QUESTIONNAIRE CODE | ADOPT-ASF-01

Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund

WHAT IS ASF and ASGSF?

The Adoption Support Fund (ASF), now known as the Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), provides funding for therapeutic services to help eligible adoptive and special guardianship families. The funding is provided to local authorities and regional adoption agencies to enable them to access these services. 

How can it help families?

The funding can be used for a variety of benefits to assist Adoption & Special Guardianship families, including but not limited to:

  1. Creative therapies such as art, music, drama, and play therapy
  2. Therapeutic parenting courses
  3. Specialist assessments to understand trauma and attachment needs
  4. Specific therapies like Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Theraplay, and EMDR
  5. Extensive therapeutic life story work
  6. Speech and language therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy
  7. Support for physical medical conditions
  8. Education support and training for staff
  9. Membership in clubs and organisations
  10. Animal, pet, or equine therapy 

A Brief Timeline of ASGSF Policy

December 2023

The original Adoption Support Fund (ASF) was established and scheduled to expire on March 31, 2025.

March 2025

The UK Government was unable to communicate whether the policy would be renewed, leaving countless vulnerable children without the critical support they needed, as well as parents and professionals unable to plan for their children's continuing needs.

April 2025

The UK Government renewed the policy for another year, following significant speculation and anxiety among affected families and support providers.

April 2025

Several changes to the policy were made:

  1. The "Fair Access Limit" was reduced from £5k to £3k per child.
  2. £2,500 for specialist assessments was scrapped.
  3. Match-funding applications that exceeded the fair access limit were scrapped.

June 2025

Barnardo's closes its Mandela Therapeutic division, which served the therapeutic needs of 70 families who had adopted. This led to the termination of experienced therapists, counsellors, and support staff, creating a significant gap in knowledge within the adoption community. Barnardo's cited the government's changes to the ASF/ASGSF policy in April 2025 as the reason for the closure.

September 2025

The ASGSF Policy is confirmed until at least March 2027. The reduced funding for vulnerable children has, however, continued to generate a lot of concern and anxiety from professionals and parents of vulnerable children, who will be impacted.

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