Access to records is a complex area that requires the ongoing efforts of practitioners, campaigners, and policymakers to ensure there is greater clarity, consistency, and supported access is available for care-experienced and adopted people seeking to understand their personal histories, the decisions made about them, revisit memories, and explore their identity and heritage.  

Since the introduction of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, new challenges have emerged. While these laws were designed to manage the growing amount of personal data being processed and ensure individuals’ privacy and rights are protected, their implementation has introduced additional complexities. Risk-averse approaches to disclosure and overly rigid interpretations of data protection laws often result in unnecessary redactions, and, at times, the process can become traumatic or alienating. 

An additional complexity for adopted people is that they may have separate children's social care files, which are subject to data protection laws. As a result, access to information is governed by different legal regimes, with varying rights of access and support available. 

    Different types of records 

    Access to records is relevant to any child or young person where the state has intervened in their care or made decisions affecting their familial relationships. However, our resources will primarily focus on adoption records and children’s social care files for looked-after children.  

    Adoption records

    Adoption records can include information about the adopted person, their birth family, details of the adoptive placement, and background information such as medical history, educational needs and progress, and any hobbies or interests.

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    Children’s social care files

    Children’s social care files can include records of interactions with children’s services, assessments, care and support plans, reviews, health and education records, and decisions made by the court or local authority regarding the child’s welfare.

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    Podcasts, research and projects

    Access to records: what you need to know

    Our Legal Consultants, Augusta Itua and Alexandra Conroy-Harris came together to talk about the structures, regimes, differences and challenges for care-experienced and adopted people wanting to access their records.

    Listen here

    Churchill Fellowship: The Right to Know

    Informed by Augusta Itua’s Churchill Fellowship study into ‘access and support rights to children's social care files’ we have published a new area on our website that collates information about accessing children’s social care files and adoption records. Discover a range of interviews between Augusta and her guests where they discuss the challenges and the current state of accessing children’s social care files in Australia.

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    Locating care and adoption records project

    CoramBAAF and the Archives and Records Association (ARA) are working in partnership to make it easier for adopted and care-experienced people to find and access records relating to their adoption and time in care. The freely accessible online resource detailing the location of adoption and care records, will combine data held by both organisations to create the UK’s most comprehensive and searchable database for the location of adoption and care records.

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    Key legal provisions and guidance  

    Children’s social care files 

    Post-commencement adoptions (adoptions after 30 December 2005) 

    Pre-commencement adoptions (adoptions before 30 December 2005)