What is the Adoption Support Fund (ASF)?
The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) allocates funds to Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies to help eligible families or Special Guardianship Order (SGO) families pay for the therapeutic support they need after they’ve adopted a child.
How do I Apply for Funding From the ASF?
If you wish to access funding from the ASF, you must apply for it through the Local Authority or a Regional Adoption Agency.
The Local Authority that placed the child with you is responsible for assessing your adoption needs for the first three years after the adoption order. After that, the responsibility then sits with the Local Authority where you live.
Once they’ve received your application, the Local Authority or Regional Adoption Agency has three months to assess your adoption needs and make an application for financial support from the ASF.
Am I Eligible for the Adoption Support Fund?
To secure funding from the ASF, your adopted child needs to be aged 21 or younger, or 25 or under if they have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
To be eligible, they should also fit into one or more of the below scenarios:
- They need to have been adopted from Local Authority care in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland and live in England.
- If they previously lived abroad, they should live in England with a recognised adoption status.
- They were in care immediately before a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) was made.
- They left care under a Special Guardianship Order which was changed to an adoption order, or vice versa.
- They left care under a Child Arrangement Order (CAO) to enable the assessment of a potential special guardian, while the CAO is in force. They will remain eligible if a SGO was then subsequently made.