AN APPEAL has been made for more adoptive parents to provide happy lifelong homes for children in Kirklees.
The plea has come from Kirklees Council during National Adoption Week. Homes are needed for 31 youngsters in the district.
Lynrose Kirby, of the Kirklees Family Placement Unit, said: "We're calling on everyone to think about whether they could offer a child a loving and permanent home through adoption.
"Adoption is for life and like all parenting, it can be a challenge but it's also one of the most rewarding things you can do."
He added: "All kinds of people make good adoptive parents and it doesn't matter if you are married or single, are over 40, or are in or out of work."
Although babies are often placed with a new family within six months, many older children wait far longer.
Youngsters aged three and above, brothers and sisters who need to be placed together and children with medical needs or the possibility of learning difficulties, often wait longer for a family.
The council is particularly keen to hear from people willing to adopt young brothers and sisters so they do not have to be separated, and people willing to adopt children of mixed parentage.
It also needs more representatives for the Kirklees Social Services Adoption Panel. The panel helps makes decisions over whether children should be adopted, as well as matching them up with an ideal family.
National Adoption Week is a nationwide campaign organised by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering.
Felicity Collier, the association's chief executive said: "Over 3,000 children in the UK are waiting to be adopted. For a waiting child, adoption can be a dream come true and many children are hoping this week will bring them the family they are wishing for."
Anyone who wishes to adopt or wants to be on the Kirklees Social Services Adoption Panel should ring 01924 483707.
