This article reports the findings related to adoption support of a Department of
Health-funded study: Costs and Outcomes of Non-infant Adoptions. This is the first UK study to comprehensively examine the support provided by
Social Services Departments (SSDs), Health, Education, and Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Services (CAMHS) beyond the first year of the adoptive placement.
The services provided to 80 children, before Adoption Orders were granted, were
examined from SSD records. Interviews with 54 adoptive parents then investigated
the services provided to 64 of the 80 children post order. Families were
initially supported primarily by Social Services but, post order, Health,
Education and CAMHS shouldered most of the support responsibilities. A high
proportion of the children were seen by these professionals over the course of
the adoptive placements but many adopters felt that the services provided had
been ‘too little, too late’. While there were assessments of
children’s difficulties, mainstream services typically failed to
provide what adopters considered sufficient or effective support. This was also
largely true of the services provided by SSDs and is an important message for
practitioners if they are to succeed in improving adoption support services.
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