Adoption levels in Hackney hit new low

No babies were adopted in Hackney last year

The number of children adopted in Hackney fell to a dramatic new low last year – and none of those adopted were newborn babies.

Seven out of 42 children in the borough who were looking for adoptive parents in 2010-2011 were successfully given the chance of a permanent family life.

This fell sharply from 16 adopted the year before.

The total number of adoptions in the borough has continued to drop from 24 in 2008-2009 and 22 in 2007-2008 although 12 children have been adopted this year.

This comes after the Department of Education revealed that the number of babies adopted in England fell to 60 last year. Not one of the children adopted in the borough last year were babies under the age of one.

Nationwide figures show that it takes on average two years and seven months before children are adopted.

Black children are three times less likely to be adopted than white children, according to the coalition’s adviser Martin Narey.

Cllr Rita Krishna, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “The council will not hasten the matching of vulnerable children with potential adopters at the expense of depth and quality of our decisions.”

Jonathan Pearce, chief executive of charity Adoption UK, said the decrease was partly down to fewer adoptive parents being available, because of “a reduced focus by local authorities on recruitment of adopters.”