Youngsters waiting for adoption spend longer in care

The national target is 426 days to complete a match — but youngsters in the borough have an average of 472 days the process is completed.

The best performing area in South Yorkshire is Barnsley, where the wait is under a year and helps drag the regional average down to 423 days.

Figures were reported to Rotherham Council’s corporate parenting panel this week by regional agency One Adoption South Yorkshire.

The agency aims to provide an improved adoption service by strengthening the network for matching children with adoptive families.

Rotherham had 30 children placed for adoption out of the total of 116 across South Yorkshire for the year ending March.

It approved 24 adopters out of the regional total of 94 for the same period.

One Adoption South Yorkshire said the wait times in care depended on many factors, including the age of children needing adoption and if they have siblings or complex needs.

The timeliness of children being placed with foster parents was also improving to ease the situation, the agency’s report added.

The agency was also supporting National Adoption Week this week (18-24 OCT), which aims to increase the number of people becoming adoptive parents.

More than half of the population say adoption is “more socially acceptable” than ten years ago — but 40 per cent admit finding it a difficult topic to talk about, a survey of the Yorkshire and the Humber region found.

Stephanie Evans, head of One Adoption South Yorkshire, said: “We are proud to support this year’s National Adoption Week.

“It is not only a chance to celebrate adoption and hear the voices of all those involved, including the wonderful work of our adoption teams across the region; it is also an opportunity to highlight adoption as an option for some of our most vulnerable children and support anyone considering adoption as a pathway to creating a family.”

Find out more about adoption at www.oneadoption.co.uk or call 0345 002 0012.