Young children in Scotland's care system waiting more than two years for decisions on a permanent home
Experts at a national summit say the decision-making process is fragmented, too slow and too expensive, as research finds children in London are four times as likely as those in Glasgow to reach a permanent placement.
A children's playground in Scotland. Research shows young children in care wait more than two years on average for a decision on a permanent home. · Photograph: Sylvia Duckworth (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Babies and young children in Scotland's care system are still waiting more than two years on average for a decision about their permanent home, research shows – with families describing being left "holding their breath".
Experts who gathered for a national summit on the issue have renewed calls for reform of a decision-making process they describe as fragmented, too slow and too expensive.
"Everything is on pause"
For Sarah and her partner, becoming parents through adoption took five years.
The couple were approved to adopt in August 2019 and matched in March 2020 with a ten-month-old child who had been in foster care. It was another seven months before the child came to live with them, in December 2020 – and a further three years before the child officially had a permanent home.
Sarah told STV News: "Essentially, you're holding your breath until such time as that child is with you. Everything is on pause while you wait for somebody to decide what's happening with your life."
She added: "There is a whole missing part from the very earliest points. It's very hard to look at your child or look at photos of your child as a baby, but not having actually been there."
Glasgow and London compared
Research from the BeST Services Trial, led by the University of Glasgow, has highlighted a significant gap between Scotland and England.
It found that children in London were more than four times as likely to reach a permanent placement as those in Glasgow. Just 27% of children in Scotland achieved a permanent home within five years.
"Unacceptable"
NSPCC Scotland policy manager Joanne Smith said: "We are failing to deliver security for babies in Scotland at great expense to the Scottish public not only in economic terms but also in human terms – that is unacceptable."
She said infancy is a unique developmental window requiring a distinct response, and that the first three years of life shape how a baby views themselves. "There is a whole range of reform under way in Scotland currently but to my mind none of it is looking specifically at the needs of infants," she said.
Twice the cost of England
The delays also come at a financial price. Scotland's care system for under-fives costs twice as much as England's, where a family court judge oversees cases and sets clear timescales.
Former sheriff David Mackie said the extra cost was largely down to the length of time decisions take and the number of people involved in the process.
Campaigners want a clearer, faster system with firm timescales, so that the youngest children in care can be settled with a permanent family as early as possible.