Issue - meetings

Information and update report on the work of the Adoption Service.

The committee received the annual report of the  Adoption service  which contained information  about: how it functioned,  was guided , regulated , the recruitment of adopters,  preparation of applicants, assessments  for adoption, adoption panel working, current figures relating to children waiting to be adopted ,staffing and key issues going forward   for the service.

 The committee had already been made aware of the government’s action plan for adoption which included speeding up the process for adoption. To enable this there would be an introduction of performance thresholds and a performance scorecard to track and profile progress.  The committee considered the current score card and were concerned about the direction of the performance figures for the Adoption service and whether reductions in the journey time to adoption could be achieved. They noted that a DFE diagnostic team had visited the council to complete an assessment of the current performance and its likely progress to understand whether the council’s service would need to be put into special measures. Following intensive interviews and an initial draft report it was felt that the assessment had gone well.

As the council had a higher number of LAC they would consequently have a higher number of children to place for adoption.  This coupled with the national   problem in recruiting adopters and the mix of children with differing needs would be acknowledged by the DFE in their diagnostic assessment. Neighbouring boroughs were also facing similar issues and would receive a visit from the DFE diagnostic team.

The committee learned that since January 2012 the Adoption Team had been fully staffed as prior to this there had been staff on maternity and sick leave. There was now an increased emphasis on seeking special guardianships with two members of staff working on this.   There would be a high level of management monitoring to ensure that the targeted number of adoptions occurred on a quarterly basis.  There was an adoption working party examining recruitment methodology, and considering an enhanced role for the voluntary sector.  The key focus was timeliness and ensuring that   this was given as equal importance as the quality of the placement.  This would be aided by the service having improved data available to better manage performance.  The Head of Service for Children in Care was also examining past adoption cases to further understand the factors involved in long running cases to inform improving the timeliness of adoptions. 

Further to considering the current Adoption Scorecard the Committee were assured that Adoption was a key priority for the Director of the Children’s Services. It was agreed that there be an update to committee about the outcome of the diagnostic team visit as part of the Adoption Action plan report.