NCH, the children’s charity has launched NCH Black Families, an innovative adoption service set up to find safe and loving homes for children from Black Minority and Ethnic (BME) communities across the country.
There is a shortage of BME adopters in the UK, for every prospective black or mixed parentage adoptive home, there are three children hoping to be chosen. To meet this need NCH has developed NCH Black Families, a service that successfully recruits adopters from BME communities by addressing barriers such as language and ensuring that service staff reflect a diverse cultural range so that potential adopters know their heritage and background will be understood.
NCH Black Families is based on NCH’s pilot project NCH London Black Families which was established in 2003 and has been a great success, placing over 50 children with safe and loving families. By expanding the service to the Midlands and the North of England NCH hopes to be able to provide stable homes for more children of BME heritage across the country.
The launch of the project, which takes place during National Adoption Week (November 5 – 9), follows research from the charity that found that more than two in five people (42 per cent) from BME communities think that they aren’t eligible for adoption. The National Adoption Survey 2007 found that:
- Nearly a third thought that unmarried couples couldn’t adopt (31 per cent)
- Nearly half thought that if you had a disability you couldn’t adopt (48 per cent)
- More than three in five thought that age was a barrier to adoption (62 per cent)
- Nearly half surveyed thought that if you were single you couldn’t adopt (47 per cent)
Sue Cotton, Adoption Manager, at NCH says, “It is harder to recruit adopters from BME communities partly because they think they aren’t eligible to adopt and partly due to the reluctance of BME adults to approach social services departments. At NCH Black Families we actively engage with the BME Communities to overcome these issues and encourage more people to adopt.”
“Our pilot project in London has been a great success, placing over 50 children with safe and loving families since we were established in 2003. By expanding the service to the Midlands and the North of England we hope to be able to provide stable homes for more children of BME heritage across the country but we urgently need more people to come forward and consider adopting to help us do this.”
During Adoption Week NCH, the children’s charity is calling on people from BME communities to come forward and consider adopting. If you are interested in finding out more about adopting through NCH Black Families visit the NCH adoption pages or call 0845 603 3398.
