Slough Adoption Service

Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 1 Slough Adoption Service Slough Children First Limited Observatory House, 25 Windsor Road, Slough SL1 2EL Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

This voluntary adoption agency is managed by Slough Children’s Services. It is a not-for-profit organisation. It currently has no branches. It was registered as a voluntary adoption agency by Ofsted on 30 September 2015. It is managed by a newly appointed manager who took over the role on 16 January 2023.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

The agency is responsible for family-finding for children from Slough Children’s Services. The agency also provides support to families and to adopted adults and birth parents affected by adoption. It also manages the arrangements for children to have post-adoption contact with their birth families.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

The agency is part of a regional adoption agency, which it joined on 1 April 2021. Since then, the voluntary adoption agency has not recruited and assessed prospective adopters. This work is undertaken by the regional adoption agency.

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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 good

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good

The voluntary adoption agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 29 October 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 2

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The staff team is highly experienced in the field of adoption. They provide high- quality support to children and their adoptive families. This support is ongoing and many families say it is easily accessible.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Feedback from service users is overwhelmingly positive, with adopters saying that they feel heard and that they are not alone when things become challenging. Members of the team are repeatedly mentioned as being exceptional in their knowledge, support and guidance in the family’s time of need.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Adopters value the opportunity to meet with other adopters through training and social events. However, in feedback, adopters said they would value further opportunities to meet and socialise with others to develop these connections.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Family-finding is carried out with diligence and rigour. Staff are committed to achieving adoption efficiently and ensuring the best possible match. From the outset, staff do not limit the search to the region. This allows for the best possible match to be identified as soon as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

There are strong working relationships between the voluntary adoption agency (VAA) and wider professionals. Staff work collaboratively to ensure that children achieve the best outcomes. An example of this is adopters and children being supported with children’s educational needs. Social workers act as advocates when this is appropriate and support adopters to identify and secure the best school for their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Post-adoption support is swiftly provided. There are no waiting lists for an assessment of need for adoption support.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

There are examples of the child’s voice in some aspects of the service. However, this is not consistent across all areas of practice. The agency has not yet developed a system that uses feedback from children to inform future development.

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good

Adopters understand what constitutes safeguarding. They feel able to tell social workers when there have been safeguarding concerns. Adopters said they have felt supported in a non-judgemental way through the process of further investigation and have been provided with timely support in these circumstances. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 3 No one spoken to during the inspection raised any safeguarding concerns. The local authority designated officer (LADO) said no concerns had been raised about safeguarding practices at the VAA.

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good

However, the agency had failed to notify Ofsted of some safeguarding concerns, although subsequent action has been taken. Inspectors also found some examples of concerns that the LADO had not been consulted on, despite this being the prescribed action in the agency’s policy. However, while aspects of the agency’s policy have not always been followed, inspectors found all other actions have been appropriately managed in a timely way, so that children have remained safe.

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good

Adopters have opportunities to meet all the relevant professionals connected to the child as part of the family-finding process. Previously, ‘life appreciation days’ were consistently held for adoptive families to meet these professionals in person. More recently, this practice has been less consistent.

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good

There are safe recruitment practices in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has been in post since mid-January 2023. Although new to the post, they have relevant experience and knowledge and were promoted from within the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a small stable team of experienced and passionate social workers. Staff report high team morale and show dedication to their roles. Staff receive high- quality reflective supervision and training relevant to their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the weaknesses of the service and the areas for further development. They are committed to achieving their own goals to maintain a high standard of support for children and their adoptive families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

While placement disruptions are low in this agency, inspectors identified areas when learning from the few that had occurred, had not been identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Positive professional relationships are evident between the agency and colleagues in the regional adoption agency and the children’s trust. However, financial arrangements are complex and not fully understood by adopters. There are some challenges that are causing adopters unnecessary stress once children join their family. Responsibility is falling to the VAA to support adopters in these circumstances, which could be more efficiently managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The VAA shares a panel with the regional adoption agency. The panel chair said reports submitted to panel are of high quality, social workers are well informed and strong matches are referred to panel, with no evident unnecessary delays. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 4

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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 and the manager shall compile in relation to the agency a written statement (in these Regulations referred to as "the statement of purpose") which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the manager shall provide a copy of the statement of purpose to the registration authority and—

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Requirement Due date

if the registration authority is the Commission and the agency has a branch in Wales, to the Assembly;

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Requirement Due date

if the registration authority is the Assembly and the agency has a branch in England, to the Commission.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the manager shall make a copy of the statement of purpose available, upon request, for inspection by—

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Requirement Due date

any person working for the purposes of the agency;

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Requirement Due date

children who may be adopted, their parents and guardians;

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Requirement Due date

adopted persons, their parents, natural parents and former guardians;

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Requirement Due date

any local authority. (‘Voluntary adoption agencies (miscellaneous amendments) regulations’, 2003, Regulation 3 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d) (e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the statement of purpose is sent to the regulator in a timely manner. 31 March 2023 Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 5 If, in relation to an agency, any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 4 takes place, the registered provider and the manager shall without delay notify the person indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of that table.

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Requirement Due date

Any notification made in accordance with this regulation which is given orally shall be confirmed in writing within 14 days.

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Requirement Due date

"approved by the agency" means approved by the agency as suitable to be an adoptive parent in accordance with the Adoption Agencies Regulations 1983;

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Requirement Due date

"area authority" means the local authority in whose area the child is placed for adoption;

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Requirement Due date

"placing agency" means the adoption agency that placed the child for adoption with the prospective adopter;

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Requirement Due date

"Primary Care Trust" means the Primary Care Trust in whose area the child is placed for adoption by the agency; and

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Requirement Due date

"Local Health Board" means the Local Health Board in whose area the child is placed for adoption by the agency. (‘Voluntary adoption agencies (miscellaneous amendments) regulations’, 2003, Regulation 19 (1) (2) (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the regulator is notified in a timely manner of significant events. Also, that consultation with the LADO is well recorded and if they are not consulted, a clear rationale is recorded for this decision. 14 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure the prospective adopters are helped to fully understand the child’s background, health, emotional and developmental needs, and the practical implications for parenting that child, with a clear and consistent approach to life appreciation days. (Adoption: national minimum standards 13.7)  The registered person should ensure that the wishes, feelings and views of children are taken into account by the adoption agency and adoption support agency in monitoring and developing its service. (Adoption: national minimum standards 1.6) Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 6

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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 - Slough Adoption Service 7

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Registered provider: Slough Children First Limited

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Registered provider address: Observatory House, 25 Windsor Road, Slough SL1 2EL

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Email address: saima.arif@sloughchildrenfirst.co.uk

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Inspectors

Katie Ratcliffe, Social Care Inspector Skye Frain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Slough Adoption Service 8 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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