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Children placed for adoption
Adoption has changed markedly over the past 35 years. In 1970 20,000 children were placed for adoption. The majority of these were babies. Thirty years later as society's views and attitudes have changed this figure has decreased greatly. In 1999 2,200 children were placed for adoption. Over the past few years, however, this figure has grown due to greater acknowledgement of the role adoption can play in making permanent plans for children. Although the number of children adopted has dropped in the past 30 years the number of children adopted from care has grown.
The majority of children placed for adoption will have been removed from their parents through the court system. All of these children will have had their plan for adoption approved by the court. These children come to adoption with their own identity, background and family history, all of which will impact on their adoptive home and require understanding and acceptance in order to increase the possibility of a successful placement.
Children who become Looked After are in most cases initially placed in foster care. Great efforts are made to keep siblings together. Children awaiting adoption need careful preparation and explanation about what is going to happen to them and why.
Most children will need to maintain some level of contact with their birth parents in order to promote their self-esteem and identity. In a lot of cases this is achieved through indirect letterbox contact.
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