This week is National Adoption Week: a week long national campaign to #SupportAdoption with activities across local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to help find families for some of our most vulnerable children.
National Adoption Week is here to remind all of us of the importance of finding families for some of our most vulnerable children in my constituency and across Medway. Local council social workers, voluntary adoption agencies and the statutory adoption register supporting them day in, day out, are doing everything possible to family find for vulnerable children.
Children’s welfare has been a key part of my work both inside and outside of politics. For a number of years I have worked with looked after children outside of my day jobs and in Parliament I have worked with a number of charities around children’s mental health, abuse and supported accommodation. I am therefore I am very supportive of Adoption Match and the #SupportAdoption campaign to demystify and clarify the adoption process, reflect the challenges of adoptive parenting, share individual stories, showcase and signpost to best practice.
Over the last decade, almost 20,000 children have been referred to the Adoption Register for help in finding them a permanent loving family. As well as the better life chances this has secured for those children and young people, it has also allowed local councils financial resources to be better directed than on costs of foster care for instance.
I don’t want any child in my community to miss out on being adopted if that is what is best for them. There is the right family for every child and we must make sure they are found for them as quickly as practicable.