APPGAP launches its Investing in Families report Westminster

Monday, 15th July marked the launch event of APPGAP’s Investing in Families: the Adoption Support Fund beyond 2020 report. The event, which took place at Portcullis House, Westminster, was opened by Sue Armstrong-Brown, the chief executive of Adoption UK, who stood in for the group’s chair Rachel Maskell. She highlighted that the inquiry received over 1,600 responses from adopters and service providers, and its findings that the ASF has an overwhelmingly positive impact on their lives received cross-party support upon its release.

Alongside her, the Children’s Minister Nadhim Zahawi, Shadow Minister Steve Reed, and adoptive mother Anya Sizer all echoed the importance of the Adoption Support Fund. The Minister welcomed the feedback concerning the ASF’s impact on families’ lives and echoed the report’s view that the ASF should supplement support provided by local authorities. He stated, however, that he could not provide any assurances regarding the future of the ASF ahead of the Autumn Spending review.

The Shadow Minister emphasised the impact support services like the ASF can have in averting problems further down the line such as mental health issues, difficulties in education, unemployment and criminality.

Anya gave her personal account of how the ASF was “a lifeline” for her family when they were in a time of crisis. She highlighted the report’s findings that, despite the ASF’s generally positive impact, there is still room for improvement. She finally stated the rhetorical impact that removing the ASF would have; what message would it send about the importance of adopters if such a significant source of support was removed from them?

The report found that 4 out of 5 adopters that had received the ASF reported that it had a significant positive impact on their children and family situation, and 79% felt that the fund is meeting a need that cannot be found elsewhere. Of the children surveyed, almost 80% felt the support they had received through the ASF “made a huge difference” to their families, and 90% said the support “helped them a lot.”

Along with the speeches and the findings of the report, the meeting room itself was decorated with photographs and quotes from families who had benefited from support accessed via the fund.

The bipartisan message of the day was that the Adoption Support Fund is too important, for families and for wider society, to lose, and that it should therefore be secured at least until 2030.