These families are navigating the complex realities of trauma, mental health struggles, and challenging behaviours – often with little to no professional help. Accessing vital services is an uphill battle, support is patchy, and too often, instead of understanding, they are met with suspicion and blame.
One crucial source of support, the Adoption and Special Guardianship Fund (ASGSF), helps over 20,000 families by funding therapy for children affected by early-life trauma. It has been described to me as a ‘lifeline’. Yet shockingly, the government allowed this fund to lapse, only renewing it under pressure from my Liberal Democrat colleague Munira Wilson MP. In last week’s debate, I called on the Minister to go further and make the fund permanent and accessible, because families in crisis shouldn’t have to wait on year-to-year uncertainty.
The reality is that post-adoption support in this country is falling dangerously short. Parents regularly face long waits for services – by which point problems have escalated.
This lack of support is especially concerning given the profound trauma many adopted children have experienced. Conditions such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, PTSD, ADHD, and attachment disorders are common and can have lasting effects. Yet, far too often, adoptive parents are left in the dark about the extent of their child’s needs. When those needs do eventually emerge – often in complex or challenging ways – families are met not with empathy or assistance, but with suspicion and blame.
The personal stories that have been shared with me highlight the deeply human costs of a system that isn’t working. One family told me how they spent 10 years together before the pressures of adolescence, trauma, and inadequate school support pushed them past breaking point. Both children returned to care and both parents suffered breakdowns. The system so clearly failed them. It’s a pattern repeated far too often.
Adoptive families are not asking for miracles. They are asking for the system to work with them, not against them. They have taken on one of the most selfless and challenging roles in society—offering love and stability to children who have already suffered too much. In return, they deserve support they can rely on – not endless bureaucracy, judgement, or silence.
There is a long road ahead, but change must start now. The Government must commit to making the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund permanent, introduce a national statutory post-adoption support policy, and urgently begin collecting accurate, up-to-date data on adoption breakdowns to guide future policy improvements.
I was pleased to raise this important issue in Parliament last week, and I will continue working with my Liberal Democrat colleagues to hold the Government to account and stand up for adoptive families – ensuring they receive the support they need and deserve. Adoption breakdowns can be prevented. It’s time for the Government to listen, to learn, and to act.