Becoming a parent is a significant commitment and the start of an emotional journey that brings great rewards. But you will know as well as I that being a parent is not always simple and that challenges can and do arise. And, at these times of challenge, we may need support that enables us to continue to provide a loving, stable home environment—a home that enables our children to thrive. That support is available in many forms—be that friends or family, support groups, or from the range of universal and specialist services. 

It continues to be a tremendous inspiration to me personally that individuals continue to commit themselves to care for and support children right across Wales. And I particularly want to pay tribute today to those who have already adopted and to encourage anyone who's considering adoption to come forward. And I also want to recognise the role that professionals and organisations play in supporting adoption right across Wales and, finally, to highlight the action being taken to enable and empower improvement in this area.

More practical support is being delivered for adoptive children, for young people and families as part of a national framework that is driving consistency and improving outcomes. For professionals, a toolkit has been developed to support them to undertake life journey work in adoption. The toolkit has been developed in collaboration with children, young people and adopters, ensuring that the voice of children and young people is heard and, through their lived experiences, is helping to shape and to inform further improvement.

As part of driving this improvement agenda, we have also commissioned the National Adoption Service to, firstly, lead the development of an awareness-raising toolkit for primary health and child and adolescent mental health services and also to secure research to better evidence why prospective adopters choose not to proceed and progress their applications.

The National Adoption Service for Wales was established in November 2014. It's led by local government, in line with local authorities' legal responsibilities for adoption, and it was created in response to recommendations made by National Assembly for Wales committees on how adoption services should be improved. And improvement is happening. 

The latest annual report from NAS confirms that children are being placed with adoptive families quicker than before, that nearly one third of placements were sibling groups, with brothers and sisters together, that nearly all adoption placements are lasting and successful, and that more people want to adopt. So, these are positive outcomes that are sometimes lost. And that's why today and this week are important, because it allows us to offer deserved focus and recognition on the successes of adoption in Wales.

Continuing the improvement journey requires further co-operation and partnership to improve the outcomes for children, and to address, collectively, the adverse childhood experiences that impact on children, irrespective of their family background or structure. That is why adoption is an intrinsic component of my work programme for improving outcomes for children, advised by my ministerial advisory group. 

Building the emotional well-being and resilience of children is key to addressing the challenges they have faced, as is providing them with the skills to recognise and to address situations and events that may challenge them in the future.  This is where life journey work, which has improved significantly since the establishment of the National Adoption Service, can help provide a solid foundation from which to build and grow.

It's recognised that children who are placed for adoption will often have experienced some degree of trauma or loss in their young lives. Equally, building a securely attached relationship with a traumatised child can be challenging. This requires collaborative approaches between partners to deliver seamless services across health and social care, as the Cabinet Secretary and I have emphasised repeatedly in 'A Healthier Wales'. One such example is happening in south-east Wales where the south-east Wales regional collaborative of the National Adoption Service and the Aneurin Bevan health board have worked together to secure improved access to clinical psychology input from the child and family psychological health service. 

And we know that challenges and trauma are not always immediately apparent. They might not come to the surface until later in a child’s development. That is why it's imperative that adoption agencies continue to provide access to their services and support to families in the event that challenges start to arise. Prevention and early intervention are core principles across social care and health, as are co-operation and partnership. We expect partners to deliver seamless whole-system approaches that mitigate the escalation of need, and of crisis. 

So that we better understand how and when these experiences become apparent, and to help to evidence and inform improvement, I am pleased to announce that we have commissioned further work with Cardiff University that builds on the adoption cohort study. This is a unique study of almost 400 children adopted from care that provides a level of detail about early adversity, family relationship quality, child psychological health and so on. This next phase will directly engage with a cohort of families to explore their experiences of informal and formal sources of adoption support in Wales, including child psychological well-being and children's experiences at school, including additional learning needs. 

Our approach in Wales remains that we will identify and deliver a range of timely adoption support for families, based on evidence. The legislation provides families with a right to an assessment of their needs for adoption support and it provides local authorities with the powers to meet those needs. 

For those who are considering adoption, I can offer no greater encouragement than to direct you to the experiences and the family stories on the National Adoption Service website and the poignant words of those who know best. Colin and Carol say:

'There are children out there that need mums and dads and we were a couple who wanted to be a mum and dad.'

Eileen says:

'Taking on three children at the same time is daunting, but it brought me incredible joy.'

And Tony and Jacquie say:

'We have found it hard, but our two have given us the family we have always wanted. AND we’d do it again.'

And, finally, the words of those who have been adopted. Firstly, the force that is Jamie Baulch. He says:

'I never really wanted to talk about adoption before because the time wasn’t right. Now I’m happy to tell everyone how amazing my life has been. I’m older and wiser and look back on my life and realise how magical and fantastic it has been.'

And, secondly, but equally importantly, from Nick, who says very simply, but very effectively:

'Being adopted is insignificant to me. But my parents mean everything.'

So, tomorrow, I am looking forward to meeting two new prospective adopters to hear about their personal journey toward creating a new family. 

Today and this week is about recognising the success of adoption in Wales and I urge all Members to join me in celebrating and promoting adoption. Diolch, Llywydd.