Children wait more than a year for adoption

● But Inspectorate report highlights high quality of fostering and adoption

A quarter of all children approved for adoption in Scotland had been waiting for more than a year to be matched with adopters, according to a report from the care watchdog.

But the study also showed the quality of care experienced by children accessing fostering and adoption was high, with 97 per cent graded “good” or better at inspection.

There are many factors that influence the time taken to match children including complex history. The needs of the child and the legal situation often contribute to difficulties for local authorities to match children with a family.

However, authorities are working to address issues to reduce the matching process.

Peter Macleod, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: “Our job is to work closely with local authorities and independent organisations who provide adoption and fostering services.

“From our inspections we know the vast majority of these services perform very well.

“We also know that more high-quality fostering and adoption places are needed for vulnerable children, and too many children are separated from their siblings when a place is found for them.

“It is important that children in care are supported to form permanent and loving relationships as quickly as possible, and an important part of this is almost always maintaining the strong bond between siblings.

“Sisters and brothers are often a great support and comfort at times of crisis, especially for young children.”

The report found that as at 31 March, 2018, some 97 per cent of the 38 inspected adoption services were evaluated as “good” or better across all quality themes.

In December 2017, there were 217 children approved for adoption who were waiting to be matched with approved adopters, down 5 per cent from 228 in 2016. A quarter had been waiting for more than one year.

There were 60 fostering services in Scotland – 32 local authority and 28 voluntary/ not-for-profit.

Labour’s Iain Gray said: “It is vitally important that children going through the care system find permanent and loving homes as soon as possible.

“That’s the message careexperienced people tell politicians and the public every single week.

“It is therefore disappointing to see a quarter of children waiting more than a year for adoption.

“The Scottish Government must look carefully at this report and come back to Parliament with proposals to improve the system for the next generation of young people.”

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “Whilst I understand that it is important to get the right match for children being adopted, a year is a very long time for a child to be left in limbo.

“Stability is crucial for a child’s development and the matching process must be reviewed so that children can be matched with approved adopters sooner.”