Review of the Adoption Support Fund Covid-19 Scheme published by the Department for Education

IPC’s Review of the Adoption Support Fund Covid-19 Scheme for over 23,000 adopted children and families and children with a Special Guardianship Order has been published by the Department for Education (DfE). For more information, contact Assistant Director, Katy Burch.

Key findings

The report outlines key findings from a review of the Department for Education’s Adoption Support Fund Covid-19 Scheme. During an early period of the Covid-19 pandemic over 23,000 adopted children, and families and children with a Special Guardianship Order were included.

Findings cover:

• Block commissioning, a light touch administration system, and an ability to deliver online enabled funded support to ‘reach’ a very wide range of people in a very short time and flexible way.
• The Fund was thought to have stimulated thinking in the sector about the value of providing and marketing a ‘core offer’ of earlier help for families before they reach crisis point.
• In terms of the marketing of support and how it is provided, special guardians and the children in their care are likely to need a different approach to adopted parents and children. They are more likely to be wary of what is offered by local authorities or Regional Adoption Agencies and may prefer support provided by an independent or voluntary sector provider such as Grandparents Plus (now ‘Kinship’).
• A variety of innovations were developed with the support of this funding, many of which proved highly successful. They included for example: psychologist or therapist-led ‘drop in’ consultations or online brief therapeutic interventions for individual parents or guardians; online peer support; and online webinars and workshops.

The report is the 3^rd in a series published by IPC relating to the Adoption Support Fund and adoption support. For further information visit:

1^st in series: Evaluation of the adoption support fund: local authority and provider experiences

2^nd in series: Evaluation of the adoption support fund baseline survey of families

Additional related publications on the evaluation of the adoption of the support framework in Wales are available here on the IPC website.

Visit Gov.uk to see more research about the effects on families receiving support through the ASF.