Coram-i – Top 100 Children with the Longest Journeys from Entry into Care to Adoption

Coram-i has completed its analysis on the child level data for the 100 children who had the longest journeys to adoption to see if any patterns and trends could be identified. We’ve included a few top-line findings below and you can download the report here.

• In 2020/21 the top 100 children adopted took on average 67 months (six years); 39 months (3 years) longer than the average for all children with an adoption order in 2020/21
• In 2020/21 the East Midlands had the highest proportion of children adopted who were part of the top 100 children (6%) and the East of England and the South West had the longest average journey times for the top 100 children – 82 months (over 6 years)
• There has been a decline in the number of foster care adoptions from 40% in 2018/19 to 29% in 2020/21
• Over the last three years there has been an increase in number and proportion of children in the top 100 children adopted cohorts placed with an LA/RAA’s own adopters, and a decrease in the number and proportion placed with VAA adopters
• In 2020/21, 46% of standard adoptions for children in the cohort were placed with the LA’s own adopters, 34% with another LA/RAA adopter and 15% with a VAA adopter.