CVAA has long called for a full review of adoption support, including through our July 2025 joint open letter with Adoption UK, Coram, Kinship, Barnardo’s and Family Rights Group. We therefore welcomed the launch of this consultation and the Government’s stated commitment to listening to the sector. The need for reform is indisputable, but we must get this right for children and families.

Our consultation response, available to read here, balances ambition with pragmatism. We recognise the financial constraints facing both central and local government, and the reality that these pressures shape policy decisions across children’s social care. But the evidence is clear: the needs of adopted children are increasingly complex and therefore reform must be structured to meet the needs of these children and young people in particular. For this reason, we have not supported proposals that risk diverting funding away from essential specialist therapeutic support.

“We’re pleased to have had this opportunity to contribute, and now we need the government to truly listen, take stock, and be unafraid to change direction where necessary. Across the sector, the message is consistent and urgent: the current proposals do not go far enough. Adopted children have complex needs which frequently require sustained, specialist therapeutic support alongside core early help for families, and that demands meaningful investment and a coherent model. Research, lived experience and professional expertise all confirm this, and now is the government’s time to respond appropriately.

VAAs know what works for families and that is why our response sets out some core guiding principles such as embedding support early, providing the right help at the right time without delay, prioritising consistent relationships with professionals and committing to a lifelong approach. We therefore stand ready to work with Government to design a system that reflects these principles and delivers for children.”

– Alice Talbot, Director of Strategy and Policy, CVAA

Our response also reiterates CVAA’s strong opposition to a devolved funding model, first set out in summer 2025. We believe devolving funding would undermine equitable access to support, widen existing regional disparities, and risk marginalising the voluntary sector, despite clear evidence of VAAs’ leadership in delivering outstanding as determined through independent inspections by Ofsted), trauma‑informed support.

You can read our full consultation response here.

8^th May 2026

Drawing on evidence that adoption continues to deliver strong long‑term outcomes for children who cannot safely remain with their birth families, alongside bringing benefits to society and the wider economy, the manifesto highlights the need for a coherent national strategy, reduced delays in permanence decision‑making, and lifelong support for all who need it. It demonstrates how modernising adoption contributes directly to national ambitions highlighted in recent party manifestos, including delivering on The Promise, improving mental health provision for young people and supporting a strong economy.

The manifesto, available to read here, outlines five priority areas for action:

1. Recognising the value of adoption
2. Tackling delays for children awaiting permanence decisions
3. Making high‑quality, timely support available for all
4. Supporting adopted children’s identity needs
5. Acknowledging the lifelong impact of trauma.

“Scotland has a proud history of championing children’s rights, but too many adopted children and adults are still being let down by a system that has not kept pace with what we now know about early trauma, identity and lifelong support. Furthermore, children waiting for an adoptive family are not all achieving adoptions in the first place due to a lack of resources, systems and accountability. This manifesto sets out a clear, evidence‑based path for the next government to modernise adoption and ensure that every child who needs it can experience safety, stability and the chance to thrive.” – Satwinder Sandhu, CEO, CVAA UK

CVAA Scotland is urging all political parties to consider these recommendations as part of their commitments to Scotland’s children and families, and to work with the voluntary sector to deliver meaningful, lasting reform.

Read the manifesto here: CVAA Scotland Manifesto 2026: Keeping the Promise for Adopted Children

23rd April 2026

Lynelle spoke with passion and clarity about scaffolding adoptees to lead and support their own communities – making them active agents of change rather than passive recipients of welfare, Her call to agencies was clear: “Sit beside us, cheer us on, cry with us, support us – legally, financially – then we have a partnership with you”.

Here are three standout lessons from the young adoptees who shared their stories with courage and insight, expertly guided and championed by practitioners Nina Aujla and Lisa Johnson:

Identity needs are personal — and varied

All the young people had connected with birth family members, but each experience was different. For Eliza, it was transformative: “I felt like I found a piece of myself when I found my sister”. But for Jake it wasn’t a ‘Hollywood reunion’ – it was about getting answers.

There’s often an assumption that contact means a new, lasting relationship. But sometimes, it’s simply about filling in the gaps. Identity journeys are individual and must be adoptee-led and well supported.

Schools must be more involved

The lightbulb moment came when Jake shared that his school hadn’t acknowledged National Adoption Week — not even an assembly.

This is an area we have overlooked as a sector. It’s our responsibility to bring schools in.

Cara and Eliza shared heartwarming stories of teachers who ‘got it’. But those teachers shouldn’t be hard to find. We need to reach a point where every teacher understands adoption and ‘gets it’.

Advice for adopters

No advice for adopters is more valuable than hearing directly from young people. In their own words:

“My parents celebrate my different wins.”
“Listen, stay consistent, and believe in you when you’re struggling.” – Cara

“They’re not your birth child. It’s different. It will always be different. You need to treat them like they’re your own but also acknowledge that they’re not.” – Jake

“My name is something I carry from my birth parents. I’d be very upset if anyone had changed that.” – Cara

ICAV – Intercountry Adoptee Rights Charter can be found here

Please note that names have been anonymised in this blog.

We recommended:

• Extending every parental benefit available to self-employed biological parents—including statutory maternity allowance and shared parental leave—to self-employed adoptive parents.
• Introducing an enhanced adoption-leave package that accounts for pre-placement introduction meetings and post-placement bonding time for both parents.
• Ensuring that employed adopters earning below the adoption-pay threshold can access the same maternity-allowance equivalent available to biological parents.

Voices from Adopters

“Being self-employed comes with a lot of challenges. We work hard, take risks, create jobs, and help build up the economy every day. But when major life events like having a child or adopting come along, we’re often left with limited choices or without support—unlike employees, we don’t always get paid leave, and if we work less, we earn less. It can feel like our hard work and contributions aren’t valued by our government. If the UK truly wants to support business and the entrepreneurial spirit, it needs to extend adoption and maternity leave rights to the self-employed, so we’re not forced to choose between our families and our livelihoods. There are over 4 million self-employed people in the UK. It’s time government policies caught up and made things fair for everyone, whether you’re employed or self-employed.” — Prospective adopter

“I have been self-employed since 2014 and in that time, my wife and I have had two birth children and are currently going through the adoption process. Under current legislation, I am not entitled to any paternity benefits. Given I am self-employed, if I do not work, I do not get paid so taking paternity leave puts added strain on our family finances. I find this incredibly unfair given the amount of tax I pay via a combination of Income Tax, Dividend Tax, Corporation Tax and VAT means I am likely to pay more tax than someone who would do a similar job to mine as a permanent employee. It is another example of self-employed people being penalised despite contributing the same, if not more in tax.” — Approved adopter

“As a self-employed individual currently going through the adoption process, I fully support the push for a change in Government policy to ensure that self-employed people have access to adoption and maternity leave. The current lack of statutory support creates a significant inequality between employed and self-employed individuals. For adopters like myself, it means facing the emotional and financial pressures of early parenthood without the safety net that employed parents are entitled to. This is especially challenging during the critical bonding period, when being fully present for the child is essential for their development and attachment. Self-employed people contribute substantially to the economy, pay taxes, and are expected to meet the same standards in the adoption process as anyone else. Yet we are denied basic parental support at a time when it’s most needed. For many, this policy gap can delay or even deter them from adopting altogether—not because of a lack of willingness or capability, but because of unsustainable practical realities. Providing fair and inclusive support would not only reduce unnecessary stress on adoptive families, but would also widen the pool of potential adopters—something that is clearly needed given the number of children waiting for permanent homes.” — Prospective solo adopter

CVAA will continue to monitor the government’s response to this consultation and will engage further to ensure adoptive families—whatever their employment status—receive the support they deserve.

Children of Black and other diverse ethnicities currently wait too long to be matched with a loving adoptive family – an average of just under one year – and voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) are urgently looking for people who can offer them a permanent and loving home.

Becoming a parent through adoption is a life-changing and deeply personal experience, and for those from certain ethnic backgrounds, it can come with unique considerations and perspectives.

21 VAAs from across the UK have together created this new advice guide with warmth and understanding, drawing from the lived experience of adoptive parents who have already navigated this path. Some of those parents have adopted a child of similar ethnicity to their own, while others have welcomed a child of another heritage or culture into their family.

Satwinder Sandhu, Chief Executive of the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) which represents VAAs across the country said:

Finding loving homes for children of Black and other diverse ethnicities is a government priority, yet there are surprisingly few resources available for people who might be able to adopt these children – particularly resources tailored to prospective adopters from diverse communities.

This guide simply amplifies the voices of adopters who’ve walked the path, offering insight, honesty and hope to others who may be able to change a child’s life. The guide is also a symbol of our aspirations for these children. It reflects our belief that no child should wait longer than their white peers to be adopted, by parents who embrace that child’s cultural identity and find joy in keeping that heritage alive – especially when there is not a common shared ethnicity.

VAAs are specialists in finding families for children who wait the longest in care, and do this through forging deep relationships with their local communities. They work in partnership with regional adoption agencies and local authorities across the country to find families for children waiting for a permanent home.

Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAAs) are independent, not-for-profit organisations dedicated to providing families with comprehensive lifelong support. Their services are designed to offer vital assistance both at the time of placement and throughout the child’s journey into the future.

Download a copy of the advice guide here.

To find your nearest VAA visit the CVAA agency finder.

These changes include:

• Reducing the overall Fair Access Limit (FAL) to £3,000 (previously £5,000)
• No longer having a separate FAL for specialist assessments. Specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 will be considered for funding, but only within the overall FAL of £3,000.
• No longer accepting match funding applications for therapy which costs more than the £3,000 FAL, or for specialist assessments which cost more than £2,500.
• Ending transitional funding arrangements across years.

In response to the announcement, CVAA’s CEO Satwinder Sandhu said the following:

CVAA believes that today marks a step backwards in this government’s ambition to supporting vulnerable children. Whilst we recognise the economic pressures facing the country, we are dismayed by funding cuts at Department for Education that fall hardest on those with the most complex needs – children from care needing permanence who require intensive therapeutic support. We do not believe that the trauma they have experienced can be meaningfully addressed within the constraints of the new funding limits.

How does today’s statement on the ASGSF align with the government’s own promise to “keep children safe and help families thrive,” made just months ago?

We are particularly concerned by the short-sightedness of this decision, despite the knowledge that exists from research and lived expertise. Unresolved trauma, adopter/carer burnout and family instability do not save money – they lead to greater costs to society down the line. This move will also discourage prospective adopters, at a time when every effort should be made to support them in their wish to adopt a child.

Despite this, voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) remain unwavering in their commitment to lifelong support for adoptees and adoptive families, a promise made long before the ASGSF existed. Our member agencies at CVAA have a long and proud history of timely responsiveness, innovation, resilience, and steadfastness, even in times of crisis.

VAAs already subsidise government-funded adoption support by millions each year through fundraising and are committed to continuing this with the help of many generous and passionate donors who share their unwavering ambition for vulnerable children’s futures. VAAs are also committed to continuing to work with regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to ensure children get what they need to thrive.

If the government is serious about keeping children safe, and helping families to thrive, they must do better and ensure that children needing permanence are supported for as long as they need through long-term funded access to high quality, evidence-based support.

That’s why last week CVAA launched a series of reports designed to help shape, policy practice and also sector action.

We kicked off with our new strategy which will guide our work and focus for the next 3 years. It lays out a vision for shaping the future of adoption services centred around creating a diverse, inclusive and modern adoption system which can truly meet children’s identity needs.

Underpinned by a thriving voluntary sector, our strategy argues that the transformation of adoption must be centred around three core objectives.

• Meeting adopted people’s identity needs
• Tackling sector and adopter diversity
• Championing the modernisation of adoption

These themes are not new, and across both voluntary and statutory agencies work is already underway to drive best practice. Our strategy builds on this work and sets a series of goals which will either embed what is working well more widely or develop new ways of working to the benefit of families, and ultimately adoptees.

To ensure that our ambition is backed up by action, last week also marked the launch of My People a blueprint for a new network and hub to transform how we support adopted children to maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. We know this is critical because adoptee voices are repeatedly telling us that the experiences of being separated from parents, brothers and sisters, as well as others significant to them, continues to have a detrimental effect on their lives as adults. Despite good work going on within agencies on this, the pace of change has not been fast enough, and we hope My People can bring some much-needed coordination and structure to the existing best practice going on across the country. My People also sets out ideas for supporting adoptees through adulthood when they need services, something which currently does not exist.

However, it is also clear that the sector alone cannot deliver the scale of change that is needed. Many of the challenges facing VAAs, and ultimately families, are driven by current funding models, legal frameworks or national policies which stand in the way of child-centred decision making or prevent adoptees and their families getting the support they need.

Reforming these will take action from the next government to lay the right foundations for change. For this reason, our final publication last week was our Manifesto for Adoption which sets out the key steps political leaders must take. This draws not just upon the voices of our members but those of adopters, adoptees and birth families and is focused on five key themes:

1. Recognising the value of adoption
2. Reducing delay for all children, but particularly those who wait the longest
3. Supporting adopted children’s identity needs
4. Timely support which prioritises early intervention and developing more trauma-informed schools
5. Acknowledging the lifelong impact of trauma

Key recommendations within this include levelling the inter-agency fee in England, a commitment to the ongoing funding for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund beyond March 2025, creating multi-disciplinary support plans (with a duty to deliver them) for every adopted child and ensuring that support continues past 18 to recognise the lifelong nature of adoption and it’s associated trauma. A full copy of our Manifesto is available here.

To mark the culmination of this important work, we were delighted to bring together members and partners from across the children’s social care sector, including Ofsted, Department for Education, the Judiciary and academics, at NCVO last week.

The launch was also an opportunity to hear from individuals with lived experience adoptees and adopters, about why the work VAAs do is so important and why we must continue to come together to push for the change that adoptees and their families deserve.

We know that there is much work to be done but our portfolio of publications sets out our vision and ambition, which we believe can be realised if the sector comes together. To enable this CVAA will convene an Adoption Sector Summit later this year to ensure that all relevant stakeholders, including adoptees themselves, contribute to our efforts in shaping the future of adoption services.

One of the first decisions to make if you are thinking about adopting is which agency to choose. In your local area there are likely to be two types of adoption agencies to choose from – Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAAs) and Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs). This blog explains the main differences between them, to help you reach the right decision for you.

VAAs are independent, not for profit organisations which are smaller than most local government agencies. RAAs on the other hand are collaboratives of local authority adoption teams covering a region. Both VAAs and RAAs do similar work in finding, preparing, training, assessing and supporting prospective adopters – and most importantly matching them with children who are in need of lifelong, loving homes. However, VAAs and RAAs also have different strengths and benefits. Deciding on an agency therefore depends on weighing these up and thinking about what you value most, as well as ensuring you feel comfortable working with the one you choose, as we all have preferences in life.

The main strengths that VAAs offer are:

1. Lifelong adoption support for their adoptive families. VAAs know that support is absolutely crucial for adoptive families and needs to be available for families to access at any time until a child turns 18, and sometimes beyond, without long waiting lists. VAAs are smaller and tend to be specialised in adoption support so can be responsive to what families need, whenever they need it.
2. A family feel. Adopters often tell us this is why they chose to adopt with a VAA. Again, the size of VAAs means that adopters can form close relationships with the wider team and agency – not just their own social worker! All the latest Ofsted inspections for our VAAs have been Outstanding or Good (or the equivalent highest ratings for our members in the Celtic nations) and relationships are at the heart of this. In England, RAAs are not currently inspected although adoption is looked at within the broader inspections of children’s social care services. You can look at Ofsted reports here.
3. Diversity and inclusivity. VAAs really get to know their local communities and are more likely to place children with adopters from a diverse range of backgrounds. 1 in 5 VAA adoptions are to LGBTQ+ adopters and 13% of VAA adoptions are to adopters from a minority ethnic/global majority group.
4. The ability to match adopters with children from across the UK, rather than just their local area. VAAs work in partnership with all regions of the country to help find homes for children. This can be especially helpful for those hoping to adopt a child with certain characteristics, such as a child who shares the same ethnicity and cultural heritage.

RAAs of course have their own strengths and benefits too which include:

1. Being part of the local authorities which have children in their care. This means that RAAs are the first to know about the children who have a plan for adoption, so can start looking for adopters straight away. You might hear that this means RAAs can match adopters with children more quickly than VAAs. This can be true but waiting times depend on lots of other factors too – like where in the country you live, what RAA/VAA partnerships are like in your area, and which children you are open to adopting. Some VAAs publish average times it takes for adopters to be matched with children on their websites, which can help adopters in their decision making.
2. Matching more younger children without siblings. RAAs tend to look among their own adopters first when seeking to match these children, so if you have definite preferences to adopt a baby or toddler, it’s worth considering this. However, changes in adoption mean that there are fewer babies with a plan for adoption than there used to be, so nothing can be guaranteed. VAAs are experts in finding homes for brothers and sisters, children from diverse backgrounds and who may need extra support in some way – which is why great adoption support and diversity are such big priorities for them!

Feel free to ask VAAs about the differences between their agency and the local RAA too while you are making these decisions. They are there to help and the most important thing is that adopters can make properly informed choices about the agency they go with, by weighing up what is most important to them.

The Adoption and Fostering podcast also discusses some of the differences between VAAs and RAAs in Episode 186, available here.