The Adoption and Children Act 2002: A Critical Examination

Ball, Caroline

doi:10.1177/030857590502900203

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The Adoption and Children Act 2002 introduced reforms to the law to recognize the changed nature of adoption practice and reflects a long overdue and radical reform of adoption law in the UK (Ball 2005). This legislation places new duties on local authorities to ensure greater consistency and quality of service in adoption support as well as in care planning, and specifies that contact issues have to be thoroughly explored prior to the making of an adoption order.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Logan

2010

Child & Family Social Work

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Whilst there is a general international trend towards more open adoption, there is considerable variation between agencies in the extent to which they are prepared to support different forms of contact arrangements. Agencies have a pivotal role to play in decisions about contact and early planning that is integrated into the assessment and preparation of prospective adopters is fundamental to its success. This paper reports on adoptive parents' experiences of the process of preparation and planning for direct, face‐to‐face contact. During preparation, agencies were clearly getting the message across to prospective adopters about the importance of contact for the child's well being. However, insufficient attention was directed at helping adopters to anticipate their feelings towards birth relatives and their responses to the kinds of management issues that might arise after adoption. There was considerable variation in the extent to which adopters were involved in the process of planning detailed contact arrangements, and this seemed to bear relevance on the success or otherwise of subsequent contact arrangements.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Logan

2010

Child & Family Social Work

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“…The success rate was dismal. In England and Wales during this period, only 2.4 percent or 912 successful matches were recorded (Ball, 2005;Triseliotis et al, 2005). As a result, birth relatives, especially birth mothers, remained highly dissatisfied with the adoption contact register.…”

Section: The Children Act 1989mentioning

confidence: 98%

Does Opening Adoption Records Have an Adverse Social Impact? Some Lessons from the U.S., Great Britain, and Australia, 1953–2007

Carp

2007

Adoption Quarterly

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This study provides an international history of the adoption reform movement in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia from 1953 to 2007. It empirically tests how safe birth parents and adopted adults are in countries that have opened their adoption records, usually birth registration records, using contact preference forms and contact vetoes. The results of this investigation reveal that a vast gap exists between the fear by birth parents and adopted adults that their privacy will be invaded and their family disrupted and the reality that few or no offenses are committed. It follows that opening adoption records with contact preference forms or contact vetoes provides a balanced adoption disclosure system and is a viable alternative to the sealed adoption policies currently used in the vast majority of American states and Canadian provinces.

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“…For example, it was, at least in part, a response to concerns about children 'drifting' or 'languishing' in the care system with no clear plan for their future (Parker, 1999: 3;Rowe and Lambert, 1973;Thomas, 2013: 16). Changing social factors, such as the availability of more effective means of contraception, the legalisation of abortion and the increased availability of support for single mothers, also meant that fewer relinquished babies were available, but this was not matched by a reduction in childless couples wishing to adopt (Ball, 2005;Triseliotis, Shireman and Hundleby, 1997). Therefore, some prospective adopters became more receptive to considering the adoption of non-infants as a means to create or add to their family (Ball, 2005;Triseliotis, Shireman and Hundleby, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children

Palmer

Coffey

Rees

2023

Adoption & Fostering

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This article explores the motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children from the UK care system. It draws on interview data from parents from 14 adoptive families to consider what influenced their decision to adopt an older child. Data were analysed thematically, and the analysis was theoretically informed by the concept of adoption as a ‘marketplace’. The study shows how prospective adoptive parents can be influenced in their decision-making by the information they have been given or perceive about the state of the adoption marketplace and indicates that making choices and decisions around the characteristics of future children is often an uncomfortable aspect of the process. The participants cited moral reasoning and notions of fate as key factors influencing their decisions. The article concludes by making recommendations for practice.

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The Adoption and Children Act 2002: A Critical Examination

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Preparation and planning for face‐to‐face contact after adoption: the experience of adoptive parents in a UK study

Does Opening Adoption Records Have an Adverse Social Impact? Some Lessons from the U.S., Great Britain, and Australia, 1953–2007

The motivations and decision-making processes of parents who adopt older children

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