East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service

East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service Inspection report for la adoption agency

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SC056538 Unique reference number 14 July 2008 Inspection date Sean White / Stephen Smith Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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The Adoption & Fostering Teams Address Child Care Resources Beck View Road Grovehill Beverley HU17 OJT 01482396673/76 Telephone number

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Email

East Riding of Yorkshire Council Registered person Ian Wilson Registered manager

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Responsible individual

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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Responsible individual

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 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 2008

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Brief description of the service

This is a local authority adoption agency that undertakes, or makes arrangements for, all statutory adoption responsibilities under current legislation and guidance. The agency undertakes the recruitment, preparation, assessment and approval of people who wish to adopt a child from this country; those wishing to adopt a child from overseas are provided with details of an independent agency. It also makes arrangements, in collaboration with other services, to match and place children with adopters; these can either be the agency's own adopters, or those from another authority. Support services are either provided for within the resources of the agency or through a contract with an independent adoption support agency (ASA). This would include anyone affected by adoption, including birth parents.

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Summary

This is a good, and in many respects, very good adoption agency. Its approach to recruiting and assessing adopters is rigorous and undertaken by highly skilled workers, with a clear focus on meeting the needs of children. This enables the matching and placing of children with families to be undertaken with confidence and optimism. The outstanding practices of the agency are managed well by experienced and skilled managers who undertake their duties and responsibilities with enthusiasm and commitment. It is an efficient agency that manages its workload well and encourages its staff to carry out their duties to the best of their abilities in a supportive environment. Adoptive families receive good, solid support from the agency, which encourages and enables placements to be successful. Birth parents also have access to independent support and are encouraged to be involved in the planning for child's future.

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Summary

Obtaining information for children's life-story work, while undertaken with some energy and skill in some instances, is somewhat inconsistent in many cases. 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

The agency took seriously the issues raised at the last inspection and put an improvement plan in place. This has had a considerable impact on the service and raised its standards of practice and management considerably. There is a stronger approach to working with birth parents, a more coherent and efficient approach to administration and organisation, and a more focused approach to managing all aspects of the service.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. This is an agency that has a very strong commitment to children and this provides a clear and pronounced framework for its practices and strategy, which is of a very high standard. The agency has a very positive and thorough approach to the recruitment of adoptive parents that is aimed very clearly at making sure that only the most appropriate people are approved to offer permanent homes for children requiring adoption. It achieves this through a range of initiatives that focus on the needs of children and how best they will be met by the families 4 of 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 2008 they are matched and placed with. The agency has a very low disruption rate. The arrangements for preparing, assessing and approving adopters are very thorough and demonstrate a highly committed and rigorous approach to the agency's responsibilities, which provides for children's

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

needs being met by only the most appropriate families. Assessment reports and children's permanence reports were of a consistently high standard and demonstrated a particularly thorough and analytical approach; this ensures that all required information is pursued and obtained and a clear analysis made (and recorded). Adopters are fully informed about the children they are matched with; all necessary and required information is made available and shared through a range of means. The adoption panel, which is appropriately constituted and chaired by a very experienced and qualified professional, undertakes its responsibilities in a conscientious and thorough manner. The functions of the panel are well informed by clear policies and procedures, and business is conducted in a well ordered manner that ensures that all necessary information is given a high level of scrutiny. This ensures that the agency decision

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

maker is fully apprised of all the cases being considered. The panels are held regularly, and are managed and administered in a very efficient and well ordered way. Decision making is conscientiously managed and continues the thorough and focused approach of the agency in its approach to meeting the needs of children through adoption. The arrangements for the recruitment and selection of staff are very robust and ensure that only the most appropriately skilled and experienced personnel work for the agency. The manager is very experienced and qualified to undertake his responsibilities. The staff team has a wide range of knowledge and experience and demonstrated significant skills in, and understanding of, adoption matters - especially the importance of ensuring that the needs of children informed all aspects of the agency's work. This ensures that children's futures are protected and safe.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The agency has a clear commitment to supporting adoptive families, enabling children to have optimistic outcomes. There is a strong approach to support based on clear planning at the matching stage and well managed introductions. There is strong, well-organised cooperation between teams that enables transitions to be managed well and placements to be positively maintained. There is a range of resources that are used to ensure that support is provided, or made available, to provide for different circumstances and needs. These include innovative initiatives developed by the agency and the input of specialist agencies. The post adoption support provision, whilst effective in delivery, is not as coherent as other aspects of the agency's support systems.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. The agency encourages the full involvement of birth parents in the planning for their children's futures by engaging with them from a very early point in their involvement. It takes seriously the birth parents' wishes and feelings and acts upon them wherever possible or necessary. Although there are some good examples of the agency obtaining information about children's backgrounds and producing life-story work, there isn't a coherent overall approach. In some instances life story work isn't given a high priority resulting in it being late and in others there is variable quality. Training in life-story work and the writing of later-life letters is not consistently provided. Birth parents are provided with information about where they can source 5 of 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 2008 independent support and counselling, through an independent agency. The take-up of this

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Organisation

The organisation is good. This is a well managed agency that focuses its organisation and arrangements for business on the need to meet children's needs through the effective recruitment of suitable adopters, and to support them thereafter. The statement of purpose provides a clear outline of the agency's responsibilities and this is informed by robust policies and procedures that create a solid foundation and framework for practice and direction. Information for children is produced in an interactive child-friendly guide. The pack that is prepared for prospective applicants is well-presented, sent out in a timely way and gives a clear, informative outline of adoption and the agency's approach. It makes clear the range of adopters being sought and the types of children requiring placements. The agency has a clear structure, lines of accountability and communication are well established and there is a good approach to ensuring that workers are

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Organisation

valued and supported. The service is managed well by knowledgeable, experienced and qualified professionals who carry out their responsibilities with commitment and enthusiasm. The principles and undertakings of the agency are informed by good practice and there is a clear commitment to carrying out its duties and responsibilities to a high standard, this is the case throughout the authority, including the executive, which is well informed of the work of the agency. There is a very clear understanding of diversity and anti-discriminatory matters. The arrangements for workload allocation and management are fair and based upon the skills and interests of the team members, this ensures that there is effective and efficient oversight of the work being conducted at any one time. Casework supervision is regular and well focused and enables workers to carry out their duties in a supportive framework that encourages best practice and

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Organisation

positive outcomes. Although there are sufficient experienced, knowledgeable and skilled workers to carry out the range of responsibilities there is limited scope for developing the area of adoption support, there being only one worker dedicated to this task. Training for workers is well resourced and there is a continuing commitment to staff development and increasing the knowledge base of the service. The arrangements for the administration of the agency are well managed and efficient. Case files are well ordered, audited regularly and contain all required information; arrangements for sharing information with other agencies are robust and follow all guidance on security and confidentiality. Personnel and panel members' files are well maintained and include all required information. The agency has recently moved to new premises which are of a good standard and provide for a secure, well resourced environment from which

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Organisation

business can be conducted. The premises used for the archiving of adoption files, however, are full to capacity. New arrangements with a private archive company do not have a fully coherent retrieval system, which could cause some confusion or difficulty when birth records, for instance, are being sought. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 2008

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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): • develop the arrangements for life-story work to ensure all children have a life-story book when they are adopted. (NMS 8) 7 of 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 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) 8 of 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 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. 9 of 9 Inspection Report: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Adoption Service, 14 July 2008

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