The Fostering Network on Monday 31 October advised the Government against an overwhelming focus on adoption as the way to solve the problems facing the care system, and cautioned against the use of league tables and targets. In response to policy announcements made by the Prime Minister, Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, said: 'While the Government’s interest in improving adoption and foster care is welcome, an approach which focuses overwhelmingly on adoption vastly oversimplifies the needs of children in care, and risks decisions being made which are not in a child’s best interest.'

'Where children are to be adopted, the process can and should be sped up, and more needs to be done to find families who can take sibling groups and older children. But the overwhelming focus on adoption ignores the reality for most children in care who neither need nor want to be adopted. Many will return to their own parents, and where this is not possible efforts need to focus on first seeing if a family member can bring them up. Only then is finding them a new home the priority. For some this will be with adopters, but for most this will be with foster carers.'

'We are particularly concerned by league tables and how this information will be used. Of course people should have access to all information that is available, but if it is just adoption levels that are highlighted by the Government, this will impact on performance. Decisions about a child’s future must be taken in the best interests of that child, and must never be influenced by targets, or by a local authority’s concern about its position on a league table.'
'What must be at the centre of this debate is the needs of children. All children in care who cannot return home or live with a member of their wider family need a family they can grow up with who can love them, be ambitious for them and help them achieve their potential. All efforts need to be on finding this family, regardless of whether they are foster carers or adopters. Worrying about legal status should be much further down the list of priorities than meeting a child’s needs and providing them with a stable and secure home as quickly as possible.'

For more information contact the Fostering Network press office via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 020 7620 6425.