Adoption: Ethnic Groups

(asked on 14th October 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the adoption of children (a) from BAME backgrounds and (b) over the age of five.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 17th October 2019

The government has invested £645,000 to boost adoption recruitment during 2019-20. We have funded the sector through the National Adoption Recruitment Steering Group, which has run both the National Adoption Week campaign and wider recruitment projects to target potential adopters in their areas for the children they have waiting. This will include children from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and children over the age of 5. Part of this work has included work with churches and mosques to encourage adopters from a range of different backgrounds.

We are commissioning behavioural insights research to better understand the motivations and barriers for people who are interested in becoming foster carers or adopters. This piece of work is focused on wider recruitment but should give us insight into how we better engage adopters for children who are harder to place.

In addition, at a recent No 10 roundtable, I gave commitments that the department will be:

  • Exploring through the Adoption & Special Guardianship Leadership Board decision making at Local Authority level and reported barriers to BAME families becoming adopters;

  • Reviewing how we can improve support in schools and in particular how designated teachers for adopted children and Virtual School Heads can best support adopted BAME children;

  • Improving working with BAME stakeholders, to ensure their viewpoints are included in policy development and implementation;

  • Asking Regional Adoption Agencies to create a national BAME recruitment strategy in collaboration with key stakeholders such as the voluntary sector organisation Homes for Good; and

  • Considering how best to ensure all their frontline social workers understand the law and are supportive of BAME families coming forward to adopt.

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