Staffordshire Fostering & Adoption Family Placement Service

In a typical year Staffordshire will place 50 children for adoption.

In 2005 we placed:

11 sibling pairs aged 0-7

2 groups of 3 children (I group aged 0-4, 1 group 3-11)

18 children aged 0-3 (10 girls, 8 boys)

4 children aged 4-7 (3 girls,1 boy)

Of the very young children 2 went to join siblings who had already been adopted.

The actual children waiting changes from day to day as we identify families and as new children are referred. As a local authority we begin planning for children at the earliest possible moment. In March 2006 children waiting for families included 2 very young children where there were some legal or medical uncertainties, 2 children aged 4-7, 4 sibling groups of 2 and one sibling group of 3.

With younger children there is roughly an equal mix of boys and girls waiting but boys over the age of 5 tend to wait longer than girls.

Black, Asian and mixed race children tend to wait longer than white children of the same age and we are more likely to have to look for families outside Staffordshire to meet their needs. We particularly welcome families who can meet these children’s identity needs.

In addition to the children needing adoptive families there are those who need long term foster care. In March 2006 there were 8 children, 2 girls and 6 boys waiting for long term foster carers.

Many of the children waiting will have experienced some form of neglect or abuse. All will have had some degree of loss and will need a family who can offer them security and provide extra care to help them grow and reach their full potential

Why do children need Adoption?