Being missed out in adoption/carer process.

A recent news article in the UK press highlighted the fact that the UK social services are being requested to deal with the care needs for over 10,000 children in the past twelve months in England.. Apparently it has been a amajor struggle to find enough families to act as acrers or to adopt. At the same time the associations which are representing the extended family members are saying that they are so often overlooked by the social services. So should they be - why should Grandparents be able to be a carer or adopt their family children?

The need for continuity

As one who unfortunately went through his parents divorce and can still remember the details of what happened (God bless both my parents who have now passed over), this can be such a traumatic period in your life. It lives with you for ever and the one thing that children need during such periods of stress is continuity. Think about it. A child grows up in a stable environment. Things are fine, and at that stage the child has no way of coping with life itself. Then - pow! The whole scene changes, most often with the two people they love the most being at each others throats (figuratively speaking hopefully). Life takes a big change for the worst, and the child has no control over the outcome.

The case for bringing in the Grandparents.

Heard a lot of arguements against this and they usually start with - they are too old. Okay if you are talking 90 to 100 years old - agreed. But let's be reasonable, many grandparents are much younger as the baby boomers got married earlier. So what do they bring to the table - you've got it - continuity. Yes the house may be different, but these are the two people that the child or children know and most often love. This is continuity of major strength. Okay so it will take time for the adjustment period but the foundation is one of trust and this is a key starting point.

So why is this not the answer?

I had difficulty with this news report. It appears that the social services- get this - didn't have time to find the grandparents, and just looked for a foster carer with a vacancy! Can you believe this, and can you believe that this is a trend for the overworked social sevices? Apparently one of the MPs in UK who chairs a campaign looking at this issue has noted that Grandparents are not seen as the safer or easier option when a home is being sought for such children.? How can this not be the safer route? How can it not be an easier way to go? Does this mean that continuity is not a factor taken into consideration by Social Services, or does it mean as I think it does that they just want an easy life?? Oh boy what is our society coming too? The next problem will be dis-affected children who have been placecd in care. Let's try and stop this by bringing the Grandparents into the solution asap - please!!