Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency

Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 1 Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Adoption Agency Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Limited One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN1 1ED Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

This voluntary adoption agency was registered on 1 November 2020 under a newly formed trust arrangement. The agency prepares, trains, assesses and approves adopters. The agency also provides step-parent adoption services, post-order support to adopters and special guardianship carers, and additional services including birth records counselling. The agency has two teams. One provides assessment and pre-order support. The second offers post-adoption and special guardianship support to children, families and adults.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

This was the first inspection of this voluntary adoption agency since registration. In the period since April 2021 the agency approved 21 new adopters. At the time of the inspection, there were 24 approved adoptive households waiting to be matched with a child. The agency had 13 adoptive households who were also approved to provide early permanence placements. Post-adoption support was being provided to 78 adopters and 32 special guardianship carers.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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good

How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The voluntary adoption agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 2 Date of previous inspection: not applicable

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 3

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The adoption agency recruits a range of adopters to reflect the needs of local children. Focused recruitment has been used to respond to specific areas of need, such as adopters for brothers and sisters, and for older children. Promotion of early permanence arrangements has seen an increase in adopters choosing to provide care under these arrangements. This helps to ensure that a good range of early permanence and adoptive placements are available to meet children’s individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Prospective adopters receive a welcoming response to their initial enquiry and feel well supported through the adoption process. This means that prospective adopters feel prepared as they move through each stage of their adoption journey.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Preparation, assessment and support of prospective adopters is effective. Social workers develop good relationships with prospective adopters and get to know them well. This enables staff to undertake good-quality, timely assessments. One adopter told inspectors, ‘We are very satisfied with the service we have had thus far and feel the staff we have been supported by so far are passionate and committed to their jobs to help the children and families have a good start to their adoption journey.’

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The work of staff in the post-adoption service offers an invaluable support to families in crisis. One parent told inspectors, ‘If it wasn’t for [name of social worker]’s non- judgement, ongoing support, kindness and professionalism we would be in a very different position and possibly experiencing an adoption breakdown.’ Managers have responded to an increase in demand for this service in the past year with the introduction of a therapeutic parenting programme. This programme can be implemented quickly, providing much needed immediate support to families.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Children placed with adopters and special guardianship carers build positive relationships with their families. This enables them to make progress in all elements of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Support to help adopters understand the health needs of their children is good. For example, prospective adopters can meet with the agency medical adviser during the matching process to understand any health conditions the child has. This helps to ensure that prospective adopters understand the potential impact of health matters at an early stage of the matching process.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Managers have developed positive links with the virtual school for children looked after. This provides support to adopters with the early identification and response to children’s education needs. In addition, the post-adoption team offers direct help to adopters who are facing challenges with education for older children. These proactive responses by the adoption agency help to prioritise children’s education. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 4 Social workers support adopters to maintain post-adoption contact for children with people who are important to them, when it is safe and appropriate to do so. This is an area that the adoption agency has plans to develop further. This is essential in helping children build a sense of identity and emotional resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Staff who provide birth records counselling offer a sensitive and individualised service to adults seeking information from their adoption records. This enables adult adoptees to gain a greater understanding of their history and identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Currently, the agency arrangements for consultation with children are limited and as a result it is not clear that the voice of the child informs the development of the service.

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How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected: good

Prospective adopters and adopters have access to a range of training that supports them to develop a good understanding of how to safeguard children. This helps to ensure that adopters are prepared to protect children while encouraging them to take age-appropriate risks as part of growing up.

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How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected: good

Strong links between the assessment and post-adoption teams in the adoption agency allow for the early assessment of post-order support. This enables clear planning to support those children with additional vulnerabilities that are known at the point an application to adopt is made.

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How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected: good

Managers have implemented a risk rating system for all households. This is updated weekly. This ensures managers prioritise the families who are most in need of support. Family’s needs are also reviewed through regular practice forums that are attended by managers. These meetings encourage a shared approach to risk management and problem-solving.

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How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected: good

When risks emerge, social workers undertake risk assessments to provide adopters and special guardianship carers with strategies to help them to manage the challenges. Post-adoption social workers are proactive in signposting families to additional support or commissioning specialist services when required. This helps to make vulnerable children more resilient.

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How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected: good

Managers are responsive to patterns of support needs. For example, managers have recognised an increase in child-to-parent aggression in some households. This has led to the provision of specialist training to support and safeguard these families.

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How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected: good

There have been no safeguarding issues or allegations against adopters or staff since registration. Managers have good relationships with their partners in the local authority trust and with the local authority’s designated officer. This enables managers to raise emerging concerns at an early stage and agree a way forward. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 5

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good

The adoption agency was registered in November 2020. Prior to this, it operated as the adoption service for the local authority. There has been some good progress in the transfer of operations to this new model. However, some systems remain those from the old local authority and do not fully meet the needs of the adoption agency. Managers have not yet fully identified these shortfalls and how this impacts on the overall service provision.

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good

Staff training is an area that does not yet fully meet the needs of the service. The mandatory training expectations for the service remain those of the old local authority. As a result, fundamental staff training, such as safeguarding of children, is not mandatory for adoption agency staff. In addition, staff told inspectors that they would benefit from training and development regarding therapeutic parenting and interventions. These omissions prevent staff from providing a consistent, integrated service from beginning to end of the adoption process.

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good

The arrangements for the safe recruitment of staff are also led by the processes of the old local authority. Managers have not reviewed these to ensure that they meet the requirement of regulations. For example, there are no arrangements in place to verify the reasons that staff have left previous posts with children and adults. Managers have accepted this shortfall and began to review this element of the service during the inspection.

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good

The database used by the adoption agency is a central system used by all elements of the trust. This does not meet the needs of the adoption agency. As a result, managers use a range of individual tracking tools to monitor progress. This lack of centralised information presents a potential vulnerability for the service.

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good

In addition, there is a lack of consistent management oversight of the records held by the adoption agency. As a result, some prospective adopters who have experienced a change of worker during their assessment have had to provide repeat information. In addition, a lack of consistency in the quality of records of visits to families means it is not always clear what work has been undertaken or how effective this is. Managers informed inspectors that work is in progress to replace the current system.

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good

The adoption agency is well resourced, with a suitably qualified workforce. Staff are passionate and aspirational for the service. Staff told inspectors that they are well supported by managers who are readily available to them. Staff receive regular supervision, which provides good opportunities to reflect on and develop their practice.

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good

Adoption panel is held twice each month. Panel members receive a good induction, and the panel chair is knowledgeable in her role. The panel thoroughly explores all relevant issues before reaching their recommendations of suitability. The agency decision-maker process is strong. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 6 Managers have not ensured that the process for reviewing those adopters who have been approved for a year without a placement is robust. For example, it is not clear that reviews are always shared and agreed with adopters. This fails to ensure good management oversight of those adopters who are waiting to be matched with a child.

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good

There have not been any complaints made to the adoption agency since registration. However, during the inspection, a small number of prospective adopters and adopters told inspectors that they feel unable to express their views due to fears this would affect the decision about their suitability to adopt. For this small group, the impact of this has been significant. This indicates that consultation with prospective adopters and adopters is not as open and transparent as it is intended to be.

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good

The senior leadership team is committed to the development of the adoption agency. Leaders and managers use review systems such as external audit to help them to evaluate their service. Senior managers have launched a new vision for the adoption agency that has been received positively by the staff. The service is in a further process of transition as they have very recently moved into a regional adoption arrangement with Family Adoption Link. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Voluntary Adoption Agencies and the Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2003, the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 or any other relevant legislation, and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider, the manager and, in relation to any branch, the branch manager, shall ensure that all persons employed by the agency—

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Requirement Due date

receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. (The Voluntary Adoption Agencies and the Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2003, regulation 15 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to managers ensuring that all staff receive training relevant to their role in a voluntary adoption agency, including but not limited to the safeguarding of children. 29 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the adoption agency has in place processes to encourage open and transparent feedback from adopters. These processes should recognise the potential power imbalance in the relationship between prospective adopters and adopters and the adoption agency, and seek to address these. (‘Adoption: national minimum standards’, page 45, paragraph 15.6)  The registered person should ensure that the adoption agency has in place sound employment practices. In particular, these should ensure that the safe recruitment of staff checks meet the required standards. (‘Adoption: national minimum standards’, page 71, paragraph 24.1)  The registered person should ensure that the adoption agency maintains clear records of all activity. This includes ensuring that it is clear where these have been shared with prospective adopters and adopters, that reviews and reports are dated and that agency expectations regarding content and language are adhered to.

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Recommendations

(‘Adoption: national minimum standards’, page 78, paragraph 27.4) Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 8

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Voluntary Adoption Agencies and the Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2003, the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005, any other relevant legislation, and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 9

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Registered provider: Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Limited

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Registered provider address: One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN1 1ED

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Inspectors

Tracey Coglan Greig, Social Care Inspector Andi Lilley-Tams, Social Care Inspector Cathey Moriarty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Northamptonshire Children's Trust Adoption Agency 1 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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