22 September 2008

The Adoption Register for England and Wales has published their annual report for 2007 which shows that 199 children were matched with families last year, the highest yearly number to date.

The Adoption Register has bee run by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering's (BAAF) charity on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families for the past three years. The Adoption Register matches children with adoptive families when their local agencies have not been able to do so.

BAAF's 'Be My Parent' website received 2500 subscribers to their family finding service last year.

The Adoption Register's report reveals that last year: 85% of the children were matched with heterosexual couples; 13% were matched with single adopters; 2% were matched with same sex couples; 54% of the children were girls, and 46% were boys, and; 49% were in a sibling group.

Mo O'Reilly, Director of Child Placement Services at BAAF said: It's been a great year for BAAF's family finding services. We are pleased that both parents and social workers are embracing these new services. However, we cannot rest on our laurels. There are still lots of children waiting and we must find new ways to find them the right families."

However, adoption figures revealed by the Government this week show that 73% of children adopted in the year to 31 March 2008 waited more than a year to be adopted.

The figures, which represented a small increase on the same figures for the previous year, were revealed by in a Written Answer by Children's Minister, Kevin Brennan. They showed that of the 3,300 children adopted last year, 2,400 waited more than 12 months before they were adopted by a suitable family.