Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre

Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency - Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 1 Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre Ltd 120 Cockfosters Road, Barnet, London EN4 0DZ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

This voluntary adoption agency was registered with Ofsted on 7 November 2008. It prepares, assesses and approves adopters who wish to adopt from other countries. In addition, it has been registered to provide a domestic adoption service since 2012, although this aspect is a very small part of its work. The agency also offers adoption support services for children and adults affected by adoption. This includes support for adoptive families and adopted persons, and signposting to appropriate agencies for intermediary work.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

The agency has service level agreements with 144 local authorities and some regional adoption agencies to provide varying aspects of its services, including supervision of children placed under the Adoptions with a Foreign Element Regulations 2005. It has also established a regional adoption agency with other voluntary adoption agencies to widen the offer of its expertise into other parts of the country on a ‘hub and spoke’ model.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

In the year ending 31 March 2024, the agency had 98 approved adopters waiting for intercountry placements and one adopter waiting for a domestic placement. It placed 37 children under intercountry adoption arrangements and six children from this country. Sixty-two adopters are currently going through the approval process and four approved adopters are waiting for a change of approval to enable them to adopt from this country.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

The agency has an appropriately qualified head of service who has worked for the agency since 2018 but took up the current role in July 2023.

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outstanding

How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected outstanding Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 2 The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The voluntary adoption agency provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the voluntary adoption agency contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children, young people and adults.

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outstanding

Date of previous inspection: 27 January 2020

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 3

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

Children whose futures may well be uncertain in their country of birth are given the opportunity to be adopted by people who provide them with the stability and care they need to achieve educationally and socially. Staff are ambitious for children, working proactively with family finding resources to place children in an adoptive family when they may not have otherwise found a suitable or timely match. Children are thriving and making significant progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

Social workers keep the child at the forefront of their practice, skilfully advising and guiding adoptive parents to take every opportunity to help children progress in their learning and development. Vital learning from adopted adults with lived experience of intercountry and/or transracial adoption has informed preparation, training materials and adoption support activities for children and families.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

Adopters speak very highly of the service they receive. Knowledgeable and experienced social workers help enquirers make sense of complex eligibility rules and processes for various countries. Thorough training, with additional elements tailored to differing needs, ensures that adopters and their families are as prepared as they can be for the challenges ahead. One adopter commented: ‘The training is very, very good. It is engaging, well delivered, worthwhile and relevant.’

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

Assessments of adopters are thorough and of an excellent quality, focusing on their ability to care for vulnerable children with complex needs. Adopters have referred to their social workers as ‘amazing’ and ‘fantastic’. Stage 1 timescales can be difficult to meet for reasons outside of the control of the agency, but stage 2 is usually completed within timescales.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

Matching is very well considered. Intercountry adopters sometimes have limited information about children and have to decide quickly whether they can meet the child’s needs. Timely input from the agency’s medical adviser and social workers helps them understand the implications. For the small number of domestic adoptions, workers are very proactive, ensuring adopters have a thorough understanding of the child’s needs, and pressing for any further assessments or therapeutic involvement that are needed. Adoptive parents described staff as making a ‘massive difference’ in helping children settle into their new families.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

The agency’s adoption support service is a beacon of good practice. Staff provide an impressive range of resources for families, including consultation for adopters, regular workshops and separate support groups for single adopters, adopters from Africa and adopters from India. Research-based parenting courses, including a new programme which supports parents of teenage children, are also helping to meet the needs of its adopters and children. Adopters and particularly children enjoy family fun days and children’s activity days, valuing the opportunity to meet with other adopted children and share their experiences. One adopter said: ‘The support Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 4 in the last year has been wonderful. My social worker has been unbelievably responsive and generous with her time and expertise.’ Another adopter commented: ‘We feel really held.’

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: outstanding

Complaints are managed well. Staff and managers are keen to learn and improve, and are not defensive in their approach. The agency works closely with its international partners, recently hosting a European conference and running joint projects to promote positive outcomes for children placed internationally. Some staff have lived experience of intercountry adoption; this is highly valued and used well to improve the service for children and adopters.

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outstanding

Staff prioritise safeguarding for children in all aspects of their work, from initial suitability checks through to post-adoption support work. Each element of the service makes an effective contribution to helping and protecting children.

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outstanding

Social workers are rigorous in ensuring, as far as possible, that only those people who are suitable are approved as adopters. Any concerns are dealt with appropriately and difficult decisions made not to progress applications when necessary. The agency’s safeguarding training is thorough and well embedded, ensuring that staff and adopters identify and respond appropriately to children’s vulnerabilities and risks. Robust recruitment procedures for staff and panel member appointments help to protect children.

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outstanding

Management oversight in response to concerns is highly effective, ensuring full information-sharing and joint working with other relevant professionals to safeguard children. Two placement disruptions since the last inspection led to a thorough independent review, with learning taken back into this agency and the regional adoption agency. This approach promotes children’s stability and well-being. The lessons identified have been used to inform staff training, focusing particularly on hearing the voice of the child. This continues to become embedded in practice.

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outstanding

Trauma-informed practice permeates the agency, and workers ensure that adopters access courses that address issues of harm, particularly those that might arise in the teenage years, and are given information and support to keep their children safe. This includes training on transracial adoption, equipping adopters with skills to support children who may be subject to discrimination and bullying. Staff act with determination to put appropriate therapeutic support in place where it is needed. This has changed how adopters respond to challenging behaviour and has had a positive impact on children’s emotional and physical security. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Since the last inspection, the agency has joined the Coram group of children’s charities. Leaders and managers have kept staff felt fully involved through this period of change, preventing any negative impact for children and families. Leaders and managers have high levels of professional expertise and competence. The responsible individual and head of service share a strong, child-focused vision and have high expectations for the service. They ensure staff have the skills and training to offer high standards of work. Their ambition informs the culture of the agency. Staff are passionate about achieving positive outcomes for children and families. They go to great lengths to meet their needs, for example making time at odd hours of the day and night to accommodate the time difference involved in working with agencies abroad.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Regular communication between teams, and frequent line management and clinical supervision, help staff deliver an effective service. Staff have excellent opportunities for professional development, and are experienced, knowledgeable and child- focused practitioners. Some work is undertaken by experienced sessional workers, who meet regularly, access the agency’s training and feel supported and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders have developed a strong improvement culture, fostering curiosity, critical thinking and evidence-based practice. They ask service users for their feedback at every stage of the process. When there are shortfalls in practice, or significant events, leaders commission independent reviews and share learning with staff through training days. Promotion of equalities is integral to the agency’s ethos, demonstrated by the agency’s support and training offer, and reflected in the diversity of the staff group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring arrangements are thorough, with regular management meetings, detailed reporting to the board of trustees and clear evidence of managerial oversight and discussion in service users’ case files. The board of trustees has a good understanding of its responsibilities. The trustees understand the lifelong nature of adoption and are prepared to take difficult decisions to ensure the agency’s continued longevity. Leaders have acted on recommendations from the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff work effectively with partners, highlighting children’s needs and advocating assertively to ensure they receive appropriate services. Regular meetings with Department for Education officials ensure that staff are up to date with the requirements for individual countries. Effective working relationships with regional adoption agencies and adoption agencies in other countries help to ensure that adopters are well prepared and transitions for children are as smooth as possible. This has benefited children who are waiting for domestic adoption as well as those coming from abroad.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The adoption panel is well chaired and effective. Members include people with professional and personal experience of adoption. Thorough minutes set out the Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 6 reasons for recommendations clearly and aid decision-making. The panel has an appropriate relationship with the agency, with regular feedback and discussion with the panel adviser and agency decision-maker helping to drive quality. Decisions made by the experienced and suitably qualified agency decision-maker are timely and appropriate, and are promptly communicated to adopters. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 7

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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 – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 8

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Registered provider: Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre Ltd

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Voluntary adoption agency details

Registered provider address: 120 Cockfosters Road, Barnet EN4 0DZ

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Inspectors

Rosemary Chapman, Social Care Inspector Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Coram Intercountry Adoption Centre 9 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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