A TOTAL of thirty children in Essex are waiting for prospective adoptive parents after orders by the court, it has been revealed. 

Adoption agency Coram and Department for Education figures show 30 children in Essex were waiting to be adopted by a family as of the end of March this year after a placement order had been issued

A placement order is a court-issued order which gives the local authority the power to place a child with prospective adoptive parents when children are at “risk of significant harm and cannot be safely cared for by their parents or relative”.

Across England, 2,580 children with a placement order were waiting to be matched with a home – the highest figure since December 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.

While the number of families volunteering to adopt has decreased from a pandemic peak in March 2022, falling by almost a third to 1,800 as of March 2024.

The figures also show 2,940 children nationally were placed with an adopting family in the year to March.

In Essex, 49 children were adopted last year, waiting an average of two years and 118 days.

Nationally, of the children adopted last year, those aged five and over waited an average of three years and 220 days from entering care to being adopted, those with a disability waited three years and 139 days, and ethnic minority children waited two years and 200 days.

The average for all children of two years and 134 days.

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: “The council has an excellent track record of securing adoption for children when the family courts determine it is the right plan, which they authorise by creating placement orders.

“As a result, fewer children are waiting for adoption in Essex compared to last year, and we will work tirelessly to help match them with loving families as quickly as possible.

 “As part of Adopt East, the regional adoption alliance, we work closely with local authorities across the region to match children with families and provide the ongoing support they need. This includes working with partner organisations and providing practical and therapeutic support.”