years, is something of which Coram has many years expertise. Through our Concurrent Planning scheme we work with agencies, including the court system, who are supporting very young children. This scheme enables options to keep a family together to be robustly explored whilst plans for fostering a child with the possibility of adoption by the same carer can be implemented.
We wholeheartedly welcome the clarification provided by the “myth-busting” guidance and trust it will give social workers planning care for looked after children the confidence to present the courts with a care plan for adoption if robust process shows it is the right course. There are 6,000 children currently waiting to be adopted and a constantly high number are in care proceedings. It is therefore fundamental that all professionals who have a role in making decisions about these children put their welfare first.”