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

Slough Adoption Service registered with Ofsted on 30 September 2015. The current manager has been in post since January 2023. 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. Additionally, the agency manages the arrangements for children to have post- adoption contact with their birth families. The agency is part of a regional adoption agency, which it joined on 1 April 2021. Since then, the recruitment and assessment of adopters have been the responsibility of the regional adoption agency.

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Information about this voluntary adoption agency

At the time of inspection, there were 14 children with a plan to be placed for adoption and there were 3 approved adopters.

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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 previous inspection: 20 February 2023

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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

Children and their adoptive families benefit from consistently high ‑ quality support delivered by an experienced and stable staff team. The continuity in the team enables children and families to build trusting, positive relationships with practitioners who know them well.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The agency demonstrates a strong commitment to early permanence, ensuring that children are placed swiftly with suitably matched adopters. Brother and sister groups are placed together whenever possible, supporting children to maintain important family connections and identity. One child, despite delays in their placement, has settled exceptionally well due to a highly effective matching decision. Other children are similarly making good progress and are thriving in their adoptive families.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Life-story work is a significant strength and is valued by families. Adopters report that this work has been instrumental in helping them and their children to understand past experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Most adopters speak positively about their relationships with agency staff, describing practitioners as accessible, supportive and responsive. Post ‑ adoption support is easily available and of good quality. There is clear evidence of purposeful direct work with children and meaningful relationship-building.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

A strong focus on education ensures that children and adopters feel well supported. Staff report excellent partnership working with the virtual school, describing its approach as proactive and responsive. This enables adopters to access timely and effective support for their child’s educational needs. Adopters provided highly positive feedback, including one who noted that their child ‘now skips to nursery’.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Adopters receive comprehensive support regarding their child’s physical, emotional and psychological health needs. However, one adopter reported delays in receiving updated information relating to their child’s health and birth family. As a result, they felt insufficiently informed at the point of placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Children’s views are consistently captured and reflected in case records, regardless of age. Decisions made are clearly child ‑ centred and based on children’s best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The agency’s keeping ‑ in ‑ touch service and life-story work are notable strengths. Adopters report that training has improved their understanding of identity and the importance of life-story work. This has also strengthened their appreciation of the value of maintaining appropriate contact arrangements for both children and birth families. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Slough Adoption Service 3

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good

Adopters value the high ‑ quality safeguarding training provided by the agency. This includes specialist training to improve understanding of teenage development and the factors that may influence behaviour.

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good

Children are appropriately safeguarded. When safeguarding concerns are known to the agency, responses are timely and adopters feel well supported throughout. However, on some occasions, the agency has been unaware of frontline safeguarding involvement with children. This lack of information delayed agency action and notification to Ofsted. The provider has reviewed this during the inspection and taken appropriate steps to strengthen processes and improve partnership working.

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good

Rigorous systems are in place to promote children’s welfare, including support to mitigate risks associated with extremism and radicalisation. The agency responded effectively when an adopter’s child appeared to be influenced by extremist behaviour, ensuring that additional support services were provided; the adopters report that work with their child is ongoing and constructive.

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good

Safer recruitment practices are firmly established.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a clear understanding of the agency’s strengths and areas for development. They have taken steps to strengthen practice and sustain improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although managers have made progress in promoting participation, this work is not yet fully embedded. While the agency routinely gathers feedback from those accessing adoption support services, methods for collecting feedback on the family ‑ finding process are more limited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The service is committed to supporting families. While formal support is available for 3 years, adopters routinely access support beyond this time frame, and the agency continues to respond. Support is available to families across the country.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about the training that they receive, reporting that it enhances their confidence and practice. However, not all staff are up to date with mandatory training. One staff member is significantly overdue in completing several required courses. There is currently no effective system for monitoring training compliance, limiting managerial oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from monthly reflective supervision and all have up ‑ to ‑ date appraisals, with clear objectives for the year. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Slough Adoption Service 4 Some children have experienced considerable delay in their care planning, resulting in late permanence outcomes. The agency does not initiate its own progress reviews for children with a plan of adoption. However, the service appropriately escalates concerns to partner agencies, requesting permanency reviews and offering additional support to reduce delay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The panel chair and adviser report strong working relationships with the agency, noting the receipt of detailed reports that support effective decision ‑ making. However, delays in decision ‑ maker notifications have occurred, with at least 2 decisions not communicated in writing to applicants for 16 days. These delays did not take account of the emotional impact on applicants awaiting decisions. Additionally, there is no evidence that the agency decision ‑ maker routinely evaluates the performance of the panel chair or attends panels as an observer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals consistently report positive relationships with the adoption service, which facilitates effective collaborative work. Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Slough Adoption Service 5

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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 adoption agency must take into account the recommendation of the adoption panel in coming to a decision about whether the child should be placed for adoption with the particular prospective adopter.

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Requirement Due date

As soon as possible after making its decision the adoption agency must notify in writing—

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Requirement Due date

the prospective adopter of its decision; and

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Requirement Due date

if their whereabouts are known to the agency, the parent or guardian and, where regulation 14(3) applies and the agency considers it is appropriate, the father of the child, of the fact that the child is to be placed for adoption. (‘The Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005’, Regulation 33 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 31 May 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the agency’s decision-maker reviews the performance of the panel chair, and for this purpose may attend a proportion of panel meetings, but only as an observer, which should be noted in the minutes. (‘Statutory guidance on adoption’, July 2013, page 22, paragraph 1.35)  The registered person should ensure that 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 before they accept the match. (‘Adoption: national minimum standards’, standard 14.2, page 42)  The registered person should ensure that there is a good-quality learning and development programme which includes induction, post-qualifying and in-service training, that staff and volunteers are supported to undertake. The programme should equip them with the skills required to meet the needs of children and

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Recommendations

service users, keep them up to date with professional, legal and practice Inspection report for voluntary adoption agency – Slough Adoption Service 6 developments and reflect the policies, legal obligations and business of the agency. (‘Adoption: national minimum standards’, standard 23.1, page 66)

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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@scstrust.co.uk

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Inspectors

Vevene Muhammad, Social Care Inspector Kerry Howarth, 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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Inspectors

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