Study finds adoption better for abused children than foster care

Abused and neglected children who were adopted had significantly better life outcomes compared to children who stayed in foster care, according to new research from Oxford University and Barnardo’s Australia.

Adoption has long been seen as better for children than remaining in care, but the results – based on more than 200 children – were ‘surprising’, especially in terms of educational and employment outcomes, said lead researcher Emeritus Professor Harriet Ward.

Barnardo’s Australia, which funded the study, pioneered ‘open’ adoption in Australia. Open adoptions involve regular face-to-face contact with birth families, mandated by the courts. The charity accepted the secrecy that accompanied closed adoptions was detrimental to children’s development.

Key findings of the study include:

• 63% of adult adoptees completed Year 12 (Australian equivalent of GCSEs) or higher, compared with 42% of adults who grew up in foster care.
• 62% of adult adoptees were engaged in full-time employment, education or training compared with 34% of adults who grew up in foster care.

Professor Ward said: ‘I was surprised by the scale of the difference that adoption made. But the difference between foster care and adoption is considerable. Adoption is a lifelong connection, a new family, for a child. Although some foster carers are permanently committed, most placements end when children enter adulthood.’

Professor Ward’s study looked at outcomes for children who were permanently removed from their families and adopted through Barnardo’s Australia between 1987 and 2013.

Had they not been adopted, they would have remained in care, as she said there was no prospect of them being able to live safely with their birth parents, as they had been permanently removed from their birth families due to severe abuse and neglect.

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