APPGAP responds to Department for Education Consultation on Coronavirus Regulations

In response to evidence provided to the APPG for Adoption and Permanence at a recent one-off session, the APPG has submitted evidence to a consultation issued by the Department for Education regarding the Adoption and Children’s (Coronavirus) (Amendments) Regulations issued during the pandemic. While the majority of the regulations introduced have been used sparingly, the Government is considering extending the use of three of the relaxations, including those which allow prospective adoptive families to proceed into Stage 2 without a medical check, although they cannot be approved at the end of Stage 2 until a medical check has been completed.

Our response to the consultation is as follows:

Around 3,500 children in England leave the care system through adoption every year. We know that many of these children already wait too long to find an adoptive family, with the latest statistics demonstrating that 41% have waited more than 18 months already. It is widely agreed that the increased pressures felt by families because of Covid-19 are likely to result in a spike in children entering the care system as schools return. It is imperative to mitigate against delays in adoption, recognizing that many children already wait far too long already. However, not only do delays in the adoption system result in children waiting longer and experiencing delayed stability in their lives, but also places greater pressures on the care system itself who will be continuing to care for children who should have left the system through adoption, while new children concurrently enter the system. We anticipate that the stream of children entering the system is likely to increase in September as schools return and children who may have experienced abuse or neglect become more visible to professionals again. Without adoptive families approved and ready to welcome children for whom adoption is the right decision, many of the children who had an adoption decision before Covid-19 will be unable to leave the care system and join their forever family.

We welcome the intention behind the regulations to minimize delays in the adoption system, recognizing that children waiting to be adopted are among our nation’s most vulnerable. We must do everything we can to ensure stability and permanence for them in a timely manner. The APPG for Adoption and Permanence held two one-off sessions which considered the impact of Covid-19 on adoptive families and other permanence arrangements. The first session focused on education and home-learning, with the second session considering the impact on families’ journeys towards adoption and the subsequent impact on children waiting.

We heard from our expert witnesses that Covid-19 was causing delay and disruption to the journeys of many prospective adoptive families. We recognize that the flexibility provided by the regulations which postponed the requirement of medical checks until the end of Stage 2, rather than at the end of Stage 1, allowed many adopters to proceed through the process into Stage 2 where they otherwise might not have been able to. However, the burden of risk falls onto agencies and local authorities as discovering medical grounds for disqualification towards the very end of the process, when significant resources and time over many months have already been invested into prospective adopters, can be frustrating for both the agency and the family itself. As such, the APPG heard from adoptive families who were required to have their medical records transferred across to their agency from their GP at the end of Stage 1 to reduce the likelihood of this late disappointment occurring. But families have found this requirement to add further delay to their journey anyway, thereby working against the intention of the flexibilities to minimize delays. The Government should issue guidance to agencies and authorities addressing such practice.

In addition to the above, Maggie Jones from Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) shared that while the postponement of medical checks was helpful to some extent, the lengthy nature of the pandemic has caused a pile-up of families at this later point in the system. She described this as a “considerable worry”. While prospective adopters were able to move onto Stage 2 because of the flexibilities, there now exists a backlog of prospective adopters who are stuck at the end of Stage 2 and unable to proceed to Panel, because they remain unable to get a medical check. Therefore, while the flexibilities are welcome for their focus on mitigating against delays and subsequent children waiting, the flexibilities do not protect against delays altogether, with delays manifesting at the end of the process, rather than the end of Stage 1.

We support the continued use of flexibilities allowing prospective adoptive families to proceed to Stage 2 without having a medical check completed, recognising that we must do everything possible to combat delays for children finding their adoptive family. However, we would call on the Government to encourage local authorities and agencies to communicate clearly to families about the risks of continuing further through the process without this element approved, including the possibility of late disqualification from the process and subsequent emotional toil this may induce. This should be outlined in Government-issued guidance to local authorities and agencies.

We recognise the high emotional stakes of journeying through the adoption approval and assessment process. As such, in addition to the above, we further recommend that where possible, local authorities and agencies be encouraged to complete medical checks at the soonest available moment if prospective adoptive families proceed to Stage 2 without a completed medical check. The intention here is to prevent, as far as possible, unnecessary disappointment for prospective adoptive families who have travelled through the extensive adoption approval process only to be disqualified as a result of the medical check at a very late stage. We would encourage the Government to outline this recommendation to local authorities and agencies through guidance.  

For further information, please contact the Secretariat at info@appgap.org.uk