Issue - meetings

The report will inform members of the progress made in the performance of the Adoption Service in placing children for adoption and special guardianship since the publication of the Adoption Scorecard and the Adoption Diagnostic Review in Summer 2012.

The Committee were provided with an update in the performance of the adoption service in placing children for adoption and special guardianship since the publication of the adoption scorecard and the adoption diagnostic review in summer 2012.

Although, over a three year period the average number of days for adopting a child in the care of the local authority was comparatively high, there had been a significant recent improvement in reducing the number of days it took to adopt a child. 

The increased management attention given to completing the stages of the adoption process appropriately and expediently had led to significant improvements. The service had already met its annual target of 20 adoptions and now expects to make 30 adoptions by the end of the financial year.

The Committee further noted that for the 2012/13 financial year:

• 31 special guardianship orders were approved.
• 26 prospective adopters approved (this was the highest number in the North London Consortium of boroughs).

The Committee noted that a two stage adoption process had come into effect from the 01^st July, a 2 month investigation stage, followed by a 4 month process of approval. This was identified as a challenging timescale and the North London Consortium had agreed to fund a team to specifically deal with recruitment of adopters.

The Chair had particularly wanted a report on adoption to aid the Committee’s understanding on how adoption works with safeguarding process.   For example the journey from safeguarding support to adoption and this was illustrated in section 6.1.2 which advised that the previous average number of days a child was in care before moving to adoption placement was 737. This had now reduced to 299 days through the improved focus on deadlines and care planning.

The Committee were advised that as soon as it established that there are significant issues concerning the parents of a child and adoption is the best permanency option for the child,   the service will instigate care proceedings.  The service is aware of children, as well as newborns, where an early response will help them get adopted. For example, there will be indicators such as a sibling previously being adopted.

An enquiry was made about the number of contested adoptions. It was noted that often, initially, parents will resist the intention for an adoption.  The service will try to work with the family by holding a family group conference  to help identify a family member willing to take on the role of special guardian. If a special guardian is identified, they will need to complete a special guardianship assessment.   The service are fully transparent with parents and they are made fully aware of the process and are actively advised from an early stage about the process of adoption and are not subjected to any surprises.

An understanding was sought on the number of adoptions in comparison to the number of children in care, to put in context the actions being taken in relation to adoption. It was noted that around 5% of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 153