There is a Hidden Scottish Adoption Crisis that few want to Recognise, Discuss or Support.
We aim to support struggling adoptive families and ultimately reduce the risk of adoption disruptions/breakdowns (where the adoptee leaves the family home). According to Adoption UK’s Barometer Report 2024, 78% of Scottish adoptive families with teenage children say they are facing difficulties and 40% say they are facing severe challenges or are in crisis. Most families say they are offered little or no support.
We strive to build a community to share experiences and advocate for policy changes at both the Scottish government and local government levels.
SCOTTISH ADOPTIVE FAMILIES SAY:
40%
FACING SEVERE CHALLENGES/
CRISIS
78%
FACING CHALLENGES
22%
COPING WELL
Source: Adoption UK Barometer Report 2024
Challenges Faced By Scottish Adoptive Families
Many Scottish adopters feel abandoned once the adoption order is finalised or after the 3 year period during which local authorities are obliged to support their adoptive families. Our research shows that private and third-sector adoption agencies tend to provide better post-adoption support, whereas local authority adoption services have limited resources and offer few training, mentoring, or wayfinding services.
In Scotland adoptive families do not have access to the Adoption Support Fund that is available in other areas of the UK, making it even more challenging to access support services (such as psychological assessment, therapy and counselling).
The Impact of Early Life Adversity
Most adopted children have faced significant adversity in early life, leading to the complete removal from their biological parents. These experiences can lead to neurodiversity and other biological and psychological conditions, resulting in extremely challenging behaviours. This may include behaviour which puts the child and/or their adoptive family at risk. Many adoptive families say they received inadequate or incomplete information about their children, or that issues of concern (such as known behavioural problems or the risk of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) were minimised. Some behavioural issues are apparent throughout a child’s life whilst others only develop (or worsen) many years later, often during the teenage years
However public sector adoption agencies are ill-equipped to manage these behaviours and help adoptive families to cope with the extremely challenging circumstances they face.
Adopted children often have higher needs for services like CAMHS but face long waits for diagnosis and treatment.
Barriers to Support
When adoptive parents seek support from local authorities, they often encounter barriers, including accusations that their parenting is to blame for their child’s behaviour. This resistance hinders the recognition and diagnosis of neurodiversity, which often stems from the child’s early years before adoption. It can also contribute to the breakdown of the adoption by placing further pressure on families.
Inadequate Responses from Authorities
Adoptive families report negative interactions with social workers, who often only have child protection training rather than expertise in adoption. This means they presume that the problems are being caused by the adoptive parents rather than recognising the child’s early life adversity as the catalyst for the behavioural challenges, and providing family support.
Due to a lack of data, when these issues have been raised in the Scottish Parliament, responses are often limited to financial figures or unreliable statistics, both of which fail to reflect the true state of post-adoption support. (See ‘How Many Adoption Breakdowns Are There In Scotland’.
The Hidden Crisis of Adoption Beakdowns in Scotland
We are concerned that many local authorities/adoption agencies are not acknowledging the extent of the problem because they are under pressure to recruit foster parents and adopters. It is our belief that better support for adoptive families in crisis would give reassurance to prospective adopters and foster carers, rather than deter them.
When adoptions break down, the consequences are devastating for both adoptees and adopters. Some children return to the care system, some leave home with no safe place to go, and some return to the birth parents who abused them.
The Devastating Consequences
Adopters reaching crisis point face severe consequences, including family breakdowns, social isolation, and
Adopters reaching crisis point face severe consequences, including relationship breakdown, social isolation, loss of employment, financial hardship and legal challenges. Adoptive parents’ rights are often ignored when children return to the care system, with decisions made without their consultation. In many cases the results are devastating, and there have been incidences of suicide, both of the adoptee or the adopter.
The financial and social costs to society are significant, impacting both the government and the wider community. It costs upwards of £30,000 per year to keep a child in foster care but many of these children require a place in a specialist residential home which costs at least £130,000 per year (source NAO)
Early interventions and ongoing support for adoptive families is a much more cost effective, as well as ethical, solution. It is well evidenced that children in adoptive families do better than those in the care system.
legal challenges. Adoptive parents’ rights are often ignored when children return to the care system, with decisions made without their consultation. In some circumstances the results are devastating, resulting in the suicide of the adoptee or the adopter.
The financial and social costs of these disruptions are significant, impacting both the government and the wider community but early interventions and ongoing support appears to be a cost that cannot be met, despite the retrospective costs required in emergencies.
How Many AdoptionBreakdowns are there in Scotland?
Adoption breakdowns (or disruptions) are not accurately recorded in Scotland. Although the Care Inspectorate reports annually the number of recorded adoption breakdowns, local authorities do not record all incidences of the adoptee leaving the family home, and do not track adoptees when they move from one local authority area to another. Furthermore, there is little guidance for local authorities on how this information should be recorded and provided to the Care Inspectorate.
Current statistics held by the Care Inspectorate suggest that breakdown rates vary between 2% and 25% per year. (See historical figures here)
We want the Scottish Government to create a more comprehensive method of recording the number of adoption breakdowns/disruptions in order to establish the scale of the problem. We are also calling for robust research to establish why these occur.
