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Phone line and map to help adopters
Would-be adopters are being supported by a new phone line and a map showing numbers of children in England waiting to be adopted.
The new telephone information line, contactable on 0300 222 0022, opens today and is staffed by adopters. It will help potential adopters navigate the process of adopting a child by providing:
- an authoritative single source of advice and information on adoption;
- signposting to local authority and Voluntary Adoption Agencies; and
- information about the entitlements to support that adoptive parents have.
The recent announcements are part of the package of reforms set out by the Prime Minister last year to overhaul the adoption system to make it swifter, more effective and robust. It will include ways to give adopters a more active role in the process and the same rights to pay and leave as birth parents.
Speaking to the Times in December 2012, the Prime Minister said:
“The passion in the Government for sorting out the furred arteries of the adoption system is very, very strong.”
“There’s a very, very strong belief that children do best when they have a chance to grow up in a loving home.”
“Of course we can do more to improve the care system, but it’s never going to be as good as a loving adoptive home. There is no silver bullet. There is no one single thing you can do, but what we’re trying to do is look at every part of the process and think, ‘Well, how can we speed it up?’ ”
The map, which is released recently, shows the number of children in each local authority waiting for a family to adopt them, showing potential adopters how many children are waiting in their area and elsewhere.
The National Gateway for Adoption website, launching later this year, will provide an online service for the first stages of the adoption process, making it easy for those thinking about adoption to find out how to decide whether they’re up for the challenge and joy of being an adoptive parent.
