Durham County Council Adoption Service

Durham County Council Adoption Service Inspection report for la adoption agency

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SC055022 Unique reference number 12 August 2010 Inspection date Sean White / Dennis Bradley Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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Fostering & Adoption Team Address Durham Resource Centre Littleburn Business Centre Mill Road Langley Moor Durham County Durham DH7 8ET 0191 3833053 Telephone number

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Email

Durham County Council (Children's Services) Registered person

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Registered manager

Karen Monica Arnold Responsible individual 15 November 2007 Date of last inspection .

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Registered manager

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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Registered manager

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 7 Inspection Report: Durham County Council Adoption Service,12 August 2010

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Brief description of the service

This is a Local Authority adoption service that undertakes, or makes arrangements for, all statutory adoption responsibilities. In respect of adopters this includes their recruitment, training, assessment and approval. In respect of children this includes their matching and placement with adoptive families. The agency also provides adoption support, birth records counselling and makes arrangements for the support of birth parents through an adoption support agency.

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Summary

This was an announced, key inspection undertaken over four days by two inspectors.

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Summary

This is an agency that demonstrates considerable insight, skill and ability in adoption work. It is clearly focused on meeting the lifelong needs of children by placing them with families that are able to meet those needs. The rigour of the assessment and approval process ensures only the most suitable people are available for matching and placement. The efforts made and the outcomes achieved are outstanding; the energy and commitment applied to the service's considerable skill and knowledge base is the driving force that reaps these successes.

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Summary

The same skill and energy is brought to the agency's approach to supporting families and others affected by adoption. There are considerable efforts made to ensure that people receive the support and assistance that is most suitable for their needs and circumstances. This has resulted in some excellent, and highly appreciated, outcomes.

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Summary

The agency is managed particularly well, at all levels, by committed, enthusiastic and skilled managers. This places the adoption process at the core of permanence planning for children and results in consistently excellent outcomes and significant appreciation of the knowledge and skills shared with colleagues across children's services.

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Summary

The only challenge the agency has yet to manage successfully is in respect of having a consistent approach to gathering the details of children's histories and producing life-story books within an acceptable time frame. The overall quality rating is outstanding. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Although the agency has introduced better guidance for life-story work and has identified ways in which improvements can be made, particularly in respect of timeliness, there still remains an inconsistent approach overall.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is outstanding. 4 of 7 Inspection Report: Durham County Council Adoption Service,12 August 2010 This is an agency that approaches all of its responsibilities and duties from a commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for children. It demonstrates outstanding performance in the way it focuses attention on ensuring that children are placed with the most suitable adopters to meet their needs.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Matching children with approved families is undertaken with great care and diligence using a collective approach that includes all involved professionals. Recruitment activity is robust and great efforts are made to have as wide a range as possible of adopters that can meet the needs of children requiring placements. There are clear and well-established procedures for prioritising applicants who may be able to offer placements for children with particularly complex needs and backgrounds.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The agency's approach to preparing and assessing prospective adopters is very detailed and thorough. Prospective Adopter Reports (PAR) are written to a very high standard and demonstrate significant skills in, and understanding of, analysing people's abilities to parent children with challenging backgrounds. This ensures that there is demonstrable confidence in adopters' qualities when matches are being considered. The monitoring and oversight of cases is outstanding; workers have highly skilled and knowledgeable managers who support casework effectively and conscientiously.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The adoption panels contribute further to the rigour of the process. There is strong leadership of the panels and committed members bring understanding and knowledge to their deliberations; recommendations are made only after a full and robust scrutiny of the reports brought before them. The panels also have a clear understanding of their responsibilities in identifying quality issues in the work presented to them. The administration of the panels is extremely efficient and well organised. Minutes of panel proceedings are full and clear and provide the agency decision maker with detailed information from which an informed judgement can be made. Decisions are made confidently and in a timely way by a committed senior manager.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The procedures for recruiting and selecting staff are particularly robust, which ensures that only the most suitable managers and workers are employed. Social workers demonstrate significant skill, knowledge and understanding of adoption issues and social care for children. They have a thorough yet sensitive approach to their work and have a clear, unequivocal approach to challenging discrimination and championing diversity.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is outstanding. Support services provided by the agency are outstanding. There is a highly motivated approach to identifying the needs of people affected by adoption and tailoring support and assistance to meet those needs.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Significant time and effort is deployed to enable adoptive families with a child in placement to feel supported and confident through the early period of the placement. There are structures and systems in place to provide therapeutic and other specialist support to children and families where there are complex circumstances to be addressed. Close working with health, education and community services ensures that there are coordinated approaches to identifying and accessing the most suitable support. 5 of 7 Inspection Report: Durham County Council Adoption Service,12 August 2010 Post adoption support to adoptive families experiencing challenges, adopted adults and birth families is similarly impressive. Considerable effort is made to work with people from an inclusive standpoint and at their own pace. There is significant appreciation of the efforts and skills of agency workers. The agency approaches its support responsibilities in a fully inclusive way and

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

everyone is welcomed equally and without prejudice.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Specialist advice is available from a range of sources as outlined above. The medical advisor plays a pivotal role in addressing health issues and there is strong legal advice that has been seen to be invaluable in complex cases.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. The agency works closely with birth families and encourages them to be involved in the planning for their children throughout the process of their adoption. Social workers understand the importance of engaging birth parents and collecting as much information as possible about children's backgrounds, histories and circumstances. They are aware of the importance of this in respect of children developing a realistic sense of identity and understanding their past.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The arrangements for supporting and advising birth parents are also strong with significant efforts being made to encourage and enable them to access the most appropriate support to meet their needs. Their views and wishes are always sought and acted upon if it is in the best interests of their child.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The agency demonstrates a clear motivation to developing children's life-story work and has produced new guidance for workers undertaking this particular area of work. Children have life-story books and memory boxes but these are not being finalised in a timely way and do not meet the agency's own guidelines.

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Organisation

The organisation is outstanding. The agency's work is informed and directed by a clear and detailed Statement of Purpose that is underpinned and given substance by a range of policies and procedures. These provide an excellent framework for the service's operations and responsibilities. The children's guides complement these and provide interactive, clear information for children for whom adoption is being considered.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is outstanding. Throughout all of the service's work and operations there is clear evidence of a deep and knowledgeable understanding of equality, individuality and diversity. The identification of individual needs and services put in place tailored to meet those needs is central to the work of this service and is evident throughout.

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Organisation

The information pack provided for enquirers is comprehensive and informative and gives the reader a clear outline of the adoption process and how the agency manages it. Similarly, all of the agency's publications are produced to a very high standard. 6 of 7 Inspection Report: Durham County Council Adoption Service,12 August 2010 The management of the adoption service's operations and responsibilities is outstanding. There is very strong and clear leadership from highly skilled, knowledgeable and committed managers. Workers are supported in their work in a way that enables them to undertake their duties to a very high standard and there is a demonstrable commitment and motivation to develop and improve practice in all of their undertakings. Senior managers and members of the executive demonstrate their commitment to best practice, are fully informed of the service's activities and closely monitor the performance and quality of the adoption service.

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Organisation

Allocation and workload management is undertaken efficiently and casework is closely monitored and supervised. Workers are clear about their responsibilities and are provided with considerable encouragement and enablement to continuously develop their skills and expertise . This includes significant access to training and development opportunities.

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Organisation

There are sufficient staff in the adoption service to manage the workload efficiently and effectively. There are, however, competing priorities in children's social work teams that are having a negative impact on their ability to undertake all of their adoption responsibilities in a timely and efficient way.

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Organisation

Case records are maintained to a very high standard. All contain the required information, are carefully monitored for content and quality and are well structured and indexed. Records maintained for staff and adoption panel members are of an impressive standard.

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Organisation

The administrative arrangements are of a standard that would be difficult to better. They are highly efficient, detailed and comprehensive. Records are well maintained, administration is extremely efficient, and confidentiality, security and data protection are managed well. Archive storage is extremely secure and free of risks by fire or water; a clear disaster recovery procedure adds further protection to records and data.

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Organisation

The premises, located on the outskirts of Durham, provide a comfortable, well-resourced working environment that are accessible to anyone having business with the service.

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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 a more efficient and consistent approach to life-story work. (NMS 8) 7 of 7 Inspection Report: Durham County Council Adoption Service,12 August 2010

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