Following the Minister’s statement in the Commons this afternoon, please see the following announcement regarding the ASGSF in 2025-26
Whilst the funding pot of £50million was confirmed earlier this month, it has now been announced that in order to ensure that the needs of as many children as possible are met, there are some changes which being implemented this year which will impact on the amount of money which can be claimed per child (as detailed below). This will mean that applications which were ready for submission will now need to be reviewed with this in mind before we are able to submit as we need to be sure that we have enough money in the budget for any work which is needed over and above the new fair access limit. In some cases we may need to look at reducing the frequency or length of therapy initially, or exploring alternative ways in which needs could be met.
We appreciate that for many of you this has been an extremely anxious time and this news will undoubtedly lead to further worry. We would ask that you allow us time to do the work that is now needed at our end. I assure you that we will get in touch with every family affected either to confirm that your application has been made or to look at amending as quickly as we possibly can. If you have not heard from us within the next fortnight then please feel free to get in touch but if we could ask that you avoid calling for updates prior to then to allow workers and managers to prioritise the necessary reviews and ensure that applications are made as quickly as possible.
ASGSF Announcement for 2025/26
As announced on 1 April, the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) will be continuing from April 2025, with a budget of £50m.
We appreciate the importance of ASGSF funding to many children and young people, as part of the wider support which local areas provide to adoptive and kinship families.
Demand for support from the ASGSF continues to grow significantly. In 2025-26, in order to maximise the number of children who are able to access this fund, we have had to make the difficult decision to set the overall Fair Access Limit (FAL) at £3,000.
We will no longer have a separate FAL for specialist assessments. However, specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 will be considered for funding, but only within the overall FAL of £3,000. We will no longer be able to offer match funding applications for therapy which costs more than the £3,000 FAL, or for specialist assessments which cost more than £2,500.
We recognise that this is a significant change, but it is being made to ensure that the funding can continue to support as many families as possible. The Adoption and Special Guardianship Fund will still enable those eligible to access a significant package of therapeutic support, tailored to meet their individual needs.
Applications prepared in advance of these changes which exceed the new restrictions may therefore need to be amended before submission. Any applications already submitted will be returned for review.
For this initial period, we regret that the applications portal will not automatically calculate using the new restrictions, so the changes will need to be managed manually until further notice.
We will honour applications already approved, where these have continued from 2024-25 to 2025-26 under transitional funding arrangements. However, please note that those transitional funding arrangements are now closed, and no more approvals can be given.
Finally, we recognise the importance of ongoing clarity and stability in the provision of this important support to vulnerable children. We will be discussing further the best approach to the management of funds in future years. Future funding will of course be subject to Spending Review decisions. As a result, we will, for the time being, only be able to consider applications where the therapy or specialist assessment will be fully completed before the end of March 2026. We will make a further announcement in due course about the plans for the ASGSF from April 2026.
Kind regards,
Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund Team
Who we are and what we do …
The Adoption Support Service is based at Adoption Now’s central hub in Bolton.
Supporting adoptive families is an area that we view to be especially important and our team of over 20 workers (including contact and letterbox co-ordinators) have considerable experience and a variety of training to equip them to support you throughout your adoption journey, from the assessment, to early placement support and beyond.
Our services range from a core offer of support groups, workshops, training, and social events to assessed packages of therapy intervention.
At Adoption Now we are continually developing and investing in our adoption support services by providing staff with a further range of therapeutic training so that they can support you even more effectively into the future.
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Core Offer
Whilst many of you will not need high levels of support from the onset, our programme of workshops and social events are intended to provide opportunities for adoptive parents to connect with one another as well as with professionals. They offer opportunities to talk about adoption issues in an informal setting, to learn how to support your child in the best way that you can and to form valuable relationships and extend your own networks.
Please follow the link to our current calendar
Adoption Now Adopter Preparation, Training & Support Calendar
Targeted Support
Some families require more focused support than is provided through our core offer services. If you feel that your family needs more specific support, then contact our duty service and we can talk through how best to support you. Sometimes one telephone call is all that is needed at that time to resolve an issue. At other times you might feel that you need more ongoing support. Every family has the right to ask for an Assessment of their Adoption Support needs, an assessment which can explore holistically the needs of every member of the family. An adoption support worker will work with you to agree a plan as to who/what services need to be consulted as part of that assessment process, work with you throughout the assessment process to develop the post appropriate adoption support plan for you and your family.
Specialist intervention
Following on from an Assessment of Adoption Support Needs, we can commission a range of specialist interventions, generally funded through application to the Adoption Support and Special Guardianship Fund. The therapeutic intervention is tailored to the needs of each family and may be a single intervention or more than one happening at the same time. The possible therapies (this is not an exhaustive list) include: Play therapy, Filial Therapy, Theraplay, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Non-Violent Resistance Therapy, Therapeutic Life Story work and Sensory Integration Therapy.
