Adoption is in crisis — and change is no longer optional.
We’ve created a full report and an executive summary, both of which include the Impact Pathway — a resource designed to support more effective, trauma-responsive and recovery-focused planning and intervention.
- PATCH Pathway: Adoption Crisis Brought Into Focus
A comprehensive exploration of what’s going wrong — and what needs to change. It captures the voices of adopters, insights from experts, and the reality of lived experience.
- PATCH Pathway: Executive Summary
A concise overview for time-pressed professionals. It lays out the key challenges and introduces ideas for real, preventative change.
- PATCH Impact Pathway: Prevention in Practice (this is highlight in full in both documents above)
A practical approach to ensure support before breakdown — for families, carers, and systems alike.
The truth is simple: we are failing families. Trauma is being ignored. Systems designed to protect are instead contributing to breakdown — and the cost is paid by children, families, society, and the future of social care itself.
If you’re a professional, you already know: recruitment is low, disruptions are rising, and families are breaking down. You know change is needed.
I write to you as an adoptee, an adopter, a social worker, and the founder of PATCH. This work is born from personal experience and professional commitment. It doesn’t claim to have all the answers — but it’s a start. A conversation. A catalyst.
At its core is a simple message: if we don’t change how we treat adopters and foster carers, we won’t have any. And if we don’t support caregivers, parents, and families — we are not supporting children.
One cannot be done without the other.
We invite you to read, reflect, and join us in driving the change that children and families urgently need.
Warmly,
Fiona Wells
& The PATCH Steering Group
