Call to find a home for ‘smiley & beautiful’ two-year-old girl who loves teddies before she is placed in permanent care
A “LAST chance” appeal has been launched to find a home for a ”beautiful, inquisitive” two-year-old looking for a family her whole life – before she is placed in permanent care.
Social workers say Olivia has an ”amazing smiley face” and is ”a real people person” who likes “music, toys, teddies and having a bath”.
Olivia has health disabilities which mean she will always need help and care.
Her Devon-based adoption agency Families For Children say it is now the last chance for her to find an adoptive family before a more permanent care solution is found.
Olivia is currently in foster care with her local authority and now desperately needs to find a family to call her own.
Family For Me, a project set up by Families for Children, is dedicated to finding adoptive families for ‘harder to place’ children, like Olivia.
Katharine Lane, FFM social worker said: “Olivia has been searching for an adoptive family for nearly all of her life so far.
“The decision to ask us to help comes from her need to be in a stable environment and if we cannot find a forever family through adoption, then we must look at alternative options.
“The project has a dedicated team of social workers and support staff, with specialist experience who offer Olivia a good chance to find a family of her own.”
Olivia was born with an array of complex health needs including a duplication of one of her chromosomes.
Many of her needs are still evolving, so there are still many unknowns about her development.
One of Olivia’s most significant health needs comes from being born with a cleft lip and palate, meaning she cannot consume anything orally and her tummy has been tied so she can’t be sick.
She suffers with excessive saliva which can lead to breathing issues. All Olivia’s food and medicine is given to her directly through her tummy.
Olivia also has cervical spine abnormalities, she has some hearing issues and a ‘double thumb’.
A spokesperson for Families For Children said: “As summer approaches and the end of lockdown is in sight most families are looking forward to enjoying time with friends and having some well-earned family fun, but for Olivia the next few months will mark the end to a long and so far, fruitless search for an adoptive family.
The project is the last chance for Olivia to find her forever family before alternative plans are put in place for her care.
A spokesperson for Families For Children
“Olivia is a beautiful, inquisitive little two year old. She has a cheeky personality and amazing smiley face.
“Olivia loves to be with others and is a real people person. She enjoys listening to music and playing with noisy and colourful toys. She likes playing with her teddies and dollies like any other little girl and loves a bath!
“The nature of Olivia’s disabilities means she will need help and support from her family and health professionals throughout her life but this doesn’t prevent her from being a happy and contented child.
“After searches to find a suitable family by the Local Authority where she is cared have so far been unsuccessful, they have asked Family for Me to step in and help.
“The project is the last chance for Olivia to find her forever family before alternative plans are put in place for her care.”
Ruth Marriot, Families for Children CEO says, “Children with complex needs feature highly in the numbers of children considered ‘children who wait the longest’ for adoption.
“And, although some of these have very high-level medical needs that doesn’t mean that there are not people out there who would have the skills or the will to take them home, claim them as their own and give them a family.
“These children along with sibling groups and children aged 5 and over, we search long and hard to find new parents for, and the best parents are those that are able to accept everything the children bring and love them anyway, take advice on parenting them differently and therapeutically, and be flexible about the change that inevitably occurs!”
Olivia is a beautiful, inquisitive little two year old. She has a cheeky personality and amazing smiley face.
A spokesperson for Families For Children
Family for Me are looking for an exceptional family who could commit to Olivia’s ongoing medical care and having accepted her disabilities see the beautiful little girl bursting with personality and life.
Families for Children can offer support to adoptive parents to meet a child’s individual needs.
They work closely with Local Authorities and health professionals to help assess the social, emotional and physical needs of each child, ensuring that their families are aware of their entitlements and services available to them to meet their child’s needs.
The Family for Me project is currently searching for adoptive families for five children and are looking across the UK.
If anyone would like to discuss the possibility of being considered adoptive parents for Olivia they are urging you to come forward and call them on 01364 400064.
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Previously, a foster kid, 9, got thousands of adoption inquiries after asking for a ‘mom and a dad…or just a mom’ in appeal.
And parents adopted their son after spotting his gorgeous smile in The Sun.