Most children who are subject of a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) or are adopted do very well; and families are able to promote their children’ssocial, emotional development and achievement with and without support from professionals. However, for some children the harm they experience prior to SGO or adoption can result in emotional trauma and behavioural difficulties, which can be extreme.
Dr Joanna Garstang and her team have had a report published in 2025 (following funding from the Nuffield Foundation, in collaboration with Professor Julie Taylor, Professor Keith Moultrie and colleagues at the Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University) to look at improving long-term outcomes for children after adoption or SGO by exploring how best to reduce safeguarding concerns such as abuse, neglect and exploitation.
The study considered how safeguarding issues arise, how support is provided, whether this support is accessible and acceptable to families, how local authorities (LA) respond to concerns and how this differs from the response to birth families.
Please find linked below our Executive Summary and full report for full details of the study and our recommendations: