rural adoption

This article reveals

Last year, 4,472 adoptions were recorded in England and Wales, a decline of 4.1 per cent since 2009, the Office for National Statistics said. The figures showed most of the children adopted were under the age of five, while an increasing proportion were born outside marriage.

The overall number was the lowest since figures for court adoption orders were first recorded in 1997. Anne Marie Carrie, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said social workers must be “braver” and should “act fast” to place children with a new permanent family if their birth parents clearly cannot cope. “Yet another consecutive drop in adoption rates is very disappointing, not least for the 1,000 children each year who are never found an adoptive family,” she said.

As with most reporting of this type there is no breakdown of the places where the largest numbers of unadopted children live or where those achieving adoption are placed geographically. It would be really interesting to get a view on the balance between urban and rural in both contexts as a means of scoping out the scale of the issue in rural England and considering if spatial factors have a role in determing outcomes in relation to this issue. On a separate theme Lincolnshire County Council is to become a rural pilot in relation to a project around supporting families with complex needs. You can hear more about this at our first seminar in the new RSN seminar programme, from their Chief Executive, by signing up for the free event at the University of Lincoln on 13 September. Perhaps also a good opportunity to discuss the adoption issue in rural places?