The Adoption Support Fund during the Coronavirus pandemic

The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) provides an invaluable source of therapeutic funding for adoptive and some special guardianship families in England. As an APPG, we conducted an inquiry in 2019 which considered the impact that the fund has had on children and their families. We discovered that for many, the ASF had enabled their family to access life-changing support that took them out of crisis and enabled them to be stable again. Our summary report, Investing in Families, highlighted that:

9 out of 10 children and young people said that the support they had received through the fund had helped them a lot.

77% of children and young people reported that the fund had made a huge difference to their family.

The report made several recommendations to the Government about how the fund could be improved, with the overarching call to retain the fund on a long-term basis, recognising the significant impact it has had so far. In December 2019, the Government committed to the fund for a further year, increasing the amount it was providing to families which was a welcome first step.

As the Coronavirus pandemic hit, it became clear that the disruption to normal life, routine and access to services was proving to be particularly challenging for adoptive and special guardianship families who were dealing with needs related to trauma and attachment by themselves at home on a continuous basis. In addition, some elements of support that families might access through schools, social work teams and local support groups either ceased or were significantly reduced as a result of Covid-19, leaving a support void.

In response, the Government took the decision in April 2020 to set up a temporary Covid-19 scheme which allocated up to £8million from the fund to enable families to access forms of support during the crisis that were not previously available. These forms of support included virtual peer support, access to helplines, couples therapy and online counselling.

The temporary Covid-19 scheme has now closed and Baroness Berridge, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Education in the House of Lords outlined that:

“The government acted quickly to establish the Adoption Support Fund Covid-19 Scheme in April 2020 and has provided over £6 million to local authorities and regional adoption agencies to support up to 61,000 families to meet needs arising from the Covid-19 outbreak.”

Response to a Written Question, 13 August 2020

With the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review on the horizon, the APPG is committed to understanding the impact of this temporary extension to the fund in order to inform the representations we make to the Government about the ASF. As such, we will be gathering evidence over the summer from stakeholders, including families.