History

The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT) was set up in 1992 in response to changes in child care policy. Instead of local authorities placing children in their care in residential homes, increasing priority was placed on offering family based care to a much wider range of children and young people both in terms of their age and the complexity of needs that were presented. This move was also consistent with the rapidly emerging philosophy of providing care close to children’s own family, school and social contacts.

These rapid changes made it difficult for local authorities to meet the increasing need to provide foster care and adoptive placements and it was a concern for the lack of adequate provision which led to a group of local authority service managers, who were also qualified and experienced social workers to create TACT. The organisation was subsequently registered as a charity ensuring that any surplus income was reinvested in meeting the needs of looked after children placed with TACT.

Since 1992, TACT has grown from its original headquarters in Lewisham to provide fostering services from a further nine offices across England, Wales and Scotland. We now care for over 480 looked after children from over 70 different local authorities. In addition to our growth in providing foster care, TACT became an adoption agency in 2004 and expanded its size and influence by joining together with the Independent Adoption Services (IAS) in 2007 and most recently with Parents for Children (PfC) in 2009.