Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
There is a national shortage of adopters for children that:
- are in sibling groups
- are aged 5 or over
- are of a minority ethnic heritage
- have multiple complex needs
These groups of children typically wait up to a year longer to be adopted, thereby reducing their life chances.
This project, led by Nottinghamshire County Council, will look into the development of data science methods to identify the common characteristics of parents who are willing to adopt. These insights will be used to inform a regional recruitment activity. If successful, this approach could be scaled nationally, and could also be used to recruit foster carers.