The Government has announced that the adoptive parents of children who need therapy will be supported by a £19.3m fund from 2015 in a bid to help children who have been neglected and abused after calls for more support for families to ensure that adoptions do not break down.
The Adoption Support Fund was set up after a Lord Committee on Legislation report said that adopted children may have behavioural problems that were not resolved simply by being adopted. The report said inadequate support risked adoption breakdown “and the possible return to care of an already damaged child”.
Commenting on the announcement, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the fund would be a “lifeline” for many adoptive families and said he hoped that it will reassure parents thinking about embarking on the “hugely rewarding journey of adoption”, that if challenges do arise, they will no longer be left alone to cope.
Meanwhile, Committee chairwoman Baroness Butler Sloss described the funding as “very good news”, saying that the fund will go a very long way to provide the help these children need.
Children and Families Minister, Edward Timpson, said that it is a sad fact that children adopted from care have often lived through terrible experiences which do not just simply disappear once they have settled with their new families.
He intends the money to be used for support such as cognitive therapy, music and play therapy and attachment-based therapy in a bid “to ensure that these children have a stable and fulfilling childhood – a fundamental right for every child, no matter what their starting point in life”.