The government has announced an additional £6 million in funding to promote the adoption of children in care.
The new money will be distributed to local authorities as soon as this year to help them fund the recruitment and assessment of adoptive parents outside their regions, and match the families found to suitable vulnerable children. Other authorities or adoption agencies assist in locating prospective adopters from other regions.
Currently this process costs authorities £27,000 per child, the BBC reports. The new funds are sufficient to cover the cost of matching more than a third of the children currently in care with new families.
David Cameron declared:
“I am determined to tear down the barriers to children in care being found loving adoptive parents. The average time it takes to place a child with a new family has been falling and I am delighted we are able to offer this funding to try to ensure it falls further.”
Sounds sensible.