About atSTAKE
Campaigning for the long-term protection of specialist therapeutic support for adopted and kinship children, young adults and adults.
Why atSTAKE Exists
Adopted and kinship children deserve timely, specialist therapeutic support at the right level and at the right time.
Many adopted and kinship children have lived through profound early adversity, loss, neglect, abuse, separation, instability or multiple moves before reaching permanence. Many are also affected by neurodevelopmental differences, including autism, ADHD and FASD, which are too often missed, misunderstood or misdiagnosed.
Early-life trauma is developmental. It can affect relationships, learning, emotional regulation, behaviour, identity, mental health, sleep, safety, trust and family life. Its impact can become more visible with age, especially during adolescence and early adulthood.
Families need systems that understand this. Too often, they meet systems that minimise it, misunderstand it, or offer support only once a family is already in crisis.
atSTAKE exists because adopted and kinship children deserve better than crisis-led support, postcode lotteries and short-term policy decisions. They deserve timely, specialist therapeutic help at the right level and at the right time.
atSTAKE: Specialist Therapy - Adoption and Kinship Emergency is a parent-led campaign fighting to protect and expand access to specialist therapeutic support for adopted and kinship children, young people and adults in England who live with the lifelong impact of early-life trauma.
atSTAKE began as Action Against ASGSF Changes, a campaign formed in April 2025 after major cuts were made to the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. Those cuts reduced the Fair Access Limit, removed separate funding for specialist assessments, and ended match funding for children with the highest level of need.
The campaign began with one mum’s determination to challenge the erosion of specialist therapeutic provision for adopted and kinship children. It quickly grew into a wider movement of parents, carers, families, adoptees, special guardians, professionals and organisations who understood exactly what was at risk.
Through the Adoption support that works for all consultation, the government has indicated that the ASGSF may continue only until March 2028, while wider reforms to adoption and kinship support are developed. In light of that, our work has also changed. We are no longer campaigning only against the April 2025 cuts. We are campaigning for the long-term protection of specialist therapeutic support itself.