Slough Borough Council

Slough Borough Council Adoption Service Inspection report for la adoption agency

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SC056811 Unique reference number 16 June 2008 Inspection date Rosemary Dancer Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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Slough Borough Council Address Town Hall Bath Road SLOUGH SL1 3UQ 01753 690779 Telephone number

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Email

Slough Borough Council Registered person Julia Brown Registered manager Nicky Rayner Responsible individual 17 May 2005 Date of last inspection .

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Email

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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Email

You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children's Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Cripins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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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. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcome for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and relevant National Minimum Standards for the establishment.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is strong Good: this aspect of the provision is sound Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Inadequate: 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008

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Brief description of the service

Slough Borough Council's Adoption Service consists of one adoption team which undertakes the statutory responsibilities associated with current adoption legislation and regulations. These include the recruitment, preparation and assessment of domestic adopters; the family finding and the matching and placement of children; support to placements both pre and post adoption order; post adoption support to adult adoptees, including intermediary and tracing work; post adoption support to relatives of adoptees and support to birth parents whose children will be or have been placed for adoption. The agency is a part of a local consortium with the other five Berkshire unitary authorities. Each authority jointly fund a joint arrangement, the Berkshire Adoption Advisory Service (BAAS). Through this arrangement a range of resources are available to the six members. These include the operation and administration of the adoption panel; the

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Brief description of the service

letterbox system; the management of closed records; specialist advice and training; and independent support to birth families. The council refers people wanting to adopt from another country on to an agency specialising in this work for their preparation, assessment and approval. Once the family has returned to this country with a child the welfare visiting arrangements are carried out by members of Slough adoption team. The team provides these families with a support service through the mainstream services.

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Summary

At this announced full inspection all of the National Minimum Standards were assessed. The recruitment, preparation, assessment and approval of adoptive parents is of a good quality and means that safe, stable and secure placements for children can be made. Support services provided by this agency to adoptive families are of a exceptional quality. Support is provided in a flexible way via in-house and external services. This coherent and proactive approach in supporting children and their families helps the maintenance of the child's placement into adulthood and beyond. Birth parents, other relatives and adoptees also receive a very good service. For birth parents a very proactive and sensitive approach is taken to try and engage them at an early stage. For adoptees and birth relatives of adoptees wanting to make contact some very skilled and sensitive work is undertaken in helping them understand their situation

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Summary

and where appropriate supporting reunions. This support can be provided in-house or independently from the agency via BAAS. The excellent resources provided through BAAS are a real strength of this agency. The shared arrangements for funding of BAAS means that a wide range of activities can be provided to people touched by adoption who are living in Berkshire. Staff are well supported by skilled and experienced managers. There are good supervision arrangements and a high level of peer support. Staff are very committed to their work and retain a child focused approach at all times. The overall quality rating is good. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last key inspection a total of five statutory requirements and ten recommendations were made. The agency has addressed all of these.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is not judged. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. There are effective arrangements in place in respect of the recruitment of adopters. People are welcomed without prejudice but with the needs of children waiting for a placement held in mind. There are good arrangements in respect to family finding for children and these include using the local consortium and the national adoption register. The agency ensures that children's views about placements are obtained and acted upon where possible. People who wish to adopt a child from another country are referred for preparation, assessment and approval to an agency which specialises in this work. In respect to adopters wishing to adopt a child from this country the agency takes a thorough approach to their preparation and assessment. However, the formal application to adopt is not taken in a timely way. This means that applicants do not have access to the formal routes of appealing an adverse decision about their suitability from

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

the point of the assessment commencing. The preparation groups are informative and aid applicants to develop the knowledge and skills they need to parent a child who has complex needs arising from their early life. Overall the assessment reports are analytical, competency based and provide the reader with a good view of the couples parenting capacity. Second opinion visits are carried out and these allow for any gaps or concerns noted to be checked out. There are a full range of checks carried out on adopters to help assess their suitability to adopt. However, the home health and safety checklists on some files, do not include an assessment of the storage of dangerous weapons or risks to young children from hanging cords on window blinds. Not all health and safety checklists are updated as issues are addressed and therefore is not easily to establish if the home is free from preventable hazards. Adopters are

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

well informed about the matching, introduction and placement processes. The matching processes are a strength of this agency with all of the social workers involved in each case working very closely together to ensure that the best possible match for the child is found. A social worker from an external agency commented, " the children’s future wellbeing is entrusted to committed and protective adoptive parents." The agency provides prospective adopters with up to date information about the child being placed and the medical adviser will meet with prospective adopters to discuss any medical needs the child may have. Advice can also be sought in terms of the child's psychological and educational needs where this is required. Life appreciation days are carried out for most children and this is good practice as it provides an excellent opportunity for all who know the child to share information with the prospective

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

adopters. Adopters are then able to support children well in understanding their early life and their situation. The arrangements for the operation and management of panel are of a good quality. There are clear policies and procedures in place which govern the work of the panel. Adopters are invited to attend the panel for their approval consideration so that they can be heard. They are not invited to attend the panel which is considering a possible match. The panel is properly constituted, regularly convened and the chair and panel members have suitable qualities and experience. There are regular training days, including an annual day with the social work staff. There is an induction process in place and new members observe a panel as a part of this process. Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check are taken out, confidentiality agreements are signed and all status checks are done before panel members start. Specialist advice is

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

provided by the medical adviser and the legal adviser and written legal advice and advice from the clinical psychologist is presented to members in advance of the panel with the panel papers. This is good practice as it provides members with a clear view of the case and the legal situation in advance and gives them time to formulate any questions they may have. Minutes are made of the panel discussion and recommendations made. While reasons are contained in the 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008 discussion section of the minutes they are not made explicit to clearly show panel members overall conclusions. The decision-making process is efficient. Due regard is taken to the information surrounding the case and the panels recommendation. Decisions are made in a timely way and the relevant people are informed of the decision promptly. Written procedures for the recruitment of staff are in place and these follow good practice in safeguarding children.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

In the main the agency evidenced a robust recruitment process takes place. However in one case agreement had been given for a social worker to commence employment, but have no contact with children, prior to a satisfactory CRB check having been obtained. This is not good practice nor is it in line with the standards. The agency has safeguarding procedures which relate to children who are placed for adoption. While the agency's practice in relation to safeguarding children is sound the focus of the procedures is on the adopters. This does not allow for situations of abuse by people other than the adopters including situations of historical abuse. In addition the procedure does not include children receiving a support service.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. The support services provided by and for the agency are of an excellent quality. This agency is able to work in a very flexible way due the way in which support services are set up. The agency has a dedicated support worker who along with social workers in the team and other agencies deliver well assessed and individualised support packages. These are developed in a timely way and are subject to review which means that support can be provided promptly and remain in line with changing needs. The support worker is described by adoptive families as being very accessible and responsive and she is proactive in contacting families following and order having been granted each year for the first three years. This is excellent practice as it keeps a link with adoptive families and more importantly means that any emerging difficulties can be addressed in a timely way. Slough Borough Council pays for adoptive families to have

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

three years membership of a national adoption support agency and this agency provides adopters with peer support, advice and training. Slough, in appropriate cases, also provides some generous financial support packages which enable adopters to meet the needs of the child or children being placed. The arrangements for therapeutic support have been developed since the last inspection and is of a very good quality. This team provides a multi-disciplinary approach to support work and provides a targeted and responsive service to looked after and adopted children. It provides consultation and advice about how to best meet children's needs to social workers, adopters, teachers, other professionals and the panel. The team has a strong focus on children's educational needs and teachers are helped to understand the issues for the child and to manage any disruptive behaviour appropriately. This work helps to stabilise school

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

placements which generally also helps stabilise other areas of the child's life. This team has a direct link into the local Children's and Adolescent Mental Health Service where the child needs support for their mental wellbeing. The arrangements with the consortium provide a wide range of support groups, workshops and training events the latter being available to adopters, social workers and educational staff. There is also an annual conference held for adopters. In respect to inter-country placements the agency is taking back the responsibility for carrying out the welfare visits from the specialist agency in order that where support is needed this can be identified and assessed and support provided to the family in a timely way. There is a clear written policy in relation to disruptions of adoptive placements. There have been no recent disruptions which indicates that the work of the agency is of an overall good quality and support

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

provided to placements is of an exceptional quality. In addition to the specialist therapeutic team the agency has access to a medical adviser and legal adviser, both of whom provide advice 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008 to the adoption panel as well as staff, and in the case of medical advice, adoptive families. These roles are governed by written protocols.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is outstanding. The service recognises the lifelong implications of adoption and the impact this has on all involved. The agency not only provides an exceptional support services to children and their adoptive families but extends these to all involved, including birth parents. Birth parents have access to an independent worker when adoption is identified as the plan for the child. The social workers and BAAS are very proactive in trying to engage parents in this work. Some very good work is carried out with birth parents in planning for their child. Their views about adoption and contact are obtained and recorded and where this has not been possible the reasons for this are clearly recorded. Parents views are also fed into the family finding process and wherever possible their views about what sort of family they would like their child to be brought up in are taken into account. Birth parents are supported and encouraged to provide information for

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Helping children make a positive contribution

life story work books about the child’s early life and their own background and in appropriate cases to participate in a one off meeting with the prospective adopters. These activities provide good quality information which helps adopters inform the child about his history. While life story books and later life letters are developed this is not always done so in a timely way. However, the agency does take this important work seriously, had recognised the delays in some cases and has begun to develop better systems to ensure this is addressed. BAAS has produced written information about adoption for birth parents which can also be provided in audio form. This ensures that birth parents can access the information in a way which suits their needs. BAAS operates and manages the indirect and some direct contact arrangements between children and their birth family. These arrangements are robust and contact work is

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Helping children make a positive contribution

carried out to a very high standard. Contact arrangements are subject to review to ensure that the child's needs continue to be met. BAAS has produced written guidance in writing letters and also provides practical support to people to write a letter which is appropriate for the situation. BAAS runs a range of useful workshops around all aspects of services to birth families and this ensures that social workers are informed about this complex area of work. The agency offers birth records counselling for adult adoptees and their birth relatives. This is sensitively handled and people are treated with respect whatever their circumstances. The agency undertakes intermediary work and has supported some successful reunions. BAAS runs a group for people wishing to trace relatives and this provides them with a good level of peer support. Overall this work ensures that people affected by adoption, be they a birth family member or

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Helping children make a positive contribution

an adoptee of any age, are supported in understanding their situation and where appropriate in tracing and reunions.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. This is a well-managed agency which has clear policies and procedures underpinning its Statement of Purpose. Children are informed about adoption via the direct work carried out with them and through the use of children's guides which are a useful tool for working with children. Enquirers and prospective adopters are informed effectively about the adoption 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008 processes through good quality written information, via the preparation groups and through the work done with them by the social workers. The Nominated Manager for the adoption service is suitably social work qualified and has experience in child care and adoption law and practice. She has good management skills although she currently does not have a management qualification. The management team is highly thought by the social work staff and sound

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Organisation

leadership of the service is exercised at all levels. However, the executive of the agency do not receive written reports on the management and outcomes of the service every six months but receive an annual report. This does not enable the executive to monitor the work of the agency as closely as possible. The managers are suitably qualified and experienced in adoption work and staff feel very well supported by both their immediate and more senior managers all of whom are described as caring and supportive. There are clear lines of accountability in place and clear arrangements for delegation. There are good working relationships within the teams and across the teams in Slough with all taking a child-centred approach to their work. Many positive comments were received from adopters and external agencies about the professionalism of the staff and of the agency. Regular monitoring and progress meetings ensure that children's

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Organisation

cases are not subject to avoidable delay. Staff receive regular good quality supervision and there is reasonable access to training. Social workers felt the calibre of their administrative support staff was of a very good quality although some felt that the amount of administration time provided to teams was not adequate. The case files for adopters and children are well ordered and adequately maintained. In respect to one child's adoption file not enough attention had been paid to issues of confidentiality in the recording practice and in the case of a child protection allegation the recording was not clear as to the actions taken and the outcome of the situation. The staff and panel members' files meet regulatory requirements. However, the system for updating staff CRB checks every three years had not been effective in every case. A separate record is maintained of all complaints and this aids the monitoring processes. The

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Organisation

premises from which the adoption agency operates from has suitable security arrangements, they are accessible and open during normal office hours. There is a disaster recovery plan but this does not include the provision of premises specifically for the adoption agency or for the arrangements for the safeguarding of some archived documents.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider must comply with the given timescales.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that any risks in prospective adopters' households in relation to the storage of dangerous weapons and hanging cords from window blinds are excluded (NMS 4.6) • consider inviting prospective adopters to attend the matching panel (NMS 10.3) • consider making explicit in the panel minutes the members' reasons for recommendations they have made (NMS 12.3) 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008 • ensure that no person begins work until written confirmation has been received that the outcomes for CRB checks are satisfactory (NMS 19.5) • amend the safeguarding procedures to place the focus on the child, to include children and others using the support services and to include situations of allegations about historical abuse (NMS 32.1 and 32.4)

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Recommendations

• ensure that the manager of the adoption service commences and completes a management qualification (NMS 14.2) • ensure that the executive receive written reports on the management and outcomes of the service on a six- monthly basis (NMS 17.3) • ensure only information relevant to each child is filed on children's files and that records are made in respect to allegations and the outcomes of these (NMS 25.1 and NMS 27.2) • ensure staff CRB checks are renewed every three years (NMS 28.2) • include in the disaster recovery plan the arrangements for the provision of premises and the safeguarding/back-up of records. (NMS 29.5) 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• Ofsted considers the key standard to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the agency matches children with adopters (NMS 2) • the agency assesses and prepares adopters (NMS 4) • adopters are given information about matching (NMS 5) • the functions of the adoption panel are as specified (NMS 10) • the constitution and membership of adoption panels are as specified (NMS 11) • adoption panels are timely (NMS 12) • adoption agency decision is made without delay and appropriately (NMS 13) • the manager is suitable to carry on or manage an adoption agency (NMS 15) • staff are suitable to work with children (NMS 19) • the agency has a robust complaints procedure (NMS 24 voluntary adoption agency only) • the agency safeguards and promotes the welfare of its service users (NMS 32)

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the adoption agency provides support for adoptive parents (NMS 6) • the agency has access to specialist advisers as appropriate (NMS 18) • services are tailored to meet the needs of people affected by adoption (NMS 33) Ofsted considers 6 and 33 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• birth parents and birth families are involved in adoption plans (NMS 7) • birth parents and birth families are involved in maintaining the child’s heritage (NMS 8) • the adoption agency supports birth parents and families (NMS 9) • Service users receive good quality services based on their needs (NMS 34) Ofsted considers 7, 8, 9 and 34 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

Ofsted considers none of the above to be key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• there is a clear written statement of the aims and objectives of the adoption agency and the adoption agency ensures that it meets those aims and objectives (NMS 1) 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008

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Annex A

• the agency provides clear written information for prospective adopters (NMS 3) • the manager has skills to carry on or manage the adoption agency (NMS 14) • the adoption agency is managed effectively and efficiently (NMS 16) • the agency is monitored and controlled as specified (NMS 17) • the staff are organised and managed effectively (NMS 20) • the agency has sufficient staff with the right skills/experience (NMS 21) • the agency is a fair and competent employer (NMS 22) • the agency provides training for staff (NMS 23) • case records for children and prospective / approved adopters are comprehensive and accurate (NMS 25) • the agency provides access to records as appropriate (NMS 26) • the agency’s administrative records processes are appropriate (NMS 27) • the agency maintains personnel files for members of staff and members of adoption panels (NMS 28) • the premises used by the adoption agency are suitable for purpose (NMS 29)

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Annex A

• the adoption agency is financially viable (NMS 30 voluntary adoption agency only) • the adoption agency has robust financial processes (NMS 31) Ofsted considers 1, 3, 16, 21, 25 and 27 the key standards to be inspected. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Slough Borough Council Adoption Service, 16 June 2008

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