Evaluation of regional adoption agencies: first report, 2018 to 2019

Evaluation of regional adoption agencies: first report, 2018 to 2019

Rachel Blades, Matthew Cutmore, James Ronicle, Kate Smith, Rachel Wooldridge · Department for Education

This first annual evaluation combined regional-agency case studies, administrative performance data and cost analysis. Baseline data showed variation in children’s placement times between and within regions. Professionals in established agencies described shared knowledge, adopter pools and collaboration as influencing matching.

Limitations: Early implementation and professional perceptions did not establish overall effectiveness or better child outcomes. Placement-time measures and costs are system indicators, not adoptee testimony. This is a further wave of the same evaluation; it overlaps with its scoping and later reports. Parent experience is outside this summary. Commissioned and published by the Department for Education, which has responsibility for the adoption system evaluated. Readers may take that institutional relationship into account.

Research type

Mixed-methods implementation evaluation

Source reviewed

Full text

Peer reviewed

No

Age group

Children / Adolescents