Today the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Adoption and Permanence has launched a new inquiry on Strengthening Families. This is in response to the recent commencement of the independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England, chaired by Josh MacAlister. Echoing the key tenets of the Review, APPGAP’s new inquiry will focus on the points of vulnerability in a child’s journey from the care system into adoption and how adoptive families can be strengthened to enable children and young people to experience the ongoing love, stability, and safety they need in order to flourish.

The APPG for Adoption and Permanence has been running since 2018, with Home for Good providing joint-secretariat with Adoption UK from the beginning. Its previous inquiry was focused on the Adoption Support Fund, a significant piece of work that played a crucial role in the continuation of the Fund. You can read more about this in the APPG’s Investing in Families report.

APPGAP’s new inquiry will consider the extent to which current policy and practice is enabling stability, safety and love for children leaving the care system through adoption; from matching to the early days of being placed with a family, to the challenges of navigating key transition moments in a child’s life. Sadly, we know that around a third of adoptive families are in crisis, with some families going on to experience adoption disruption or breakdown. This inquiry will seek to establish how families can be provided with strong foundations and strengthened in an ongoing way to ensure that wherever possible, children who have experienced trauma, can find the stability and love they need to thrive in their adoptive home.

Rachael Maskell MP, chair of the group, said “We are excited to be launching this new inquiry, as the importance of strengthening adoptive families cannot be emphasised enough.”

“It is imperative that we investigate the points of transition in adopted children’s lives where there is the greatest risk of instability for both children and their families. Through this inquiry, we want to uncover best practice in navigating these stages to ensure stability is maintained, families are strengthened, and children thrive.”

APPGAP is committed to ensuring that the voices of adopted young people and their families are heard throughout this inquiry and the independent Review. Thus, APPGAP is launching this inquiry with a Call for Evidence, seeking the views of adopted people, adoptive parents, frontline professionals, academics, and voluntary organisations working in adoption.

Submissions can be made online via two surveys:

Survey for adopted children and young people (Age 18 and under).

Survey for adopted adults, adoptive parents, and professionals.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 16 April 2021.

The group will also be holding evidence sessions throughout April, May, and June, with a view to releasing a written report with accompanying recommendations in the summer.

The terms of reference for the inquiry can be viewed here.

For more information, please contact the secretariat of the group at [email protected]. The secretariat is provided jointly by charities Adoption UK and Home for Good.