Scots review leads to flurry of ideas

Scottish adoption groups have suggested major reforms to the country’s adoption system in response to a review that ended last week.

The Scottish Adoption Association called for a national adoption allowance scale to be introduced, counselling support to be extended to birth parents and other family members, and more resources to be put into information exchange and face-to-face contact work between birth parents and adopted children.

Baaf Adoption and Fostering proposed the introduction of new permanence orders for cases where local authorities believed children’s futures lay away from their birth families but were not immediately ready to approve adoption.

Baaf Scotland director Barbara Hudson said: “It will add security to long-term placements and allow agencies to give a very clear message to prospective parents that, while not completely certain, the intention is to get an adoption order.”