Written evidence from CoramBAAF’s Black and Minority Ethnic Perspective Advisory Committee (CFA0115)

HOUSE OF LORDS CHILDREN AND FAMILIES ACT 2014 SELECT COMMITTEE INQURY

About CoramBAAF             

CoramBAAF is a UK wide membership organisation that provides information, evidence, training, publications and support to local authorities, the voluntary and independent sector on all aspects of family placement, including adoption, fostering and kinship care. With nearly all family placement organisations in England and Northern Ireland in membership, and partnership arrangements with AFA Scotland and AFA Cymru, we are a unique community of practice and leading voice for the sector.

About the Black and Minority Ethnic Perspectives Advisory Committee (BMEPAC)

The BMEPAC is an advisory committee to CoramBAAF. It consists of specialist social workers and professionals experienced in child protection and family placement, including fostering and adoption as well as people who have personal lived experience as adopters and adoptees. The BMEPAC is made up of a diverse group of BME people who also have different religious affiliations, such as Muslim, Hindu and Christian faiths, in addition to this they have invaluable experience of living in Britain as part of a minority group. The Committee advises CoramBAAF, its member agencies, individual members and other relevant child care agencies regarding policy, practice, resources and procedure concerning black and minority ethnic children, their foster carers, adoptive parents and their birth families. It seeks to promote positive outcomes for black and minority ethnic children and young people who are looked after by local authorities.

Deletion of Section 1(5) Adoption and Children Act 2002

Our submission focusses on the issues associated with the deletion of Section 1(5) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. Our view is that repealing the requirement to give “due consideration” to ethnicity, religion, race, culture and language in England when placing a child for adoption, was flawed.

The argument for removing Section 1(5) from the Children Act 2014 was, to reduce the waiting time of black children to be matched with adopters, on the assumption that there were white families who were being prevented from adopting the children, as they were not a heritage match. There is no evidence available to support that this change has had any positive impact on the waiting times for black and minority ethnic children. In our view there also needs to be further research undertaken to understand what the issues are behind the issues relating to longer waiting times for these children.

Why is this important?

Repealing the requirement to give “due consideration” to ethnicity, religion, race, culture and language in England when placing a child for adoption suggests a shift in the focus of adoption agencies to working with families who come forward to adopt transracially. The focus should instead be on the needs of the children, including their ethnicity, religion, race, culture and language.

Arguing that the less explicit ‘background and characteristic’ will suffice in ensuring “due consideration” is given to addressing all aspects of the needs of black and minority ethnic children, shows a lack of understanding of institutional racism, cultural humility and listening to the lived experiences of transracial adoptees.

Adult adoptees who have experience of being transracially adopted, often tell us that this has come at a cost to their sense of belonging and of knowing where they fit in in the world. Most are glad for the family they have had and being loved and cared for, but many share a sadness of not fitting in, about something missing, that they have had to overcome or struggled to make sense of. They share, that important aspects of their identity were not reflected in their home environment nor the communities where they lived. That the impact of regular micro aggressions – and not having the tools to understand racism/managing differences and the negative effects it had on their growing up – affected their ability to contextualise it externally, rather than internalise and impacted their self-esteem. 

Children’s experiences can vary significantly. Some may experience poor emotional and mental ill health outcomes, such as wanting to bleach their skin and change their eye shape; others may suffer in silence as they do not wish to upset or worry their adopters. Some adult adoptees tell us, it is not until they leave the protected environment of their family and have to navigate the outside world as an adult that they realise the gaps in their learning and understanding. Without the right grounding, opportunities, mentors and support, the longer term impact on their wellbeing and mental health can be significant. The journey to build a healthy identity can be lonely, confusing, and even traumatic, if not given due consideration when considering a suitable match family.

There is an added layer for adoptees who have been transracially and/or transculturally adopted, where their adopted family does not share their ethnicity, religion, language, culture. Although we believe adoptive families can be taught or immerse themselves to better understand and better meet the needs of children whose race and culture is different from themselves - to become racially and culturally literate. This may however require considerable unlearning and re-learning for these adopters. Understanding and acknowledging differences in race and culture and playing an active role in creating a home and family life that reflect the child’s heritage and understanding the impact of racism are critical steps in parenting in transracial/transcultural adoptive families.

Key recommendations:

                  The duty to have “due consideration” should be reinstated.

                  Research should be undertaken into the impact of the deletion of Section 1(5) Adoption and Children Act 2002. This should include research into why children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds experience greater delay being placed and what is preventing the greater numbers of adopters from these community being approved and matched with children. 

                  There should be a greater focus on recruiting and supporting adopters to come forward from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

                  Family finding social workers should make their best efforts to find permanent or adoptive families who can meet all the individual needs for a BME child to reflect their heritage, wherever they are located and not be restricted to the RAA of their local area.

For further information please contact Irene Levine, Chair of CoramBAAF BMEPAC at Irene.Levine@icacentre.org.uk

May 2022