The Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) has been a lifeline for thousands of families raising children who have experienced early trauma, loss, and instability. It was created to ensure therapeutic support reaches the children who need it most: those adopted from care, those under Special Guardianship Orders, many of whom have complex developmental histories. For many of us, the Fund has meant the difference between crisis and stability.
Until now, it provided access to vital therapy that helps children build trusting relationships, manage overwhelming emotions, and begin to thrive in both family and school life. But in April 2025, the government introduced drastic cuts to the Fund, reducing what each child is eligible to receive and removing support for specialist assessments. These changes were made without consultation, and were not announced formally but slipped out via an email to the sector during Parliament’s Easter recess.
While the Fund will continue from April 2025 with the same £50 million budget, the Fair Access Limit (FAL) will be reduced from £5,000 to £3,000 per child per year. The separate £2,500 allocation for specialist assessments, crucial to identifying the right support, is being scrapped. Assessments may still be considered, but must now come from within the reduced £3,000 cap, severely limiting what is available for therapeutic help. In addition, the matched funding previously available for children with the highest needs is also being abolished.
We are protesting not because we are ungrateful for what the Fund has achieved, but because we know exactly what is at stake when this support is taken away. The cuts may be intended to make the Fund stretch further, but in reality, they risk doing the opposite: making it too limited to be effective, and leaving families with nowhere to turn.