City of York Council is backing National Adoption Week by encouraging people to consider adopting children who need a loving, secure home and who are struggling to find one.
The week runs until 23 October with aim of raising awareness of adoption and encouraging potential parents to come forward and the theme is embodied by the hashtag #SupportAdoption.
Across the country, there is a shortage of people coming forward to adopt older children or sibling groups or those who have additional needs. That means that these children often wait the longest to be adopted when many are in urgent need of permanent, caring homes.
The council’s adoption team would like to hear from anyone who is interested in adopting an older child, one with additional needs or a family group which needs to stay together. High quality support is provided for every step of the way including after adoption has taken place.
The team would also like to hear from people interested in providing an early permanence placement. This is a system which aims for continuity of care where someone wanting to and who has been approved to adopt could also be approved as a foster carer. This could mean that the adult could foster and care for a child while the courts go through the process of determining whether the child could return to their family or be adopted by their foster carer.
If you would like to know more about adoption, you can find out more at www.york.gov.uk/adoption or, as York is part of the Yorkshire Adoption Consortium, please visit http://beingfamily.co.uk/. For general information, you are welcome to call 01904 553525 or email: adoption@york.gov.uk