The most comprehensive study ever to be carried out into adoption in England has confirmed that the rate of breakdown is lower than anticipated, but it also reveals a stark picture of the problems faced by families.
Researchers from the University of Bristol analysed national data on 37,335 adoptions over a 12 year period to show that 3.2 per cent of children – around three in 100 - move out of their adoptive home prematurely, known as a ‘disruption’.
Adoptions were more likely to breakdown if a child was placed once they were over the age of four. Most adoptions breakdown during the teenage years with teenagers 10 times more at risk of disruption compared with children under the age of four.
This is an important finding as services have focused on providing support in the early years of the placement. There are very few services for adopted young people and those parenting adopted teenagers.
Read more and download the report here.
