Costs and outcomes of non-infant adoptions

Many adopted children are placed with adoptive families after infancy, following very poor early parenting experiences. However, there has been surprisingly little research undertaken on the outcomes for these children, the financial and emotional costs to adopters, or the costs to children’s services.

This book reports on the findings of a study of 130 children from one area in England for whom a best interests decision for adoption was made in the 1990s. The study follows what happened to the children, to see for how many adoption was secured, and to track their progress through care. The study examined the children’s early lives, the decisions made about them, and the costs and delays in this process. Adopters and foster carers give their accounts of caring for the children, the financial and emotional costs to them and the support they received.

This study provides a unique opportunity to compare the outcomes for fostered and adopted children and to make recommendations for policy and practice.

This book is for social work practitioners, managers and policy makers working in both adoption and fostering.

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