SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity is celebrating LGBT Adoption Week by reflecting on the developments of inclusion and diversity in its Adoption Service over the past year…
SSAFA runs an independent adoption agency that works with local authorities to provide support for anyone who is currently serving who wishes to create a family through adoption. The service has approved 328 military adopters since 1964 and offers lifelong support to families.
Over the past two years, SSAFA has seen an increase in same-sex adoptions. Recent figures from the Department for Education found one in ten adopters in the UK were in a same sex relationship. In comparison, two in seven household adoptions through SSAFA were with a same sex couple and a third of couples that attended the adoption training course in the past year were same sex.
SSAFA responded to the increase in same sex adopters with more training for its staff and adoption panel members, more literature and resources for staff and potential adopters and by forging closer links with the LGBT groups in the Army, Royal Navy and RAF.
SSAFA also became a member of New Family Social, a network for LGBT adoptive and foster families across the UK to help provide support to its same sex adopters.
Speaking of the SSAFA Adoption Service, Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive at Stonewall, said:
“We are proud that SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, is a Stonewall Diversity Champion and is taking active steps to create a culture that’s inclusive of all. Their Adoption Service is now receiving an increasing number of applications from LGBT service personnel which we are delighted to support.”
If you or someone you know is currently serving and would like to adopt, encourage them to get in touch with SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity. To find out more, visit www.ssafa.org.uk/adoption
