In 2007 Tony Blair, Britain’s then Prime Minister, was set to increase the adoption rates by 50 percent. [1]
Today there is an unspoken tragedy exposing Britain’s vulnerable children to physical and emotional harm. Few would argue that the Social Service’s role is to protect and to serve our children, yet a chilling pattern is beginning to emerge, as more and more families speak out against their government.
Since the introduction of a threshold increase in the rate of adoption, Social Services are becoming increasingly stretched to meet the limit. Arguably, the initial program was with well-meaning intentions, designed by the government to “set targets for adoption in order to cut the number of children languishing in foster care,” as cited in a Telegraph article System Taking Hundreds of Babies for Adoption. But the true intentions remain elusive, when it has been reported that parents have lost their children, accusing the State of taking their children into custody with no good reason.
The UK law stipulates that children should be taken into their care when they have been neglected, or abused. Yet cases are now appearing where there is no evidence of any incident of trauma, as children are being forcibly removed from their family unit.[2]
According to figures published by the Department for Education, 3,450 children were adopted between March 2011 and March 2012, reflecting a 12 percent rise on the previous year’s statistics, and the highest figure since the implemented changes in 2007. In the same time frame, some 28,220 children had the local authorities’ attention with just over 10,000 taken into care under a police or emergency protection order.[3]
“Family dysfunction” was cited as the second most common case for intervention without further detail.[4]
During the introduction of the new rises in adoption benchmarks, the attempts by the government in 2007, notably by the then Lord Chancellor Falconer, halted any attempts to make the family court hearings less secret. The family courts at the time were hearing as many as 400,000 cases each year, most involving some form of child custody battle among divorce proceedings.[5]
It is important to also note that any decision made to put a child up for adoption, regardless of the context; where it is granted, is irreversible. It’s also an offense to publish the fact that the state has taken a child by force from their parents, or any of the details surrounding it, facing fines and imprisonment if done so. [6]
[1] Alderson, A., Leapman, B., & Harper. T. (2007, July 1). System taking hundreds of babies for adoption. [The Telegraph]. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1556114/System-taking-hundreds-of-babies-for-adoption.html
[2] Taylor, D. (2014, June 23). Too many children are forcibly removed from their mothers. [The Guardian]. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/23/uk-children-forcibly-removed-mothers
[3] Department of Education. (2012, September 25). National Statistics. Children looked after by local authorities in England, including adoption. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-by-local-authorities-in-england-including-adoption
[4] McVeigh, T. (2010, November 7). Parents who adopt abused children hampered by woeful lack of support. [The Guardian]. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/nov/07/parents-adopt-child-abuse-support
[5] Alderson, A. op. cit.
[6] Palme, A. (2007, July 1). For the children’s sake, it’s time to lift this veil. [The Telegraph]. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1556115/For-the-childrens-sake-its-time-to-lift-this-veil.html
This is a national scandal – Journalist Chris Spivey has recently had a dreadful time with SS trying to steal his grandson who lives with him and all because the authorities are attempting to silence him from speaking out and exposing the truth about Woolwich. Fortunately Chris is mentally very agile and was able to deal with them – unfortunately many are not and they lose their children to this.
my cousins little boy was removed and adopted without her permission and without good reason.
It used to happen in the United States to supply the adoption market for white children.
This is terrible u cant give peoples children up for adopion with out perants permission its sick mums should have a right to say yes or no yhere should be a way for them to proov there self i no a girl who is going throw this shes aint done nothink wrong loves her little boy so much and wants him to be with her how it should be this girl is so lovely would never do anythink to harm any1 she deserves to be a mum to her son theres no reason this should be forced on anyone x
Stop forced adoption now it’s horrible and not fair
its all about money 400 pounds a week each child so ss and la and caffcass are all in it together good money snactchine children whats stopping now