ADOPTION SUPPORT
Cuts and bruises
THE first research into the impact of drastic government cuts to specialist therapy funding for families who adopt has revealed an immediately catastrophic impact on children, including mental health issues, suicidal ideation, raised levels of child-on-adult violence and school exclusions.
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) was a lifeline to thousands of families struggling with the devastating impact of early life trauma. However, the government announced brutal and seemingly arbitrary cuts in April without consultation or evidence, reducing funding per child by between 40 and 90 percent (see Eye 1649).