Adoption UK

Adoption UK Inspection report for adoption support agency

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Unique reference number SC066957 Inspection date 11/01/2016 Inspector Rosie Dancer Type of inspection Full

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Setting address Adoption UK, Linden House, 55 The Green, South Bar Street, BANBURY, Oxfordshire, OX16 9AB Telephone number 01295 752 240 Email admin@adoptionuk.org.uk Registered person Adoption UK Registered manager Janet Slater Responsible individual Hugh Thornbery Date of last inspection 06/11/2013 Website: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Brief description of the service

Adoption UK is a membership organisation for individuals, families and agencies. It is a registered charity and its work is overseen by a board of trustees. It was established as a self-help group for adoptive parents in 1971. Over the last 40 years it has grown and developed into a national organisation. It operates from premises in Banbury, Oxfordshire and also has offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has been able to retain the peer-to-peer aspects of the service delivery through the majority of front line staff having experience as adoptive parents. The agency does not work directly with children. The Banbury office serves approximately 5,400 members who are adopters and 180 adoption agency members. The agency produces a monthly information bulletin for its members giving individual profiles of children waiting to be adopted and prospective adopters waiting to adopt. Adoption support is provided as information and guidance through a range of media,

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Brief description of the service

including: a helpline and online forum: access to a comprehensive adoption library; legal advice; training courses and conferences; publications on adoption issues for professionals and individual adopters; direct support to adopters, for example through a series of phone calls.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Requires improvement : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be outstanding

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Overall effectiveness

Adopters using the various services provided reported, without exception, extremely positive changes in their lives as a family as a result of the support they had received. The use of research based practice makes a significant difference to adoptive families and in some cases has prevented adoption breakdown.

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Overall effectiveness

Adopters value highly the peer to peer support element of this agency and its work and feel that their views are listened to, fully understood and acted upon. It is clear that the agency understands the lifelong implications adoption has on all parties and through membership people can access the services at any stage of their lives. An adopter, when asked if the service could do anything better, said, ‘Be at the end of my road’ and went on to say, ‘they are like a life line.’ The arrangements for monitoring the work and the strategic development of the agency are effective in ensuring that work remains of a high quality and that quality is sustained over time.

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Overall effectiveness

The leadership and management of the agency inspires and leads the staff highly effectively and are always looking for new ways to drive improvements in the agency and in adoption nationally. For example, the agency is currently involved in delivering services to families where there is child-to-parent violence, via a Government grant. This was an area of unmet need highlighted in a research report carried out in 2014 .

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Overall effectiveness

People who work or volunteer for the agency are highly trained and skilled in their respective roles and share the passion of their leaders to improve the lives of children through the support they provide to their adoptive parents.

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Overall effectiveness

The agency is a training provider and their training has been endorsed by commissioners, adopters and worldwide acclaimed experts in attachment and trauma issues.

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Overall effectiveness

Local authorities across the country commission services from the agency. Membership of the agency provides them with the opportunity to purchase tailored support packages. It also provides their adopters and staff with access to a range of information and advice and free or discounted publications and training. The safeguarding procedures are due for review and the detail of the recording of concerns is not comprehensive in every case. A recommendation has been made in respect to this.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s): ensure it is clearly evidenced that safety and welfare are promoted and children are protected from abuse and other forms of significant harm. With specific reference to ensuring that the safeguarding procedure includes clear timescales for all stages of decision making and recording reflects these timescales. Include definitions of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation in the safeguarding policy. (NMS 4.1)

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users

Adopters highlighted peer-to-peer support as being a crucial in the success of the work. They said they feel able to confide in their Adoption UK worker about issues they have not had the confidence to talk to their social worker about. They find that the non-judgemental approach, shared experiences and the skills and knowledge of the people working with them mean they feel they are fully understood and listened to. Adopters are extremely confident in Adoption UK and feel it is crucial to have the agency in their lives. For example, one adopter said ‘If you are an adoptive family I don’t believe you can live without Adoption UK.’ Many spoke about how their family life has changed for the better due to the things they have learnt about their child’s needs and the support they had received to parent them effectively. Adopters say that the diverse range of services provide them with excellent support

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users

that is delivered to them with flexibility. For example, as their adoption journey progresses and their needs as a family change they access what they need when they need it. Adopters who have used the online community say that it is an excellent way to link to other people and share experiences when they need advice and support on a specific issue. Adopters commented on how the helpline is easy to access when they have a need to talk to someone. They value the fact that there is always someone at the end of the phone with a sympathetic listening ear who can also provide sound practical advice about dealing with a range of diverse issues and that support and advice is life changing. Some services are commissioned by local authorities and access to services is gained through these contracts: for example, the support groups which are run throughout the UK. Adopters say they are an excellent way to network with other adopters and

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users

learn together about various topics relating to adoptive parenting. They say this really supports them to parent their child more effectively. A commissioner spoke about how Adoption UK had worked collaboratively with them to tailor support groups to provide what adopters want and this was working very well. An adopter stated of the groups, ‘They listen to what we want and we get it.’ Other commissioned services include more targeted support utilising the buddy system, the parent consultant service and the child to parent violence project. These are all delivered through a series of planned telephone calls. One adopter who had used the buddy system described how talking to someone who had been through a similar experience and who was very insightful had enabled her to help the children settle in well at a time she had been struggling and lacked confidence; she felt the service had been invaluable. People who have used the

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users

parent consultant service and child to parent violence project spoke about how these services had been a life line. They described how skilful the worker had been in helping them to understand the impact past trauma has had on their child and how this has affected the development of their brain and they now understood the reasons for their child’s behaviour. They identified that they had been able to make significant changes to their parenting techniques through the support and advice provided. One adopter said, ‘Of all the help we have had from our local authority and other services this had been the best thing; we got more out of it than everything else put together.’ Local authority commissioners also expressed how Adoption UK has helped their adopters to learn new skills through these services. One spoke about the, ‘excellent benefit’ this work had brought to adopters and their children. Another, who had spot purchased some sessions, said the child-to-parent violence

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users

project was, ‘excellent; very quick turnaround; very impressive, I like their flexibility.’ Adopters and commissioners also commented on the very positive impact the excellent range of training delivered by the organisation has on the lives of adoptive families. The range and reach of training is impressive. For example, there are conferences held with worldwide acclaimed speakers on key topics such as attachment and trauma and therapeutic parenting. The agency also delivers a wide range of training on areas such as, life story work, contact, non-violent resistance, adopted children in education, sensory integration, telling children about adoption, preparing for a placement, building resilience, stress management and the Parenting Our Children programme (formerly A Piece of Cake). All of the training is effective in supporting adoptive families to strengthen; professionals attending also highly value

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users

the training. An adopter stated the conferences and training really gave them ‘food for thought.’ And described how it had helped them to parent their child far more effectively.

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Quality of service provision

Adoption UK uses a range of media and has a broad reach across the UK. It is accessible to all whatever stage of the adoption process they are at. It provides information, advice and support about adoption to people who are thinking about adoption, prospective adopters and adoptive families. Membership provides adopters with access to over 900 books from the lending library, a range of fact sheets on subjects such as adoption leave and pay and attachment, access to the online member’s area, local support groups, family days, discounts on training and conferences, an online shop, a bi-monthly magazine, the helpline and, for an additional fee, access to details of children waiting for adoption. An adopter said, ‘We get great value from our membership.’ Non-members can access the public section of the Adoption UK website. This contains a raft of useful information about adoption, adoptive parenting and national issues such as the Adoption Support Fund.

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Quality of service provision

The agency is highly welcoming and services are delivered promptly and with flexibility, for example parent consultant calls are sometimes made out of hours to fit in with adopters working patterns. For the more formal work carried out through the buddy and consultant systems, adopters have a full input into identifying their desired outcomes and there are clear plans developed for work with families. Work is highly individualised, delivered by people who are highly knowledge and sensitive to the needs of adoptive families. Adopters spoke about how they had made significant progress and that they have been able to build upon this. Improvements in their family’s lives have been sustained and for some adoption breakdowns have been prevented. An adopter said ‘It was revolutionary, we have definitely turned a corner and couldn’t have done it without Adoption UK; we were on the edge and are now back on track.’

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Quality of service provision

The staff and volunteers are very well trained, demonstrate an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of adoption issues. Their personal knowledge and experience of adoption is used in a professional way and has had a positive impact on the people they work with. They are exceptionally good at ensuring that adopters develop a full understanding about their child and his or her behaviours. Their support practice is firmly grounded in research, for example in attachment and trauma and the use of non-violent resistance. Adopters come to understand how their child’s past experiences have impacted on their overall emotional well-being and how this manifests in their behaviours. The work helps them to find and implement the best strategies for their child and family to ensure that their child overcomes, as far as is possible, the effects of past abuse and neglect and they are enabled to reach their full potential.

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Quality of service provision

The training programme the agency devises and delivers is firmly grounded in research and current thinking about adoption. It is disseminated to adopters, staff, and professionals from different disciplines. For example, training is delivered to educators so they better understand the reasons for some adopted children’s behaviours and from the training they develop effective strategies to deal with their more disruptive behaviour. This knowledge also benefits children who have not been adopted but who may be fostered and have behavioural difficulties due to past trauma.

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families

Judgement outcome: good The agency does not carry out direct work with children but there is a strong focus on safeguarding and promoting the best interests of children through the work with their parents. There is an excellent understanding about the impact past abuse and the associated trauma has on children and how this often makes conventional parenting techniques ineffective. The use of research informed practice supports parents to understand and help their child deal with the impact of their past experiences. Service users are aware of the agency’s approach to child protection and the limitations of confidentiality. While the agency does not directly work with children they do from time to time get information that indicates a child is may be at risk of harm. Staff have all been trained in safeguarding children and take prompt action; they handle these situations with sensitivity. The safeguarding procedures are due for update and would benefit

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families

from documenting the expectations of senior managers including timescales for decision making. They would also benefit from the inclusion of the signs that a child may be subject to some form of exploitation. Not all of the records made of safeguarding referrals provided a clear audit trail in relation to the date actions had been taken and this makes it difficult to monitor and track each issue. There is a clear understanding about protecting vulnerable adults and dealing with historical abuse allegations. There have been no instances of concern relating to adults, staff are trained in dealing with such issues and there is a policy and procedure to guide them. There is a robust recruitment and vetting process for staff and volunteers working with adopters that ensures that they are suitable people to be working for the agency.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management are highly influential in the adoption world and share a strong passion and ambition to provide the highest quality of service possible and shape national developments. Practice is innovative and is shared beyond the agency to drive improvement nationally. For example the Chief Executive gave oral evidence to the Education and Adoption Public Bill Committee on 30 th June 2015. The agency has been involved in carrying out or supporting research. For example in April 2014 they carried out a research project looking at adopted children’s experience in school. More recently it has supported research into permanence for disabled children and young people and a study on adopted children's mental health needs. Work of the agency is underpinned by a clear statement of purpose that sets out the aims and objectives. The insightful reviews the agency carries out and regular reporting to the trustees ensure that the aims and objectives are met. There is an

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Leadership and management

accurate understanding of the agency’s strengths and weaknesses and effective action is taken in a planned way to improve and shape the services. Leaders and managers are effective at monitoring the financial stability of the agency. Business resources are managed effectively and steps are taken to deal with any anticipated shortfalls in income. The views of staff, adopters and stakeholders inform the monitoring and review processes so that wherever possible the services families find most useful are developed and built upon. There are highly effective working relationships with commissioning organisations and other adoption agencies and a clear sense of shared responsibility to promote family stability and improve the lives of children through the support offered to their parents. A commissioner said the agency is, ‘very good very responsive, I like their flexibility.’ Staff, trainers, volunteers and managers are of a high calibre, well trained, very

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Leadership and management

experienced and, where required, qualified. The personal experience of adoption many people working for the agency bring to their work means they have an enhanced insight into the complex and sometimes distressing situations adoptive families find themselves. This puts them in a strong position to provide them with highly effective advice and support. An adopter said her worker was ‘very knowledgeable, incredibly so.’ A commissioner said ‘They go above and beyond and we are looking at additional support they could provide.’ Another commissioner said the regional manager that works with their agency, ‘is very aware of the adopters’ perspective and able to sympathetically point out how local authority staff can have a different viewpoint to the service user.’

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Leadership and management

Staff and volunteers receive regular very good quality supervision and support, including clinical supervision where appropriate. They are very well supported by leaders and managers who they see as approachable. A worker said her manager is, ‘very accessible on a day-to-day basis.’ Training opportunities are very good and relevant to the work; the quality of the training is excellent and ensures that workers are up to date with current thinking. A newer worker said ‘I have been extremely impressed with training it is very high quality.’ Training supports staff exceptionally well in carrying out highly effective work with adoptive families and improving the lives of adopted children.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of adoption support agencies.

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