£215,000 has been awarded to the National Adoption Service to improve and develop adoption support services in Wales.
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
The funding was announced at the start of National Adoption Week, which aims to raise awareness of adoption and in particular the need to find adopters for sibling groups.
£90,000 from the Children and Communities budget in 2018/19 will fund recruitment campaigns which will focus on finding families for those who find it harder to find adoptive homes such as sibling groups and older children awaiting adoption and continue the development of a national support framework for adoptive families.
Recurring funding of £125,000 from the Social Services budget will be used to recruit, train and provide materials for “life journey champions” to support children through their adoption and to recruit a national implementation champion who will work to ensure that the new adoption support framework is implemented consistently across the country.
Children and Communities Secretary Carl Sargeant said:
“Adoption provides vulnerable children with a loving family and with the stability and security that all children deserve. I am delighted to provide the National Adoption Service with this funding to help strengthen adoption services to improve the life chances of these children.”
Minister for Social Services, Rebecca Evans, said:
“Ensuring adopted children and their families get the support they need to adjust to their new lives is vitally important. This funding, which will support life journey champions and ensure that the new adoption support framework is delivered consistently across Wales, will help to make a positive difference to the lives of adopted children and their families."
Welcoming today’s announcement, Suzanne Griffiths, director of operations for the National Adoption Service for Wales, said:
“This year’s Adoption Week celebrates brothers and sisters, and this new funding is very timely for that campaign.
“With 62% of children currently waiting for families being part of a sibling group of 2 or more, it has never been more important to recruit adopters able to keep brothers and sisters together.
“Alongside that grant, the recurring funding will enable us to continue to improve adoption support services across Wales and ensure that every child in Wales placed for adoption will have good quality life journey work.
"This new funding will enable us to fundamentally review and strengthen important aspects of the adoption journey.”