Family Law News Edinburgh

A new adoption service is being created in the hope of improving links between children and foster families. Following the closure of the British Association for Adoption (BAAF) and Fostering, Children's Minister Aileen Campbell announced that The Adoption and Fostering Alliance Scotland (AFAS) will be stepping in to cover services.

The AFAS will handle the training, consultancy and a helpline for the public and professionals, as well as be responsible for the smooth transition from BAAF Scotland. The changes to the Scottish adoption operation comes following St Andrew's Children's Society being appointed to run Scotland's Adoption Register in July and a £75,000 investment in adoption services in Scotland.

A major adoption and fostering charity in the UK has closed down with immediate effect after citing that it suffered as a result of“significant changes and economic conditions” which made it impossible for them to keep operating.

The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), had been aiding vulnerable children for more than 30 years, but closed at the start of August and is now being run by administrators.

Councils in England are to merge services to improve adoption rates according to plans to be announced in the Queen’s speech. The move comes following as adoption is “happening at too small and localised a scale” according to the Department for Education.

The new bill will force authorities to merge local adoption services if they fail to do so themselves within two years.

The Child and Families Act 2014 (CFA) was enacted in March 2014 and has fundamentally changed the impetus of what Parliament see as important within family structure. Prior to April 2014, an order for a child arrangement, formerly known as a contact order, could only be made under section 8 of the Children Act 1989. However, Section 9 of the CFA has amended this with the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA), with the insertion of section 51A and 51B. These provisions now provide the court with a specific power to make an order for post-adoption contact when the court is making an adoption order or when an adoption order has previously been issued.

The Centre for Research on Children and Families has completed and 18 year study which followed up 65 children placed for adoption under the age of 4. This study has found that for the vast majority, adoption has worked well in providing a loving and supportive family base.

More than 96,000 people interested in giving a vulnerable child a stable, loving home in England and Wales have contacted First4Adoption in just 12 months, according to recent Government figures.

Scotland’s national Adoption Register has proved to be instrumental in helping almost 100 children find loving families, says the Scottish Government.

Almost a fifth of families who adopted a child last year and requested post adoption support from their Local Authority did not receive any support, according to charity Adoption UK.

The UK Government has recently announced an additional £16 million in funding that will be available to adoption agencies in England until 2016 to help address the shortfall of adopters.

Adopted children and their families are being sold short when it comes to the provision of support services that could help ensure the success of more adoptions from care, according to a report published by national charity Adoption UK.

A new independent report has criticised the 'hopelessly slow' current adoption system. The report, by former Barnardo's CEO Martin Narey, and commissioned by The Times, makes many recommendations for reform.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, has released an Issue Paper on the human rights perspective of adoption of children, calling for member states to ensure a better protection of children in the adoption process. According to the Commissioner, the realities of adoption still vary widely among European countries, in spite of international agreements, giving raise to serious human rights concerns.

With over 64,000 children in the care system and adoption levels reaching a new low, Barnardo's says there is no room for discrimination when it comes to potential adopters.