Lisa Merryweather-Millard addresses the 40% cuts announced by the government for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF).
We are hugely disappointed – and shocked – to hear that the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) is facing a 40% cut in the amount available per child per year. That’s not all. Funding for specialist assessments and match funding has been dropped altogether, as reported by Adoption UK, who have been campaigning since the future of the ASGSF came into question.
These huge funding changes will reduce the immediate and ongoing to vulnerable children.
The families accessing this support are caring for children impacted by trauma. The cuts may have been intended to provide access to support for more families but the negative impact will be prolonged, costly, and substantial as without the specialist assessment some families need progress will be much harder.
Our thoughts are with families who will be left reeling by this news, and also with organisations and practitioners who all want to provide families with the best and most useful support they can – but with fewer resources at their disposal. We would have all wished there to be a period of consultation around how the best support could be achieved within government budget.
We’re just a single organisation. We can’t change this alone. But we can play our part to help worried families who are struggling right now.
Our NHS-approved lumin&us® app was created during the pandemic to provide families of vulnerable children with immediate and cost-effective relief in supporting their child to feel safe, calm, and able to strengthen emotional bonds, empowering parents and reducing their sense of isolation in the face of circumstances beyond their control. With ASGSF funding cuts in force, parents and practitioners are welcome to use the basic version of the app for free, and to use the premium version for free for two weeks with the code F42WKS.
In addition, parents and practitioners wishing to take part in our ongoing research trials with the University of Birmingham have the opportunity to access the app for up to 12 months for free as part of our research trials.
lumin&us® for PARENTS:
lumin&us® for PROFESSIONALS:
lumin&us® RESEARCH TRIALS:
We strongly urge our community to follow Adoption UK for campaign updates (no doubt you do so already) and to stay connected for joint resilience in the face of adversity.
