Doncaster MBC Adoption Services

Doncaster MBC Adoption Services Inspection report for la adoption agency

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SC055015 Unique reference number 22 May 2008 Inspection date Sean White / Stephen Smith Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Address Directorate of Social Services PO Box 251 DONCASTER South Yorkshire DN1 3DA 01302 737 807 Telephone number

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Email

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Registered person Liz Spaven 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: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 2008

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Brief description of the service

The agency undertakes, or makes provision for, all matters relating to adoption as contained in current legislation. This includes the recruitment, preparation, assessment and approval of domestic adopoters, placement support and post adoption support. Contractual arrangements are in place in respect of the assessments of inter-country adopters and support for birth parents.

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Summary

This agency undertakes its core business with enthusiasm and commitment. There is a thorough approach to the assessment of adopters and great care is taken when considering the appropriateness of matching and placement of children with the most appropriate family. This ensures that children's wellbeing is protected. Support for adopters, placements and people affected by adoption is sound but the lack of strategic planning has resulted in little or no developmental work being undertaken. The service is well managed at the operational level by knowledgeable people but there has been no strategic management for some considerable time due to temporary appointments, vacancies and restructuring. This has resulted in confusion and a lack of understanding of the department, lines of accountability and communication. Policies and procedures are out of date providing the agency with an unsatisfactory infrastructure.

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Summary

The overall quality rating is satisfactory. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The agency has made few improvements since the last inspection, due in the most part to not having a team manager for more than two years.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. This agency has a focused approach to meeting the needs of children through adoption. It clearly aims its practice at making sure that children are matched with the most appropriate families. Adoption workers and children's social workers ensure that introductions and placements are managed well. The thoroughness of the approach to matching is enhanced by Life Appreciation Days, whereby families are able to understand the backgrounds of children, and the input of therapeutic services in the preparation process. However, the agency continues to undertake assessments of adopters for specific children, which is not possible under new legislation. In some of these instances, there has not been a placement report compiled. The core business of the agency, recruiting, preparing, assessing and approving people who are suitable to adopt children, is of a very good standard. This is despite the fact that there has

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

been no permanent manager of the service in post for some considerable time. The preparation and assessment process is thorough and well organised and there are systems in place to prioritise those families who are able to offer something particular to the service. It was clear that the agency only approves those families that are able to demonstrate their suitability to 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 2008 look after and meet the needs of children requiring adoption. Whilst most aspects of the assessment process are thorough, the health and safety checklist in respect of applicants' homes is limited in scope and does not provide a complete overview of premises. The adoption panel continues the thoroughness of approach by providing rigorous and focused scrutiny to the work of the agency. The appropriately constituted panel is well managed and is provided with sound advice to enable it to pursue its deliberations in full knowledge of the circumstances of

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

each case. The administrative arrangements are well organised, enabling members to be fully informed to undertake their responsibilities. Decision making is undertaken conscientiously and with a clear focus on ensuring that all information is available to come to a conclusion; decisions are timely. The service is managed by a suitably qualified person, but there is no team manager in place. However, the temporary arrangements that are in place have enabled the service to continue its core work through the commitment and conscientious approach of its workers, and temporary managers and supervisors. The workers are qualified and very experienced, and demonstrate a deep and clear understanding of adoption matters, current practice and legislation. There is, however, a low level of Post Qualifying Awards. The staff recruitment practices are, in the main, thorough. The exceptions being in the arrangements for

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

verifying written references and updating Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The approach to supporting adoptive placements is strong. The agency has developed a range of strategies and practices that help adoptive families to settle children into placements; these include informal support from workers and more sophisticated therapeutic input wherever required. There is a range of support resources available, and although there was some confusion about the management and deployment of these resources, they are used in ways that enhances the potential for successful placements. They are used to benefit the adoptive parents, birth children and adoptive children, which provides an optimistic and holistic approach to attachment issues and permanence. Specialist advice and support resources are readily accessible; the medical advisor is a regular attendee at panel and is available for advice and consultation by the agency. Legal advice is always provided at panel whenever children are being considered

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

for adoption. Other resources and specialist services, including education and mental health advice, are sourced whenever necessary. Post adoption support services are yet to be fully developed. There is no manager for this area of the agency's responsibilities, although it is planned to make an appointment at some point in the near future.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Every effort is made by social workers to encourage and enable birth parents to be involved in the planning for their children's adoption. The comments and views of birth mothers and fathers are recorded clearly and taken seriously when planning for the child's future adoption. Preparing and maintaining a record of the child's history (life-story work), whilst good in some areas, is inconsistent and not given the same priority as other areas of adoption work. Workers do not have the resources to undertake it and rely to some extent on, for instance, foster carers. There is also an issue in respect of training and skills in this area of work not being of the necessary standard to achieve good quality life-story books and records across the board. There is similar inconsistency in the production and quality of the social workers' outline of the child's adoption (the later life letter), again constrained by a lack of skills and training. Supporting birth parents,

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Helping children make a positive contribution

5 of 9 Inspection Report: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 2008 whilst recognised by the agency as an important component of services in the adoption triangle, is not organised and managed in a way where outcomes or user satisfaction can be monitored. All birth parents, nevertheless, are provided with the opportunity to have access to independent support and counselling from an independent adoption support agency and are encouraged to access this service.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. There has not been a team manager in post for some considerable time, the role being undertaken as an extra responsibility by another manager, supported by the deputy team manager. The senior managers of the service are all temporary, and have been for more than a year. This, along with a restructuring of the department, has created confusion within the service. No-one, for instance, knew who the Director of Children's Services was. The agency has a well presented Statement of Purpose that clearly outlines the aims and objectives of the service and how they will be achieved. It is available to all who work in the agency but there are some who are not aware of its existence. The policies and procedures that govern the work of the service have been re-drafted in recent times but are not published in final form, it is not possible, therefore, to determine if they reflect the SOP. The children's guide is incomplete

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Organisation

and not available. The information provided for prospective adopters is well presented and gives applicants a thorough overview of adoption and how the agency undertakes its responsibilities. It is made available, in a timely way, to people expressing an interest in pursuing adoption. The people who manage the operations of the agency are very experienced and appropriately qualified, and demonstrate wide knowledge and understanding of contemporary practice and legislation. They manage the assessment and family finding process well and enable workers to carry out their duties to a good standard. Workers are well supported, encouraged and supervised and the management of workload and allocation is equitable. However, the lack of permanent managers and the shortfalls in up to date policies and procedures has impacted on the agency's ability to develop a strategic route. There are sufficient staff to carry out the

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Organisation

range of duties and responsibilities of the agency and the team has a high level of knowledge, skill and competence, this ensures that prospective and approved adopters receive an efficient service. Opportunities for training and staff development are available The administrative systems are well organised and structured and provide the service with efficient support. Case records are well maintained and contain all required information but there is no evidence of regular monitoring or auditing. The records in respect of staff are poor and do not include all required information, it was not possible to determine where some personnel records were. The records of adoption panel members are better managed and include all required information. The agency operates from the main council headquarters, located close to the town centre. They are fit for purpose, accessible and secure.

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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. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 2008

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Due date Action Standard

31 July 2008 compile an adoption placement report for every child being considered for an adoptive placement. (Reg. 31(2)(d) The Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005).

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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): • arrange for a clear system to be introduced that ensures all staff and managers have an up to date CRB clearance (NMS 15) • improve the range of the health and safety checklist to ensure that premises are fully checked for all eventualities (NMS 4) • make provision for all children to have a life-story book compiled in a timely way (NMS 8) • make provision for birth parents to have better knowledge and understanding of independent support services (NMS 9) • appoint a team manager (NMS 16) • produce a children's guide (NMS 1) • improve workers' understanding of the organisation, managers and lines of accountability and communication (NMS 16.4) • produce policies and procedures for the adoption service (NMS 1.6) • monitor the the quality and adequacy of case records on a regular basis (NMS 27)

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Recommendations

• ensure all required information is contained in staff files (NMS 28). 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 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: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 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: Doncaster MBC Adoption Services, 22 May 2008

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