A GOVERNMENT grant of more than £750,000 is to be used to help encourage more people in East Yorkshire to adopt.

The money has come from the Adoption Reform Grant and will go towards the creation of a special project team aimed at raising the profile of adoption, with seven new social workers being recruited.

They will help draw in more adopters and provide training for those already going through the process. Some of the funding will also be spent on early intervention measures and providing support for vulnerable families to stay together.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council currently has 17 children on its adoption waiting-list and the average time for a child coming into care to be placed with an adoptive family is 653 days.

Coun Julie Abraham, the council’s portfolio holder for children, young people and education, said: “Adoption gives these vulnerable children the best opportunity of a happy and successful childhood and later life, and this is only possible if we can find loving and caring homes for them.

“This grant will help us to identify and support more families to take on this hugely rewarding commitment.”