The Government has announced £16m extra funding for voluntary adoption agencies to help find new adopters.
The extra money will be available from later this year until 2016 and will be focussed on helping third sector groups and voluntary agencies find an extra 2,000 adopters.
It will also provide business support for adoption agencies, providing advice, coaching and guidance to help them expand their operations.
‘There are still over 4,000 children waiting to be adopted nationally, and we cannot stand by whilst children’s futures hang in the balance,’ said children’s minister, Edward Timpson.
‘This is why we are taking a closer look at how we are recruiting new parents by giving voluntary adoption agencies a bigger role.
‘We know more than 650,000 people would consider adopting right now, yet more than 700 additional adopters are needed each year to keep up with the growing number of children waiting to be adopted,’ added Mr Timpson.