Fifty years ago The yearly number of adoptions had just passed its peak, and adoption, societys solution for children born out of wedlock, was starting to change. Two adopters set up an organisation for adopted children which they ran from a converted chicken shed. Five decades later, the organisation in the chicken shed is Adoption UK. These are tough times for every family, but particularly for those who are parenting children who have experienced trauma. Today, the average age for a child to be placed for adoption is three, by which time most will have had grim early years in their first families. In recent AUK research, a third of established adoptive families were facing severe challenges which had placed a great strain on their family. Almost half of families with older children were dealing with crises such as their children being drawn into child sexual exploitation or county lines activities. We’ll be here for adopted and kinship care children and the families that love them.