Adopt South West has had a long-standing practice of reading and checking letters as part of our ‘letterbox’ service. This has been standard practice over many years and was intended to ensure that any content deemed inappropriate or potentially upsetting for children and families could be altered or redacted. The recent report commissioned by family courts president Sir Andrew McFarlane commented that the current system for maintaining relationships between adopted children and their birth families was outdated. As part of the revision of maintaining relationships, Adopt South West completed a review over the period from July 2024 to October 2024 of all letters and cards received over this period.
The findings of this review were that of the 1,460 pieces of correspondence read and checked over this period by Adopt South West staff, 39 were amended or redacted. This amounts to 2.67%.
Within Adopt South West, we are firmly of the belief that you as parents are the experts in your own families and you know and understand your children’s needs far better than any professional could ever hope to. As such, we feel that you are far better placed to receive the correspondence from birth families, read these and make the decision as to whether the letters are appropriate and will support your child’s well-being now or whether you will store them for the future. Adopt South West will therefore be changing the practice of reading correspondence before it is sent on to you as of the 1st April 2025.
The current system assumes that adoption services are better placed than you as parents to decide what is likely to negatively impact your children. It also assumes that we understand what is going on for a child and their family at any given time, whereas you are all fully aware of what is happening in your family and as such better placed to make decisions in your child’s best interest.
As well as recognising you as experts in your children, this change will also support us to adapt and develop the Maintaining Relationships Service, aiming to become more efficient , reduces delays and provide space for the development of modernised and responsive service.
These changes are being communicated at every stage of the adoption process and shared across all partner local authorities, as well as linked professional services and so will be embedded into practice at all levels. This includes ongoing support to birth parents and adopters through engagement with support groups and work alongside linked agencies. We will also still be providing support to birth parents and adoptive parents who wish for it in the formulation of their letters.
We do understand that the change may cause a degree of anxiety and we will of course be available to discuss any concerns you may have and also offer advice and guidance on specific issues if needed. As a service, we will continue to open correspondence to allow us to scan a copy and file them onto our electronic systems, meaning that should you choose not to share letters either in part or their entirety with your children, they will still be able to access these as adults should they choose to do so. If in rare instances we receive correspondence which is outside the agreed schedule, we will likely contact you directly to discuss this and be guided by you as to whether you would like these to be forwarded to you or saved on your child’s records.
Should you wish to discuss any concerns you have about your child’s letterbox, please contact us adoptsouthwestsupport@devon.gov.uk