Social services bosses today issued urgent appeals for adopters from different racial groups to take in children in care.

The call comes as it was revealed that ten Bradford youngsters who are either Asian or of mixed race are in urgent need of new 'forever families'.

There are scores of children in care whom Bradford Council plans to match with new adoptive parents. Many are already in the early stages of the process but there are about 20 for whom new families have not yet been identified.

Half of these are either Asian or 'dual heritage' - of Asian/white parentage or African-Caribbean/white parentage.

This week the Government urged local authorities to relax their guidelines on trans-racial adoptions and put the child's needs at the top of the agenda.

But in Bradford - where the adoption policy was revised last year - officials today stressed that they felt it was important that youngsters were matched with families of the same background, language and culture. Only when a child was on the waiting list for an unacceptably long time was this guideline broken.

"More adopters from different racial groups are always needed and I urge anyone who thinks they could make a lifetime commitment to a child to get in touch," said Richard Bates, divisional manager at Bradford social services.

The Government has launched a new report, Adoption Now: Messages from Research, which concluded there was no link between adoption failure rates and race.

A Department of Health spokesman said that the aim was not to force social workers to arrange more trans-racial adoptions, but to encourage them to broaden their views and think about what is best for the child.

"Ideally we try to place children with families of a similar background but if this is not possible, we take a flexible approach and consider a wider range of options," said Mr Bates.

"This may mean placing a child with a family of a different racial background, or a single person rather than a couple.

"We consider applications from people aged from 21 to 55. Adopters may be married, single, divorced, in work or unemployed and are welcomed regardless of race, religion, gender, class, sexuality or disability - the important thing is that they can provide a loving, caring home."

The Telegraph & Argus ran a successful Adoption Appeal campaign last year which resulted in an extra 24 families coming forward to adopt a youngster.

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