Dr Krish Kandiah has been appointed as the new Chair of the
Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board (ASGLB).
A critical friend to the Government on adoption policies for many
years, Dr Kandiah comes to the role with the unique experience of
being an adoptive parent himself who is passionate about
championing for more people from all walks of life to come
forward as loving adoptive parents.
Children and Families Minister announced
his new role during a speech at Coram British Association of
Adoption and Fostering’s (CoramBAAF) 40th anniversary event on
Monday 14 December.
Children and Families Minister said:
As we get closer to Christmas, a special time of year that
brings everyone together, it is a terribly sad fact that there
are some children who do not have a family to celebrate with.
We simply cannot overstate how important a stable loving family
is.
I am delighted to announce Krish Kandiah as the new Chair of
the Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board, who
will work with us to make improvements to the adoption system,
boosting vital for support adopters and their families so every
child can be placed in a loving, stable home.
The CoramBAAF event will celebrate the significant contribution
it has made over the last 40 years to the lives of adoptive
families, and those in special guardianships or kinship care
arrangements, including helping to shape adoption policies, to
give children hope, security and a loving family.
As chair of the ASGLB, which Coram helped set up in 2014, Dr
Krish Kandiah will play an instrumental role in driving
improvements in the sector, working closely with the Department
for Education to continue raising the bar with the adoption
system and in the lives of vulnerable children.
Dr Krish Kandiah, new chair of the Adoption and Special
Guardianship Leadership Board (ASGLB) said:
Right now there are over 2,550 children waiting for adoption.
Each one of them needs a unique loving family to commit to them
for life despite all the trauma they have faced in the past and
whatever their futures might hold.
I count it a huge privilege to take on the chairing of the
Leadership Board and am looking forward to working with
colleagues to find parents for all the children that are
waiting and to provide great support for all adopted families.
I take on this role as an adopted father, a foster parent and a
birth dad keen to find the right solution for every child.
The Department for Education has invested in frontline charities
through £750 million of funding to help them continue their vital
work throughout this year. As part of this, it has provided £2.8
million in funding to 19 Voluntary Adoption Agencies, to help
enable them to continue their work with prospective adopters and
supporting existing adoptive families throughout the pandemic.
The support for adoptive families builds on the Education
Secretary’s intervention during
National Adoption Week in October, where he launched a
recruitment campaign to reach out to churches, mosques and other
community groups starting with a pilot service in London and
Birmingham, to encourage more potential Black and other minority
ethnic adopters to come forward. He also urged local authorities
to help break down the misconception of the perfect ethnic match
that places too high a burden on parents who want to adopt.
Minister Ford’s speech comes as the Department for Education
prepares to launch the independently-led Care Review soon, which
will support improvements in the children’s social care system
for every child, including those for whom adoption may not be the
right choice.
