ASGSF
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) provides therapeutic funding for families with adopted children and those under Special Guardianship or Child Arrangement Orders. It is available for children and young people up to 21 years old, or up to 25 with an EHCP, who have experienced abuse, neglect or violence before adoption.
Local authorities (LAs) and regional adoption agencies (RAAs) can apply for ASGSF funding within three months of assessing a family’s support needs.
The way the Fund operates and which interventions it supports are currently under review. What follows describes the current arrangements.
The fund provides a fair access limit of £3000 per child per year, which can be used for therapy or specialist assessments. For the first three years after the relevant order is made, responsibility for assessing the family’s support needs lies with the LA or RAA that placed the child with the family. Beyond that, if the family live in a different LA, it is that LA or the relevant RAA that is responsible.
Funding is released to the LA to commission approved services after a successful application.
For more detailed information on the Fund and the proposed changes, go to www.gov.uk/guidance/adoption-support-fund-asf.
To access funding, contact your local RAA. For Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Stockport and Cheshire East, the RAA is Adoption Counts: www.adoptioncounts.org.uk.
For Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Thameside, the RAA is Adoption Now: www.adoptionnow.org.uk.
A number of organisations are concerned about proposed changes to the fund. You can find out more about this here:
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Adoption UK, www.adoptionuk.org/asgsf-campaign
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Action Against ASGSF Changes, www.change.org/p/action-against-asgsf-changes-adoption-and-special-guardianship-support-fund