A report said that the debate on the right of parents to smack their children was among factors preventing people from some religious and cultural minorities from adopting. Other problems facing agencies looking for families to adopt black, Asian and mixed parentage children included the concerns of social workers about placing children with individuals with fundamentalist views, and the experiences of racism of potential adopters in other council departments.
Source: Julie Selwyn, Lesley Frazer and Angela Fitzgerald, Finding Adoptive Families for Black, Asian and Black Mixed-Parentage Children, NCH (0845 762 6579)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Sep
The government issued the fourth consultation package of draft regulations and guidance to be made under the Adoption & Children Act 2002. It covered adoption support, expanding the list of services which councils would be expected to maintain, and widening the pool of people entitled to an assessment of their need. (When finalised, the draft regulations and guidance would govern the national framework for adoption support services and provide for the regulation of independent providers of adoption support services in England and Wales.)
Source: Draft Adoption Regulations and Guidance for Consultation: Adoption Support and Adoption Support Agencies, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document (Word file) | Links to appendices
Date: 2004-May
Parents who gave up children for adoption in England would gain a statutory right to trace them once they became adults, under a change in the law proposed by the government.
Source: Draft Adoption Regulations and Guidance for Consultation: Access to Information, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Apr
A report described the activities of the the Looked After Children Taskforce (previously the 'Adoption and Permanence Taskforce'), which works with local councils to improve the planning and commissioning of placements and services for looked after children to improve placement choice and placement stability.
Source: Adoption and Permanence Taskforce - Third Annual Report, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr