Wales Adoption Cohort Study hopes to support policy development and improve adoption services

The new National Adoption Service for Wales launched during National Adoption Week earlier this month.

The number of children adopted in Wales in the year ending March 2014 rose by 5 percent on the previous year. However, many more children who cannot be brought up in their own family await a suitable adoptive placement and adoptive families may have short-term or ongoing needs for support.

Academics from Cardiff and Bristol University are working together on the Wales Adoption Cohort Study. This study will investigate the factors and characteristics that underpin early placement success families who have adopted children in Wales.

Professor Sally Holland, Professor of Social Work, says: "We hope this research will provide evidence to support policy development and improve adoption services. We need to find out what support families need in the initial stages after adopting, how we can support this further to help families flourish in the first year and how the decision making process prior to a child being adopted has impact on both the child on the family."

The Wales Adoption Cohort Study launched on 1 October and is funded by the Welsh Government's National Institute for Social Care and Health Research. Professor Holland will work alongside Dr Katherine Shelton, School of Psychology, Dr Julie Doughty, Cardiff Law School, and Dr Heather Ottaway, School for Policy Studies, Bristol University.