More black families needed for Adoptions

I had no idea the number of successful adoptions was so low; of the 3,600 children in care under the age of one, only 60 were adopted last year!

The P.M now wants to get tough on councils who may be under performing, and there's even talk of the private sector taking over if councils can't deliver. article
Whilst the private sector is clearly very popular with the government at the moment, I'm not quite sure how that will help.. as it sounds as if what's really needed is more families who are able to adopt.

I know that the 'Voice Newspaper' runs an ad continuously inviting people to foster or adopt, and suddenly, I see the real significance of those ads, as a recent report claimed that black children are 3 times less likely to be adopted

Culturally speaking there was a time when black families were quite willing and accustomed to taking care of children who were not their own, but these are very different times

Perhaps the issue is economic.
Perhaps the issues that the black community face prevent them from being able to offer that lifelong commitment
It's not clear

I have heard it mentioned a few times that ethnicity is not important in adoption and any willing parent of any background should be able to adopt a child from any racial background

Perhaps (for potential black adoptive parents )it's important to find out what the actual barriers to adoption may be and then work towards removing them
Working on the eradication of racism might be a good place to start, but children need homes now, and I doubt that's a conversation the government wants to have

Some say love is all you need, and I suspect that if I were a child in need of a home, I too would really... just want a home, someone to love me, anyone, to love me regardless of their ethnicity

But yet, there's a part of me that asks, Is love always enough? For example, there are some parents who are feeding their children the most unhealthiest of diet,crisps, chips, processed food and fizzy drinks, resulting in obese kids with potentially major problems in the future.
There is no doubt they love their kids, but clearly that's not enough.. is it?

If parents are adopting black children I would at the very least expect them to have an awareness of the ethnic/ cultural background of the child, have a diverse mix of friends and relationships which include black people, and know that racism is real, and not be afraid to discuss it, and have the skills to advise on how best to deal with it.
( Yet to be fair, and to be real, no parent will have all the answers.. and we all make mistakes regardless of our backgrounds)

Trans racial adoption will always be a contentious issue, this article explains some of the issues often discussed


If I had a big enough home with space I probably would ( at the very least I'd consider it) and I suspect there are many people out there who would too.. if they could
And then there are those who may be skipping past those ads like I have done for years, without really realising what they're about

The first steps to anything is awareness I guess.. and hopefully, now, with it being so much in the public eye.. more families will be able to come forward..
Some kind of financial support should also be made available these families/individuals, who would make great parents, but who need it the most
Another incentive could be to re-house lower income families in larger.. more family friendly homes (with gardens!).. but again.. we have a national housing shortage that needs to be tackled

It's a difficult one, but my personal feeling is; every child deserves a home, and to be loved, and if that love is strong enough, the problems that arise will be dealt with accordingly, whatever ethnicity of parent you have