With no government announcement on the continuation of the vital Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), at least 19,495 adopted and special guardianship children are now facing delays to critical therapy and assessments.

Specialist psychological services across England are raising urgent concerns over delays in confirming the future of the ASGSF. With no funding secured beyond March 2025, thousands of vulnerable children risk losing access to vital therapy. This situation, as one adoptive parent described it, has the potential to cause “serious harm.”

Clare, an adoptive parent whose family is supported by Family Futures, stressed the urgency and impact of this delay for her family:

“Therapy offers our daughters the best chance of recovering from past traumas, fulfilling their potential and most importantly leading happy lives…What our family needs – specialist therapy – exists, and it works exceptionally well, but our access to it relies on ASGSF funding and that is out of our control. The government are failing care experienced children and will cause them serious harm.”

Jay Vaughan MBE, CEO and co-founder of Family Futures said:

“The continued uncertainty surrounding the ASGSF announcement is deeply worrying. Our experience demonstrates that delays in therapy have a direct and detrimental impact on the safety and stability of Adoptive and Special Guardianship placements, placing the children we support at significant risk.

The emotional toll of this uncertainty is immense. Our families are experiencing a significant and unnecessary increase in stress and worry, exacerbating their already stressful home lives which will have long-lasting consequences for their wellbeing.”

You can read the full press release here and the blog by Clare, adoptive parent here:

Why the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund is so vital for our family.

Join the campaign by emailing your local MP using Adoption UK’s template here.