Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Education
Monica Harding
Main Page: Monica Harding (Liberal Democrat - Esher and Walton)Department Debates - View all Monica Harding's debates with the Department for Education
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund
Monica Harding Excerpts(2 days, 10 hours ago)
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Janet Daby
There are many families, people or couples who wish to adopt, and I encourage them still to consider including a child in their family and in their life. I will also say, as I have said before, that local authorities have a duty to support adopted children, and no adoptive person or couple should ever not adopt for financial reasons. Obviously, they also undertake an assessment to make sure they are suitable.
Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)
The Sensory Smart Child in my constituency does fantastic work providing vital therapies for 115 adopted children and their parents, but 77 of those children were unable to secure a temporary extension in support while the Government considered the future of the adoption fund, and that caused huge trauma for the families. I welcome today’s announcement, but can the Minister guarantee future funding? Will she also acknowledge that such therapies fill huge gaps but barely touch the sides in mental health and special educational needs provision in schools, which is not funded properly? I hope that the comprehensive spending review will look at this properly and fund it better.
Janet Daby
I think I have already answered that question, but I say again that there are many excellent therapies out there that are absolutely necessary for children, and that children from all backgrounds and lifestyles benefit from. I absolutely appreciate the work that is done for children in our country.