Adoption, fostering and surrogacy

Services

Maternity pay and leave
Your Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Leave - what you get, how to claim, maternity rights and extra help
Paternity pay and leave
Your Statutory Paternity Pay and Leave - what you get, how to claim, eligibility
Child adoption
The adoption process - eligibility, assessment, adoption agencies, overseas adoptions and the rights of birth parents.
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
Becoming a foster parent
Foster carers look after children when their parents are not able to - becoming a foster carer, money and support available, fostering agencies, foster parents

Special guardianship guidance
- Statutory guidance
- 26 January 2017
- Department for Education
Adoption support fund (ASF)
- Detailed guide
- 31 May 2019
- Department for Education
Fostering services: national minimum standards
- Guidance
- 8 March 2011
- Department for Education
Fostering services: assessment and approval of foster carers
- Statutory guidance
- 14 July 2013
- Department for Education
Adoption: statutory guidance
- Statutory guidance
- 17 July 2013
- Department for Education

24 April 2020Correspondence

Department for Education

Covid-19 adoption support fund scheme to help vulnerable families
- 9 April 2020
- Department for Education
- Press release
Strict new measures to protect vulnerable children in care
- 12 February 2020
- Department for Education
- Press release
Councils urged to prioritise adoption
- 16 January 2020
- Department for Education
- Press release
More funding to boost adoption support
- 22 December 2019
- Department for Education
- Press release

Outcomes for children looked after by LAs: 31 March 2018
- 14 May 2020
- Department for Education
- National statistics
Evaluation of adoption support fund: LA and provider experiences
- 3 March 2020
- Department for Education
- Research
Fostering in England 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019
- 14 February 2020
- Ofsted
- National statistics
Children looked after in England including adoption: 2018 to 2019
- 15 January 2020
- Department for Education
- National statistics
Children Adopted from Care in Northern Ireland 2018/19
- 3 October 2019
- Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and Department of Health (Northern Ireland)
- National statistics

Private fostering arrangement notifications: planned revisions
- 16 December 2015
- Department for Education
- Consultation outcome
- Date closed 15 September 2015
Fostering better outcomes
- 20 July 2018
- Department for Education
- Policy paper
Adoption: a vision for change
- 19 December 2016
- Department for Education
- Policy paper
Regional adoption agencies programme
- 19 June 2015
- Department for Education
- Policy paper
2010 to 2015 government policy: looked-after children and adoption
- 8 May 2015
- Department for Education
- Policy paper

Adoption scorecards
- 25 March 2019
- Department for Education
- Transparency
Intercountry adoption: list of restricted countries
- 21 May 2018
- Department for Education
- Transparency
Adoption Leadership Board quarterly data reports: 2016 to 2017
- 8 May 2018
- Department for Education
- Transparency
Adoption Leadership Board quarterly data reports: 2015 to 2016
- 20 January 2017
- Department for Education
- Transparency
Adoption Leadership Board quarterly data reports: 2014 to 2015
- 27 March 2016
- Department for Education
- Transparency