I'm a parent who has experienced the devastating impact of child removal by social services, fondly referred to as "SS". Today, I'm standing up not just for myself but also for the countless single mothers and fathers who have had their children taken from them. My two-year-old son knows who I am, who his father is, and who his family is, but being away from us is causing him immense distress. He should be home with us, where he belongs, not with strangers.

Unfortunately, my story isn't unique. Each year, social services removes thousands of children from their families, many times placing these children with strangers in adoption agencies. Not only is this practice traumatic for the children, but it also contradicts the strong body of research indicating that family support is vital to a child's physical, emotional, and psychological development.

In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, children who maintain connections with their birth parents show better mental health outcomes even when adopted (APA, 2012). Additionally, a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that children who remain with their families under supervised conditions fare better than those placed in foster care.

I urge the authorities to prioritize keeping families intact through family reunification services whenever possible. Let's ensure that no child is unnecessarily taken away from their birth families and that parents are given the necessary support to provide a safe, loving, and nurturing environment for their children.

I request your support in calling for a revision of the current child welfare policies, focusing on family preservation and reunification over removing children from their homes. Please sign this petition. Together, we can make a change. And revoking orders make a difference  to our country and systems  then government  won't have to cut disabilities  benefits or school funds or NHS funds as these ones matter please help us put this to a stop I have seen on another Website and there are adoption children saying how they have been abused  and neglected by there adoption familys  even in foster homes this is happening  let's get the government  to hear our voices once and for all and put a stop to all essex social services  and loyal councils  in essex of doing this to familys in the UK essex and USA boards Children waiting for their new family …. 

 

The following case studies show children to whom you could become a parent. They will hopefully give you an

idea of the different ages, backgrounds and needs of children; and not least of all, a sense of their little

personalities.

When you are first looking at becoming a parent through adoption, you may not know which children you can

envisage parenting. The majority of children waiting to be adopted are aged between 18 months and 8 years.

There are single children, as well as brothers and sisters. All children have individual and varying needs.

The main aim of the adoption application process is to get to know you and your household really well, so we can

make the best family matches. These case study profiles are to kick start your thought processes about children

you can picture being part of your family.

We work with you, using discussion tools, to look at the best matches between you and children coming forward

for adoption. We will ask questions like, could you consider a sibling group? Could you envisage parenting a

child with partial deafness, or a child who experienced a negative start in life? There are many boxes and their

are many discussions you will have. No one likes to put children ‘in a box’, but these are tools to get us all

thinking towards the best family matches. You will learn and develop your knowledge of adoption and more

about yourself as a parent; so once you tick a box, it does not mean you can’t untick it in the future. These

conversations are never comfortable, but we ask you to be true to yourself , so we can work together to find the

right child or children for you.

Please ask us any questions and let us know if you have any thoughts along the way. The team are here to

support children, parents and families whenever they are needed. On this adoption website children have been waiting on there for 8 to 9 years and still waiting there's a 4 years old boy on there and he has been waiting since birth like some of this children do it's just not fair To keep more families together in Essex, UK, family courts should prioritize early intervention and preventative measures, focus on family support and reunification services, and explore alternatives to care, such as kinship care, where appropriate. Strengthening families through targeted support and resources can reduce the need for children to be removed from their birth parents. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

1. Early Intervention and Preventative Measures:

Focus on early identification of at-risk families:

This involves proactive engagement with families to identify potential issues before they escalate, allowing for timely support and intervention. 

Strengthening support services for families:

Providing access to resources like parenting programs, financial assistance, mental health support, and substance abuse treatment can help families address challenges and improve their capacity to care for their children. 

Promoting healthy family relationships:

Encouraging positive communication, conflict resolution skills, and healthy attachment between parents and children can foster a stable and nurturing environment. 

Addressing parental substance misuse and mental health:

Providing specialized support and treatment for parents struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues can significantly improve their ability to parent effectively. 

2. Family Support and Reunification:

Prioritizing family reunification:

When children are removed from their families, efforts should be made to support and facilitate their safe return home, as long as it is in their best interests.

Providing intensive family support services:

This can include intensive in-home support, therapeutic interventions, and practical assistance to help families overcome the challenges that led to the child's removal.

Developing robust support networks for families:

Connecting families with community resources, peer support groups, and other relevant services can help them build a strong foundation for long-term stability. 

3. Alternatives to Care:

Exploring kinship care:

When it is not possible for a child to remain with their birth parents, kinship care (placement with relatives or close family friends) should be considered as a viable alternative to traditional foster care. 

Supporting kinship carers:

Providing kinship carers with the necessary support, training, and financial assistance can help them provide a safe and stable environment for the child. 

Considering fostering only when necessary:

Foster care should be reserved for situations where there are serious concerns about a child's safety and well-being, and where other options are not viable. 

4. Strengthening the Court System:

Ensuring access to legal representation:

Providing legal aid to parents involved in family court proceedings can help ensure they have access to fair representation and can effectively advocate for their rights and their children's best interests. 

Promoting mediation and alternative dispute resolution:

Encouraging mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution can help families resolve disagreements outside of the courtroom, potentially leading to more amicable and child-focused outcomes. 

Prioritizing the child's welfare in all decisions:

The courts should always prioritize the child's welfare and best interests when making decisions about their care and placement. 

By implementing these strategies, Essex family courts can work towards keeping more children with their birth families while ensuring their safety and well-being and this is what the family courts are meant to be doing but they dont listne to parents they take more socila care children social workers more than us parents. As of early 2026, the children’s social care system in England is in a severe,, compounded crisis
, characterized by a critical shortage of suitable foster placements, a reliance on expensive, unregulated, or illegal accommodation for vulnerable children, and a 45% increase in children waiting for adoption since 2022.  UK Parliament +3
Key Elements of the 2026 Crisis:
Placement Shortage: A long-term decline in foster carer numbers has led to a desperate shortage of suitable homes. This has forced local authorities to use "illegal" placements—including caravans, holiday camps, and unregulated homes—for children with complex needs.
Adoption Crisis: The number of adoptive families in crisis is rising, with adoption breakdowns doubling, and a significant increase in children waiting for permanent homes.
Financial Pressures: Costs for residential placements have surged, with some costing over £1 million per year per child, straining council budgets.
Systemic Failures: The system is struggling with rising child poverty, mental health needs, and a lack of early intervention, causing more children to enter care with complex needs.
Government Action: In response, the government has launched a, drive to secure 10,000 new foster places, though sector experts emphasize the need for fundamental,, system-wide,, reform. 

45% rise since 2022 in number of children waiting for adoption, as adopter numbers plummet
28 October 20255 mins read
 
Children
   
Mithran Samuel
Charity urges reinstatement of national adoption register - scrapped six years ago - to tackle increasing waits for children as sector leaders cite cost of living as cause of decline in adopter registration numbers
 
   
Photo: fizkes/Adobe Stock
There has been a 45% rise in the number of children waiting to be adopted in England over the past three years, as prospective adopter numbers have plummeted, official figures have shown.

Average waiting times for children with a placement order have also grown significantly, with particularly long delays for those aged five and over or with a disability, according to the latest Adoption and Special Guardianship Quarterly Data Collection.

Sector leaders said the cost of living was contributing to the declining number of people coming forward to adopt, while charity Coram urged the government to revive the national adoption register, scrapped six years ago, to help cut delays for children.

However, the data also showed that councils were placing fewer children for adoption, with the family courts making fewer placement orders, trends that may be linked to the growing adopter shortage.

Rising number of children waiting, fewer adopters
The Department for Education-commissioned figures, produced by Coram-i, the charity's data and improvement arm, showed 2,940 children with a placement order were waiting to be placed with a family as of 30 June 2025.This was up by 45.5% on the figure three years previously - 2,020. Over the same period, the number of approved adopters waiting for a child to be placed with them has gone in the opposite direction, falling from 2,480 to 1,420, a drop of 42.7%.

Coram-i said there were 1,890 children for whom active family finding was taking place, for whom 1,460 adopter families were needed. However, there were just 680 adopter families involved in family finding, leaving a shortfall of 780 as of June 2025. This was almost three times the equivalent figure in March 2024 (265).

The number of people registering to adopt in April to June 2025 - 760 - was down by 12% on the equivalent quarter in 2024. While the number approved during the quarter, 510, was slightly up on the April to June 2024 figure, this was the second lowest quarterly figure for approvals since April 2022

Longer waits, particularly for older and disabled children
The resulting shortages have translated into children with a placement order facing longer waits to be placed with a family. This averaged 292 days - almost 10 months -  in April to June 2025, up from 281 days in 2024-25 and 187 days in 2022-23.
The number of children who had been waiting with a placement order for 18 months rose to 410 as of 30 June 2025, up from 390 in March 2025 and 240 in March 2024.

The majority of this group - 330 - were children deemed harder to place (boys, disabled children and those aged five and over, from a non-white ethnic minority or in a sibling group), with delays particularly long for older and disabled children.

Those aged five and over waited an average of 508 days and disabled children 444 days in the first quarter of 2025-26, up from 304 days and 331 days, respectively, in 2022-23.

Courts making fewer placement orders
At the same time, councils are placing fewer children for adoption and the courts are making fewer placement orders.There was a 13% fall in the number of agency decision maker decisions to place children for adoption in the first quarter of 2025-26 (880) compared with the same quarter of 2024-25 (1,010).

Meanwhile, the number of placement orders made in April to June 2025 (700) was 15% down on the same quarter of 2024-25 (820), and 12% below the quarterly average from 2022-25 (799).

In an interview with Community Care earlier this year, Adoption England's national strategic adoption lead, Sarah Johal, said that the fall in placement order numbers may be a reaction from the courts to the shortage of adopters.

'Cost of living driving adopter shortages'
In response to the figures, Adoption England, which is funded by the DfE to support regional adoption agencies, said: "Insights from adoption agencies across the country show that the cost-of-living crisis has contributed to a decline in the number of people coming forward to adopt."This means that more children are now facing delays of over 18 months before being matched with a family - an increase compared to the previous year," it added. "These delays highlight the urgent need for more people to consider adoption."

The news comes alongside the launch of Adoption England's latest You Can Adopt campaign to encourage people to come forward to adopt, which this year is focused on tackling the misconception that adopters need to have a "perfect home" to welcome a child into their family.

Campaign tackles belief that adopters need 'perfect home'
A survey of 502 adoptive parents for the campaign found that 86% had worried that they needed a "perfect home" to be able to adopt. However, 41% lived in a home with two or fewer bedrooms and 65% had no garden.In a comment for the campaign, children's minister Josh MacAlister said: "We encourage everyone from all walks of life to consider adopting to be the difference for children – you don’t need to live in a big, expensive house, you just need to give a child the love and support they need.”

However, alongside cost of living issues, a greater proportion of adoptive families are under strain, including because of a lack of post-adoption support, according to Adoption UK's latest Adoption Barometer survey.

More adoptive families under strain 
This found 42% of adoptive families had faced severe challenges that had placed their family under great strain in 2024, up from 38% in 2023 and 30% in 2022.It also reported that the proportion of families who had experienced violent or aggressive behaviour from their child during the year rose to 65%, up from 60% in 2023 and 57% in 2022.

At the same time, significant concerns have been raised about the impact on families of government cuts to payments under the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), which funds therapy for adoption and kinship families.

ASGSF cuts 'leading to poorer mental health'
In April, the DfE cut the annual ceiling on payments per child for therapy under the fund from £5,000 to £3,000, ended a separate £2,500 annual allowance for assessments and scrapped match funding of more expensive packages by the ASGSF.Subsequent research by campaign group Action Against ASGSF Changes found families were increasingly struggling to meet children’s needs as a result of cuts to their therapy provision and longer waits for support, resulting in harm to the mental health of children and those caring for them.

The importance of post-adoption support in recruiting sufficient adopters was highlighted by the charity Coram, which runs the Ambitious for Adoption RAA in London and the South East and sector best practice body CoramBAAF.

Chief executive Carol Homden said children waiting with a placement order were "very young and cannot afford delay or compromise", making it a priority for society to enable more potential adopters to come forward.

"Trust and confidence that there will be lifelong, timely support for adoptive families is crucial, so ongoing funding of that support is essential to ensure that families get the specialist help they need."

Charity urges revival of national adoption register
“With children waiting longer to be matched, we also need to ensure that all options to give children stability are considered at the earliest point, irrespective of agency type or location," Homden added.In relation to this, Coram called for the revival of the national adoption register for England, which operated from 2001-19 and to which all agencies were required to refer unmatched adopters and children within 90 days of their adoption application or plan being approved.

The charity ran the service from 2016-19, before which it was operated by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering, some of whose functions were absorbed by Coram on BAAF's closure in 2015.

Homden said that, during its lifespan, the register "matched thousands of children including those with complex needs, to ensure that every child has the best possible chance of finding a loving home".

She also called on the courts to "keep their faith in the role of adoption in the continuum of care".

Declining adoption numbers 'may reflect policy shift'
However, the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) highlighted the growing policy focus on children being enabled to stay with their families, a key plank of the government's current children's social care reforms.President Rachael Wardell said: “Adoption can be the right thing for some children, but it’s not suitable for every child. Also, the direction of travel in terms of government policy and frontline practice is to keep more children with their families, which could be a factor in this latest set of data.

“There are also long delays in the family courts, which a select committee recently commented upon, and which might be a factor in this slowdown in final orders being seen. For children for whom adoption is right, these delays need to be tackled so they can be assured of their loving home.”

Local authorities in England are currently struggling with a chronic shortage of suitable care placements, with children often waiting an average of six months for appropriate, secure accommodation
. As of late 2024, nearly 800 children were in illegal or unregistered placements, while those needing secure care for high-risk needs can wait 65 days or more, with some waiting over 200 days.  UK Parliament +1
Key findings regarding placement failures include:
Duration of Delays: Children needing secure care face long waits, sometimes exceeding 211 days. Others in unregistered placements averaged around six months in these settings.
Illegal Placements: Nearly 800 vulnerable children were placed in illegal, unregistered homes in September 2024, representing about 1 in 10 children in residential care.
Systemic Pressures: The shortage of secure homes has led to increased use of "deprivation of liberty" (DoLS) orders via the High Court, as local authorities cannot find registered placements.
Impact: The lack of suitable, permanent homes has led to increased use of unsuitable, temporary accommodation, including B&Bs and, in extreme cases, caravans, for extended periods.  39 Essex Chambers +3
These pressures are widespread across England and Wales, with the Local Government Association (LGA) highlighting that on any given day, up to 50 children may be waiting for a secure home.  Local Government Association
 
 
Hundreds of vulnerable children placed in illegal homes for months by care ...
16 Jan 2026 — Hundreds of vulnerable children placed in illegal homes for months by care system. 16 January 2026. Children are being put at risk as a result of being placed i...  I think it’s about time someone stands up and get placements and care orders revoked in Essex and Suffolk for family’s and make the sw work with family’s at home with them children 
 
UK Parliament

Children's social care in England is in a significant crisis in 2025, characterized by a severe shortage of suitable foster/residential placements and an acute shortage of adoptive families
. Over 80,000 children are in care, with rising complexities leading to high-cost, inadequate placements like unregulated, unsuited accommodation.  UK Parliament +3
Children's Placement Crisis (2025)
Shortage of Homes: The system is facing severe shortages of appropriate placements, with many children placed in, or at risk of, poor-quality accommodation.
Increasing Numbers: The number of children in care remains high (over 81,000 in early 2025), with a rising number of children with complex needs entering the system.
Failed Placements: There are reports of children being placed in inappropriate settings, including barges and caravans, due to a lack of safe, regulated placements.
Recruitment Crisis: A, report by The Fostering Network highlighted an urgent need for a national strategy to address the shortage of foster carers.  Institute for Government +4
Adoption Agencies Crisis (2025)
Declining Adopter Numbers: As of March 2025, there is a projected shortfall of 750 adoptive families, representing a significant decline compared to previous years.
Longer Waiting Times: There has been a 55% rise in the number of children waiting for more than a year with a placement order.
Adoptive Family Strain: Adoption UK's reports indicate that high numbers of adoptive families are facing crisis points, often due to a lack of post-adoption support.  The Guardian +1
Key Drivers of the Crisis
Funding Cuts: Local authorities have reduced funding for preventative services by 18% since 2015, resulting in more children needing intensive care later.
Complexity of Needs: Shortages in children's mental health services have meant more children entering care with complex, unmet needs.
Staffing Shortages: High vacancy rates, exacerbated by visa restrictions, make it difficult to staff care homes properly. 

The Effects of Separating Children From Their Parents
What science says about the detrimental effects of separating families.
Posted July 5, 2018  Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

 
 
 
 
 
This weekend, I attended the 40th annual meeting of the International Congress on Infant Studies in Philadelphia, where experts in the field of infant and child development came together to exchange ideas about how children develop, and best practices for promoting their health and well-being. While we were at the conference, hundreds of people came together in almost 600 different locations across the country to participate in the March to Keep Families Together, some right outside our window in Philly. In fact, several of our conference members left the talks to join the march. The protests were organized in response to the Trump administration’s recent policy requiring the prosecution of all immigrants who illegally cross the border, resulting in over 2,000 children being separated from their parents indefinitely. Although the policy has now been reversed, many of these children have yet to be reunited with their families.

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Since the policy was enforced, there have been many articles published, in many places, written by many people who oppose the practice of separating children from their families. Several of these articles have been written by the very people who attend conferences like this one, namely because the negative consequences of separating children from their parents are very well documented by developmental scientists. Despite the fact that I’m a little late in joining the conversation, and there have already been many articles published on this topic, as someone who studies child development and writes a blog aimed at translating developmental research for parents, I felt an obligation to provide a short summary on why separating children from their families is so harmful. Here it is.

 
 
Source: PublicDomainPictures/18042
First and foremost, separating children from their parents will most certainly cause distress. When we’re distressed, our brains release stress hormones into our bodies, one of the most well-studied of which is called cortisol. Brief or mild periods of stress—perhaps caused by routine vaccinations or a temper tantrum—are normal and don’t generally have long-term negative consequences for the child. Moderate stress responses—from a death in the family, or parents divorcing—are sometimes called “tolerable” stressors; these stress responses don’t necessarily cause long-term harm to a child if they are somehow lessened or soothed by the presence of a parent. The most dangerous kind of stress—called “toxic stress”—can result from a prolonged period of distress without help from a loved one. This kind of stress can cause problems for the development of a child’s brain, and can have serious long-term behavioral consequences, possibly disrupting a child’s ability to regulate their emotions and cope with future stress. It could even be detrimental to learning (Shonkoff, Garner, et al., 2011).

 
Separating a child from their parents for a long period of time likely causes stress that is more than just brief or minor. Even if it causes only moderate, or “tolerable” stress, removing children from their parents also removes their primary mechanism for coping—their parents. The way that children often cope and recover from some of the more serious forms of stress is by having a responsive parent nearby. When children are crying or upset, mothers usually hug them as a form of soothing. It turns out that hugs or any form of touch can reduce stress hormones like cortisol in the body (Feldman, Singer, & Zagoory, 2010) and even lower heart rate (Ludington & Hosseini, 2005). Further, research has shown that children who receive touch therapy after having experienced post-traumatic stress are happier, less anxious, and have lower cortisol levels than children who do not get touch therapy (Field, Seligman, Scafidi, & Schanberg, 1996). The point is that physical comfort from mom is important in reducing children’s distress.

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On top of that, mothers don’t even have to hug their children to effectively reduce their stress responses—a mom’s presence might be enough to do the trick. The part of the brain that is most active when we are afraid—the amygdala—isn’t as active in children when their mothers are present as when they are absent (Gee et al., 2014). Further, there is evidence that the amygdala is activated more quickly and more easily in children who are in foster care—children who don’t have a mother in close proximity—than children who are not (Gee et al., 2013). This research suggests that a mother’s presence can affect a child’s brain, protecting it from the negative effects of fear or stress.

 
The gist here is that taking children away from their parents could not only cause potentially serious forms of stress, but it also takes away children’s primary method of coping with that stress—the presence and comfort of their mothers and fathers. Since this is only a recent policy, we don’t yet know the exact consequences of the separation for these children. But based on everything we know about child development from decades and decades of research, the result won’t be good. We do know that in previous studies of children in institutionalized care, the longer and the younger these children are institutionalized, the worse the effects (Nelson et al. 2007). There are still a lot of children who have yet to be reunited with their parents. The clock is ticking.

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For more information, here are a couple of pieces by the researchers who have done this work directly, Margaret Sheridan and Charles Nelson, Dylan Gee, and an additional piecethat interviews several other important scientists who have done extensive research in this domain. Finally, see the Society for Research in Child Development's official statement on family separation. 

 
References

Field, T., Seligman, S., Scafidi, F., & Schanberg, S. (1996). Alleviating posttraumatic stress in children following Hurricane Andrew. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17(1), 37-50.
Feldman, R., Singer, M., & Zagoory, O. (2010). Touch attenuates infants’ physiological reactivity to stress. Developmental science, 13(2), 271-278.
Gee, D. G., Gabard-Durnam, L. J., Flannery, J., Goff, B., Humphreys, K. L., Telzer, E. H., ... & Tottenham, N. (2013). Early developmental emergence of human amygdala–prefrontal connectivity after maternal deprivation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201307893.
Gee, D. G., Gabard-Durnam, L. J., Flannery, J., Goff, B., Humphreys, K. L., Telzer, E. H., ... & Tottenham, N. (2013). Early developmental emergence of human amygdala–prefrontal connectivity after maternal deprivation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201307893.Gee, D. G., Gabard-Durnam, L., Telzer, E. H., Humphreys, K. L., Goff, B., Shapiro, M., ... & Tottenham, N. (2014). Maternal buffering of human amygdala-prefrontal circuitry during childhood but not during adolescence. Psychological science, 25(11), 2067-2078.
Ludington-Hoe, S. M., & Hosseini, R. B. (2005). Skin-to-skin contact analgesia for preterm infant heel stick. AACN clinical issues, 16(3), 373.
Nelson, C. A., Zeanah, C. H., Fox, N. A., Marshall, P. J., Smyke, A. T., & Guthrie, D. (2007). Cognitive recovery in socially deprived young children: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Science, 318(5858), 1937-1940.
Shonkoff, J. P., Garner, A. S., Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, & Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care. (2011). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, peds-2011.
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Vanessa LoBue, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Rutgers University-Newark.Online:
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