Watch Victoria Prentis, Conservative MP for Banbury, discuss the continuation of the Adoption Support Fund in the House of Commons, Tuesday 16th July 2019

 The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) became available to adopters throughout in England in May 2015. The fund was established in recognition of the fact that many adoptive families needed some form of therapeutic support.

At APPGAP’s inaugural meeting in February 2019, it was decided that the group’s first inquiry would look at the ASF and the future of post-adoption support in England. This decision was taken because of the uncertainty that surrounded the future of support for families. You can read the inquiry’s terms of reference here.

The inquiry opened in April and received a total of 1,600 written responses from families and relevant professionals. This was followed by two oral evidence sessions held in Parliament in May, with APPGAP members hearing from two diverse panels of witnesses to help inform the inquiry. You read minutes from the two evidence sessions here.

The inquiry’s key findings and recommendations have now been published in APPGAP’s maiden report:-

Investing in Families: the future of the Adoption Support Fund beyond 2020.

The report calls for the government to commit to delivering the fund until 2030. It also recommends that the size of the fund be increased to meet rising demand for therapeutic services among adoptive and special guardianship families.