MEMBERS of the public were given the chance to ask each political party about their adoption policies during a webinar with Adoption UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday evening, representatives from Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru, Welsh Conservatives, Welsh Liberal Democrats and Propel attended the event entitled: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Do adopted young people have a fair chance in Wales?<\/sub>‘<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ahead of the 2021 Senedd Elections, the panellists set our their party\u2019s plans to support adoption in Wales. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ann Bell, Adoption UK\u2019s Wales Director, called it: \u201ca fantastic opportunity to grill representatives from the competing political parties about what they\u2019ll do for adoptive families and whether they\u2019ll make adoption a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welsh Labour <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Julie Morgan MS, Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services opened the event with Labour\u2019s thoughts on adoption:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’m very pleased the latest adoption UK barometer and rating showed that Wales was ahead of the other UK nations in some areas for approvals for matching and for national policy for newly placed families. We set up a National Adoption service in 2014, to try to reduce drift and delay for children who are waiting to be adopted, and to encourage a broader range of adopters. We’ve invested \u00a32.3m specifically in adoption and this has helped to fund the Adopting Together service and various types of adoptive support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features expected to be in Labour\u2019s manifesto:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welsh Conservatives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Abigail Mainon, Senedd 2021 Conservative candidate, began with her thoughts on adoption:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Welsh Conservatives would like to address this issue holistically. So it’s not just looking at adoption policy, but looking at the resources that are available to children and young people that are going through this service, ensuring that we streamline the adoption services so it’s an easier experience for adoptive parents and for the children who are going through this process. We back calls from Adoption UK, and for schools to receive additional financial support to provide extra targeted support for these more vulnerable children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features expected to appear in the Conservative’s manifesto:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welsh Liberal Democrats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Senedd 2021 Liberal Democrat candidate Jo Watkins spoke about her party’s approach to adoption:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are three main areas I would like us to focus on, in terms of having a stronger Lib Dem presence in the Senedd. Firstly, the support given to adoptive families. As the child grows older, they need to be able to access help and support and they need to be able to access it swiftly. I would also like to have a special focus on schools. Our school staff need training, they need their professional development to focus on some of these key areas. Also, I definitely want us to be able to look at health and the situation with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, and not being diagnosed easily and properly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features expected to appear in the Lib Dem’s manifesto:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plaid Cymru <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Helen Mary Jones MS opened with a speech about how Plaid Cymru will aid adoption services:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe party will commit to maintaining the National Adoption service: I think we’ve been very clear that that has been a success. I think there’s an argument for taking a more national approach towards fostering as well. We want to maintain the current support for potential parents and children, young people that happens before adoption. And we would look to find ways to legislate to give adoptive parents and children who’ve been adopted a legal rights to ongoing support until the child is an adult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Key features expected to appear in Plaid Cymru’s manifesto:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Propel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Leader of Propel, Neil McEvoy MS, outlined Wales\u2019 newest political party\u2019s views on adoption:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have far too little economic opportunity. We should have started grants for young people who want to start businesses, we should have government sponsorship schemes. So maybe young people can be paid to go through university; we would be looking as well at a fast-track system for children or former children in care to become social workers. In terms of adoption, generally, I don’t feel enough support is in place for families when they encounter adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key features expected to appear in Propel’s manifesto:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adoption UK was set up 50 years ago to support adoptive families in the UK. The charity hoped that the event would encourage more discussion around adoption prior to the Senedd elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe current administration has made great strides in investing in support for adoptive families over the last five years but we know\u00a0that\u00a0outcomes for adopted children still lag\u00a0way\u00a0behind their peers. It is\u00a0vital\u00a0the next government\u00a0prioritises adoptive families to\u00a0help\u00a0bridge this gap. We know adopted young people\u00a0need support\u00a0to\u00a0help them to\u00a0fulfil\u00a0their\u00a0potential,” said Ann Bell, Adoption UK’s Director for Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The parties will each reveal an individual manifesto soon, in which you can find their concrete plans for adoption. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MEMBERS of the public were given the chance to ask each political party about their adoption policies during a webinar with Adoption UK. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":546,"featured_media":50135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,176,3],"tags":[7060,1479,588],"coauthors":[6728],"class_list":["post-49852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city","category-general","category-news","tag-adoption","tag-election","tag-senedd"],"yoast_head":"\n