Scotland’s new National Adoption Register, designed to increase and speed up adoptions for children, will begin taking referrals from the end of the month. 

The Scottish Government has allocated £26,282 to the British Association for Adoption and Fostering in 2010-11 to help set up the register and is providing a further £87,934 a year, for the next three financial years to run it, initially on a three-year pilot basis. 

Between its launch in 2004 and February this year, the Adoption Register for England and Wales, also run by BAAF, has matched 1390 children as a result of links it has identified.  

Children’s Minister Adam Ingram said: 

“The latest figures show that last year there were 15,892 looked after children in Scotland yet only 455 children were adopted. The statistics also show that children are becoming looked after for longer periods of time – creating uncertainty and potential long term social and emotional problems. 

“The Scottish Government has been looking at how best to increase adoption rates, given the long-term benefits this has for children who can no longer remain with their birth parents. The creation of the National Adoption Register is a key part of those efforts. These changes will make a real difference to children’s lives, giving more of them access to a stable, loving home and better future life opportunities.” 

Barbara Hudson, Director of BAAF Scotland, said:

“We are very excited about establishing the Adoption Register in Scotland. If it is as successful as the one in England and Wales then there is a real potential to make a big difference to the lives of many of children across Scotland who desperately need love and stability from a forever family.” 

The register will go live from March 31, after which all local authorities and adoption agencies will be asked to refer all children who have had a permanence decision to the register. If they have not been matched with a family within three months of the referral, the register will begin looking for a match nationally. It is also proposed that prospective adopters be placed on the register once a decision has been made by their adoption panel decision and they will be made available on the register three months later. Referrals to the adoption register must be done by the relevant local authority social services department or by an adoption agency. Members of the public cannot refer themselves.