Rise in babies in care proceedings raises fears of unnecessary adoptions, experts tell BBC
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Rise in babies in care proceedings raises fears of unnecessary adoptions, experts tell BBC
Image source: Getty Images
By Claire Kendall and Judith Moritz, File on 4 Investigates
Published 5 minutes ago
The number of children involved in care proceedings before they reach their first birthdays is at a persistently high level across England, according to experts who have published new figures.
Data from the universities of Lancaster and Oxford indicates care proceedings for babies have risen by 64% over the past two decades, with one in 118 infants affected. The figures - up to 2024-25 - peaked during Covid, before dropping slightly and plateauing.
While there are cases where it is unsafe for parents to continue contact with their children, experts have told File on 4 Investigates that many babies may not have needed to go into care if support had been in place. And, since very young children who go into care are more likely to be adopted than older children, there are also concerns from experts that some may have been permanently separated from their birth families unnecessarily.
The BBC understands that new guidance for Family Court judges, to significantly reduce the number of short-notice care hearings - within hours or days of a baby being born - will be announced before the end of the year.
Image source: Stephen Fildes / BBC
Image caption: Only up to a quarter of children's care proceedings are "clear-cut", involving serious harm or abuse, says Prof Karen Broadhurst.
According to latest government figures, 72% of adopted children in England went into care before turning one. Most of the adoptions, more than 90%, went ahead without parents' written consent - according to CoramBAAF, which represents those working in adoption and care. Courts overruled parents' wishes in just under half of those cases. The rest were classed as "unopposed", with many parents advised not to contest the adoptions, because they would be unlikely to succeed.
Adoption should be pursued as a last resort, the government and adoption organisations have told us, because, while it offers stability, it also severs the legal relationship between the child and its birth family forever.
Forced Adoption... is it happening today?
Some babies taken into care before their first birthdays might have stayed at home if families had received the right support, experts tell File on 4 Investigates.
Listen now on BBC Sounds or on BBC Radio 4 at 20:00 on Tuesday 6 October