A mother has said she is “angry” the government has cut the funding that adopted children can access to pay for therapy.

Rachel Slaughter said her son will only receive six months of therapy this year and fears he will “regress” as a result.

Ministers renewed the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund for 2025/26 in April, but reduced the total funding available per child from £7,500 to £3,000.

The Department for Education said the change made the fund “financially sustainable” and confirmed its extension for another year on Thursday.

Ms Slaughter, from Worthing, said she was “upset” when she learned about the cut.

Her son “requires very specialist therapy” after he “had a really difficult start in life” prior to his adoption.

She said: “I was so scared of what his future was now going to look like because he won’t make that progress.”

“He cannot cope in this world without therapy,” according to Ms Slaughter. “He will not be able to keep going to school, he will not feel safe.”

She added: “When I say love is not enough, it’s not enough.

“He needs every piece of support, and I think he deserves the support.”

Mid Sussex MP Alison Bennett tabled a Westminster Hall debate on the fund in Parliament on Thursday.

She said the scheme gives young people who have experienced trauma “the best second chance at life” but parents “feel real fear” about the changes.

“It is unacceptable that the government has decided to turn its back on them in such an underhand way, and we must continue to advocate for them,” she added.

Children and Families Minister Janet Daby said in a written statement that details of the scheme for 2026/27 will be set out “shortly”.

The Department for Education “will launch a public engagement process to better understand how well the fund is working” in 2026, she added.

The department added it was “committed to ensuring adopted and kinship families continue to receive the help they need to thrive”.

Until April, each eligible child could access £2,500 for a specialist assessment and £5,000 for therapy under the scheme.

Since the government renewed the £50m fund, money available for therapy was reduced to £3,000 per child and there is no longer money available for a specialist assessment.

Adoption agencies in south east England previously said increasing numbers of children were hoping to be adopted but there were falling numbers of prospective parents.

Ms Slaughter said that “without the assurance that adopters will have post-adoption support, then I can’t see why anyone would want to adopt”.