National adoption week takes place from the 16th to 22nd October. It is a time to raise awareness of the high numbers of children currently in care who need permanency. However, it is also to recognize the hard work and love that carers give to children and their dedication to helping vulnerable children. With this in mind, National Adoption week is focused on the need to recruit new adopters across the UK to provide a home and a happy childhood to children in need.

Adoption and Fostering can be seen as very similar due to their purpose and particular aspects involved. Both are providers when giving children a safe, secure and loving family, which they have previously lacked.

There are many reasons as to why children are in care, whether they have suffered abuse or neglect in their home, their parents are alcoholics or drugs users, or if they simply do not have parents or family members to look after them. The reasons can really vary but it all comes down to ensuring the child’s safety and ensuring they are receiving the best care in a family environment for them to thrive.

According to the Fostering Network, 68,300 children are in care away from their home. This highlights the drastic need for more carers in the UK to help children and young people and give them their rights to a happy and loving childhood. Due to this high number, local authorities and agencies are constantly recruiting new adoptive and foster carers within their area to help support the children in care. However, sometimes adoption and fostering can become confusing and some people do not understand the differences. It can be hard to understand what it is involved, the process and what support is given. Therefore, here are some of the differences between fostering and adoption to give you a better understanding.

Adoption

Adoption is a permanent process, which legally removes the rights and responsibilities of the child’s birth parents and transfers them to adoptive parents. Therefore, the birth parents lose all legal access once the adoption order is approved by the courts. In some cases, the adoptive children can keep in contact with their parents if it is agreed during the adoption process between the birth parents and adoptive parents. This might include birthday and Christmas cards or photos of the child being sent to the birth parents.

Fostering

Fostering is a temporary care, provided for children who cannot live with their birth parents for a number of reasons. This is mainly due to ensuring the child’s safety and being able to provide them with a loving family environment. The length of time of fostering a child can vary to weeks, months or years, depending on the child’s care plan. In addition, placement types can differ from respite care, short-term or long-term care where the child will be in your care up until the age of independence at 18 years old.