AN agency which provides adoption services for all the West Yorkshire councils found homes for more children than any other year in its six-year history.

But with more children subject to adoption plans, the pressure is always on to find more adoptive parents, councillors heard.

In all, 181 children were adopted in 2022-23, according to One Adoption West Yorkshire, the highest number since the agency was formed in 2017.

However the number of placement orders – these give an adoption agency permission to formally arrange for a child to live with people approved as prospective adopters – decreased and accordingly the number of children placed with adoptive parents reduced from 171 in the previous year to 161 this year.

Four of the five West Yorkshire councils saw an increase in children with an adoption plan, only one seeing a decrease.

At the year-end 242 children had an adoption plan and were not yet matched  with an adoptive family, an increase of 72 from the previous year, One Adoption officers told Calderdale scrutiny councillors.

One Adoption West Yorkshire approved 101 households to adopt this year, down 11 households on the previous year, and some Calderdale Children and Young People’s Services Scrutiny Board members were concerned about why prospective adoopters were being turned down for, or “put off” from, adopting.

One Adoption West Yorkshire’s report to them said: “The agency is facing sufficiency challenges moving into 2023-24 as the number of children with an adoption plan in West Yorkshire has increased over recent months as the number of prospective adopters has decreased.”

Eighty nine of the 101 households were matched with children from the West Yorkshire region.

Within the 101 households approved in 2022-2023, there were 191 individuals, with 40 (21 per cent) from black and ethnically diverse backgrounds (last year this was 10 per cent).

There were 19 households approved for sibling groups this year and 26 households approved were open to early permanence placements.

This year saw significantly higher numbers of families in stage one of the adoption process, although more families have asked to take a break in stage two and increasing numbers have required additional preparation and support to enable them to meet the needs of the children, councillors heard.

Councillors asked the officers questions about support given to adopters, and whether the young people had been contacted for their thoughts on their placements.

Although not specifically polled, children were included in conversations about outcomes as much as possible to see whether their needs were being met, said officers.