Adoption has undergone a transformation in the last decade or so, and has brought with it new and pressing issues such as the adoption of older children from care; contact with birth families after adoption; trans-racial placement; single-person adoption; and the need for a post-adoption support service. Over recent years, the Department of Health has commissioned a range of studies on adoption. They have since set up a working party - largely comprising practitioners - to review the results of these studies and draw out the implications for practice and policy.

Roy Parker is the author of Adoption Now: Messages from Research, published by Wiley.