The Narey Report on Adoption
July 11, 2011
Over the last few days I have read with interest many of the debates and controversies surrounding the ‘The Narey Report: A Blueprint for the Nations Lost Children’ published in The Times on the 5th July 2011.
Given my own experience of growing up in care I have to say I welcome Martin Narey’s passion and enthusiasm for wanting to improve the adoption system and help vulnerable children who are in care or on the edge of care find loving and stable families.
However, I don’t think adoption should be pursued at the expense of kinship care. I say this because many children do well when they are kept within their own families. So, if it takes a little longer to identify family and friends carers to take responsibility for the care and upbringing of a child, or if a kinship care assessment takes a bit longer than one would expect – what does it matter? Surely, if kinship care is considered to be in the best interests of a child, that should be all that counts.
What I found most interesting from reading Martin Narey’s report was the assumption that:-
“other interventions in child care do not have the potential utterly to transform the life chances of a neglected child in a way adoption can and does”.
I grew up in the residential care system and came out of it in one piece. Adoption wasn’t an option for me, and to be honest I’m glad because I wanted and needed to keep in contact with my sister, my mother and other members of my family. Would I have been able to do that had I have been adopted? I don’t think so.
I left care and went into education, achieving my Degree and 3 Master Degrees, securing employment, a home of my own and a family. Would I have achieved more had I have been adopted? I don’t think so.
I recently had the opportunity to receive information from my care records because I was interested to see if all options had been exhausted in terms of keeping me with my family before being taken into care. Had adoption have been the option of first resort when I was a child would I have been able to find some peace of mind knowing everything had been done to keep me with my family? I don’t think so.
By prioritising adoption over family and friends care we risk undermining what children consider most important – their sense of identity and belonging, their connections to siblings and extended family members and their desire to know as they get older that their family was given every opportunity to look after them.
Hello Jacqueline…I was very moved by your blog and I posted a link to it on the Community Care website on their carespace forum….perhaps you would like to look at the ongoing debate and comment yourself.
here’s the link
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/carespace/forums/adoption-csar-11121.aspx#52121
Very best regards from Boxerdog
Hi Boxerdog
Thanks for posting my blog on the Community Care site. I have had a look at the site and joined the conversation/debate.
Many thanks
Hi Jacqueline,
I’ve forwarded your blog post round to everyone here at Grandparents Plus. You’ve really given us an insight into the complex feelings you must have about the way your case was handled by social services. Well done!
Thanks for all you’ve done to publicise the Keep Families Together campaign and “Who would you choose for me video?”
We definitely think more should be done to make policy makers – including Narey – aware of the feelings and viewpoints of people like you who have been on the receiving end of decisions about where children should be placed and how much support should be given to families.
Warm regards,
Peter Hulme
Hi Peter
Thank you for your comment and kind words. I very much appreciate it.
I have no doubt there are hundreds if not thousands of care leavers like me who share the same viewpoint. Trying to get these individuals to share their stories and speak out is possibly a little difficult.
I love your campaign on Keeping Families Together. It is the mantra on which Kinship Care NI was founded. If there is anything I can do to promote your campaign on family and friends care please do come back to me. In the meantime I will share your links and campaign on all my social networks.
Dear Jacqueline,
It would be great to get your perspective onto other blogs that have covered the same issues:
http://www.metropolitanmum.co.uk/
http://liberalengland.blogspot.com/
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/childrens-services-blog/2011/07/new-campaign-goes-head-to-head-with-narey-and-the-times.html
Thanks once again Peter. I will have a look at the link some stage this evening, and join the debate. It would be great if you could encourage other care leavers or kids who have grown up in kinship care to do the same.
Take care
Dear Jacqueline,
I’ve only just seen this and like others I found it compelling. But let me reassure you that I am not remotely against kinship care. Yes my report recommends that we should reduce the time taken consecutively to explore patently fruitless placements. But I also recommend – and its a bigger issue – the need to ensure Special Guardianship reaches its potential by ensuring that those already caring for children, grandparents for example, do not lose out financially when becoming Special Guardians. There has been a very disappointing take up of Special Guardianship for older children, like you, for whom adoption was not appropriate and I believe thats one reason why.
I’d be delighted to be in touch about this and I can be contacted on adoptionadvisor@yahoo.co.uk
Kind Regards
Martin Narey
Hi Mr Narey
Thank you for your comment.
I can understand why people think kinship care is a waste of time. It is extremely hard to get families, particularly broken families to agree on a way forward which meets their needs, the needs of extended family members and the needs of a vulnerable child.
I agree much more needs to be done to develop the concept of Special Guardianship, particularly for older children in residential and kinship care as well as kids in long-term foster care. Many of these kids need stability and even though they have a roof over their heads what in fact they need more than anything is to ‘belong’.
I am not completely against your view on adoption. I think for many children adoption is a good option and one which could make the difference between a child making it, and them not. But, it isn’t the only option, and from a child’s perspective it shouldn’t be considered over and above family and friends care.
I support kinship care – not only because I am a kinship carer, but because I can see first hand how important it is for children to stay connected to their brothers and sisters and other significant family members.
Family carers take multiple numbers of children and invest a great deal of time and effort in helping their relative’s children rebuild their lives, with little if any support from anyone. Not alot of people know that – perhaps they should.
I don’t think you should be too hard on yourself. You’re heart is in the right place and you are trying to transform the lives of vulnerable children. I don’t think anyone can fault you for that.
Good luck in your new post, and please do contact me if you need anything.