Questions raised over steep drop-off in potential Calderdale adopters

Calderdale Council has been looking to increase the number of adopters within the borough, which would bring care cost savings and also mean children were looked after in their own community.

Michelle Rawlings and Sarah Johal of One Adoption West Yorkshire were responding to requests from the council’s Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Board to provide more information particularly about recruitment and retention of adopters.

Coun Sarah Courtney (Lab, Calder) said it was great recruitment was happening with, further into the process, just a smaller number dropping out.

“But my understanding is for people making initial inquiries that drop-off is quite large – do you have an explanation, what reasons do people give for dropping out?” she said.

And Coun Amanda Parsons-Hulse (Lib Dem, Warley) wanted clarification over criteria for recruiting adopters – from an initial 1,172 responses in the last period, only 722 went on to an organised information evening and only 153 then requested home visits from the team to take it further.

Ms Rawlings said at the earliest stage One Adoption did not ask for details but after that reasons for leaving were collated and showed reasons were quite diverse.

These could be something as straightforward as a change in their life, such as moving house or changing their job.

Other reasons included things One Adoption was trying to send clearer messages out about early in the process, for example if potential adopters were smokers.

At the next stage reasons people gave for withdrawing from the process again varied, and included the complex needs of children they might be caring for.

“Some people, having learned more about the needs of the children, felt that this wasn’t the right way for them to move forward and it was the information that led them to think it wasn’t for them,” she said.

Coun Parsons-Hulse said: “It is coming down from quite high quite early. Is it something to do with finding the right kind of people that we need to recruit?” she said.

She said she understood that lots of factors were taken into account in the process, for example a potential adopter’s body mass index (BMI) and wanted to know if things like this were inhibiting people from coming forward.

“Do you think it precludes an adopter from becoming a loving parent?” she said.

Ms Johal said at the first public meeting stage some people had an idealistic idea of what adoption might be.

Often the children had some early trauma in their lives and needed therapeutic parenting.

“We are explicit about that at the first meeting and a lot of people drop out. At the first stage the drop-out is fairly massive,” she said.

Ms Rawlings said regarding BMI there was no “cut off” but One Adoption wanted adopters who were fit and well and health concerns had to be taken into account, for example it was hoped adoptive parents would still be there in a child’s adulthood, given that many of the children had already suffered early trauma and loss.

Coun Parsons-Hulse said she appreciated that, but added: “It does inhibit the number of people that can apply, given the level of obesity in society.”

Board Chair Coun Colin Raistrick (Ind, Hipperholme and Lightcliffe) said he was alarmed, changes in working the COVID-19 pandemic had brought notwithstanding, that availability of medical assessments was also proving a barrier.

Ms Rawlings said responses from individual GP practices in the region were varied but some were still refusing to offer appointments or undertake the necessary medical for aoption applicants.