Adoption experts appear before Lords
On Tuesday 20 November, the Lords Select Committee on Adoption Legislation will hear from academics and District Judge Nicholas Crichton from the Family Drug and Alcohol Court as part of their ongoing inquiry into the UK's adoption process.
In the first session, at 10.15am, the Committee will quiz District Judge Nicholas Crichton. Mr Crichton set up the Family, Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC The purpose of the court is to support families with drug and alcohol problems in working through their addictions with counselling and structured, detailed interventions. The scheme is a pilot modelled on an approach that is widely used in the USA and showing promising results in terms of enabling families to stay together safely..
Following on, at 10.45am, the Committee will hear from:
- Professor June Thoburn, University of East Anglia;
- Professor Nina Biehal, University of York; and
- Professor Julie Selwyn, University of Bristol.
The Committee will be asking the academics questions on the research evidence that exists on the outcomes for children who are adopted compared to those who are returned to their birth families; and whether the draft legislation recently published by the Government on ‘fostering for adoption' and ethnicity will have their intended effects.
The evidence session will take place at 10.15am on Tuesday 20 November in Committee Room 1 of the House of Lords and will be webcast live at www.parliamentlive.tv.
The evidence session is also open to the public. Journalists wishing to attend should go to Parliament's Cromwell Green Entrance and should allow time for security screening.
