Adoption, fostering and surrogacy
Becoming a foster carer, adopting a child from the UK or abroad, looking after someone else's child.
Services
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Maternity pay and leave
Your Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Leave - what you get, how to claim, maternity rights and extra help
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Paternity pay and leave
Your Statutory Paternity Pay and Leave - what you get, how to claim, eligibility
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Shared Parental Leave and Pay
You can start Shared Parental Leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) if you're eligible and you or your partner ends your maternity or adoption leave early - eligibility, entitlement, starting SPL and splitting blocks of leave
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Child adoption
The adoption process - eligibility, assessment, adoption agencies, overseas adoptions and the rights of birth parents.
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Looking after someone else's child
Support and benefits you can get if you're looking after someone else's child, court orders - kinship care, private fostering, friends and family care
Guidance and regulation
- Adoption support fund (ASF)
- Fostering services: national minimum standards
- Special guardianship guidance
- Fostering services: assessment and approval of foster carers
- Adoption: statutory guidance
News and communications
- Staying Put grant: determination letter
- Multi-million pound boost for new families as adoptions increase
- Children and Families Minister speech at NCASC conference
- Ofsted: Lack of foster carers mean children missing out on support
- Services for vulnerable children in the Northeast rated Outstanding
Research and statistics
- Adoption support fund: baseline survey of families
- Adoption support fund: first follow up survey
- Evaluation of regional adoption agencies
- Children looked after in England including adoption: 2020 to 2021
- Review of the adoption support fund COVID-19 scheme
Policy papers and consultations
- Future inspection of Cafcass from 2021
- Changes to the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020
- Changes to the adoption and children regulations: coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Adoption strategy: achieving excellence everywhere
- Fostering better outcomes
Transparency and freedom of information releases
- Adoption scorecards
- Intercountry adoption: list of restricted countries
- Adoption Leadership Board quarterly data reports: 2016 to 2017
- Adoption Leadership Board quarterly data reports: 2015 to 2016
- Adoption Leadership Board quarterly data reports: 2014 to 2015