Pre-order Disruptions in England: Learning from disruption reports 2017-2024

Introduction/Background

This presentation will highlight a research project that explored what happens when an adoptive placement disrupts before legal permanence is achieved. Existing research evidence risks related to child characteristics, adopter characteristics and systemic issues as being associated with disruptions. National statistics in England give an overview of the characteristics in individual cases but this study, funded by Adoption England, sought to understand the experiences. Access to learning from individual disruptions allowed an in-depth exploration of events, as perceived by professionals and adopters, that led to the child(ren) being returned to care.

Methods

There were three phases to the research. Phase 1 was a thematic analysis of reports produced by adoption agencies that identify learning after each disruption in England (n=77). Phase 2 involved three focus groups (children’s social workers n=10; foster care social workers n=7; adoption specialists n=11) exploring helpful practice utilising two vignettes compiled from findings in phase 1. The discussions were also thematically analysed. The final phase co-produced the recommendations in two online workshops, one with professionals (n=23) and the other with adoptive parents (n=8).

Results

The findings highlight that the preparation, transition and initial placement periods involved careful negotiation of a number of relationships in which communication issues can arise and become problematic for the different actors involved. There were a complex interplay of issues, concerns and feelings that were ‘not said’ – not sharing concerns or issues; ‘not known’ – unforeseen circumstances; ‘not heard’ – information given but not understood or explored; and/or ‘not challenged’ – problems identified but not addressed.

Discussions/Conclusions

Adopters and professionals identified three key messages: centre the child; invest in all relationships; and rethink the ‘who and how’ of support. This presentation will present the recommendations made and discuss the steps that have been undertaken with Adoption England and Regional Adoption Agencies in implementing the learning.