APPENDIX 1
October 2003
Borough of Poole Adoption Agency
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
- OVERALL AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Since implementation of the Children Act 1989 greater emphasis has been placed on working to maintain children in their own families. Therefore those children who come into public care are likely to be some of the most vulnerable and needy, which have experienced trauma and disruption in their formative years and therefore have complex problems and behaviours.
First consideration for each child is return to their own or extended family. Where this cannot be achieved, alternative permanent arrangements will be considered. The best interests of some children will be met through adoption, involving the complete transfer of parental responsibility to adoptive parents.
The fundamental aim of each child’s adoptive placement is to safeguard and promote its welfare through childhood into adult life by providing a positive, secure, stable, caring and anti-discriminatory environment. This will ensure his/her unique needs are met, enabling him/her to:
gain self-esteem, confidence, self-awareness and to fulfil their potential.
be aware of their cultural background, religion and ethnic origin.
form and maintain appropriate and effective relationships supported by a positive environment.
- respect the views and needs of others as being of equal value to their own.
Principles underpinning the Ethos and Philosophy of the Adoption Agency and its Services
Borough of Poole Adoption Agency and its services adhere to the following principles drawn from childcare legislation, and in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There is an expectation that social work staff and adopters actively endorse these principles, and that they form the basis of the selection process of adopters and the placement of children.
Children are entitled to grow up as part of a loving family which can meet their needs during childhood and beyond.
It is best for children where possible, to be brought up by their own birth family.
The child’s welfare, safety and needs will be at the centre of the adoption process.
- In determining a child’s future through adoption, Borough of Poole will work in partnership with the child, those with parental responsibility and prospective adopters in a spirit of openness, as far as is appropriate to the welfare and needs of the child.
The Borough of Poole is committed to recruiting a wide range of prospective adopters to ensure the unique needs of a child are a priority in determining their adoptive placement.
The child’s wishes and feelings will be actively sought and fully taken into account at all stages. She/he will be involved as far as possible in the process of adoption according to his/her age and level of understanding.
Delay in adoption can have a severe impact on the health and development of children and should be avoided where possible.
Children’s ethnic origin, cultural background, religion and language will be fully recognised and positively valued and promoted when decisions are made.
The particular needs of disabled children will be fully recognised and taken into account when decisions are made.
The role of adoptive parents in offering a permanent family to a child who cannot live at home with their birth family will be valued and respected.
Adoption has lifelong implications for all involved. Children and young people who have been adopted, their adoptive families and birth families will have access to a range of professional services and supports appropriate to their assessed needs.
Borough of Poole Adoption Agency
The Borough of Poole Council acts as an Adoption Agency to provide those adoption services required of it under the Adoption Act 1976, Adoption Agencies Regulations 1983, the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and the Adoption National Minimum Standards.
Its objective is to fulfil its full range of duties and responsibilities under all of the above legislation, and the Children Act 1989, in meeting the needs of those children who have been or may be adopted, of their parents and guardians, and of those people who are or may be adoptive parents.
Under this umbrella objective, Borough of Poole’s main aims are:
(i) To adhere to strict planning timescales as laid down in the Adoption National Minimum Standards, to avoid delay and to maximise each child’s opportunity to enjoy a stable and rewarding family life.
The initial step is to address permanency options for the child at the 4 month LAC statutory review.
Once the care plan identifies adoption as the plan (or within a dual track plan), the child will be presented at Adoption Panel for a best interest decision and the issue of proposed adoption allowance and support is addressed.
Where care proceedings are in progress, presentation to Panel will occur prior to the final hearing.
The matching and placement process should be completed within 6 months of the best interest decision wherever possible.
Where an adoptive placement of a child under 6 months is requested by a parent, a suitable placement will be identified within 3 months of the best interest decision.
When a matching report is presented to adoption panel it will have the adoption support plan attached..
(ii) To provide placement choice for those children and young people requiring an adoptive family
Targeted recruitment maintains a pool of prospective adopters, e.g., for sibling groups, young children with disabilities, and single children of school age.
Detailed assessment is made of the needs of those children likely to require adoptive placements.
Membership of the South West Adoption Consortium and South Coast Adoption Consortium broadens the pool of prospective adopters.
- Advertising in adoption and newspaper publications is considered when local resources cannot be identified.
Reference to National Adoption Register.
(iii) To maintain an equal opportunities approach to recruitment of prospective adopters
(See section on Recruitment for full details)
Functions of the Adoption Agency and Organisation of Adoption work
Adoption Panel
The Adoption Panel plays a central role both in the placement of children and in determining whether people are suitable to be approved as adopters.
The Panel makes recommendations to the Agency Decision-maker, currently the Head of Children Service on:
suitability of people as prospective adopters.
whether adoption is in a child’s best interests.
suitable placements.
- payment of adoption allowance (considered at ‘best interests’ Panel discussion).
- adoption support arrangements for Poole children we are placing for adoption
- Payment of residence allowances
The Panel also monitors the quality and effectiveness of the adoption services with the assistance of the Adoption Panel Adviser and regular written updates.
The Panel provides information to Borough of Poole Community Support Overview Committee. The Agency provides information to the National Adoption Register and statistics on an annual basis to the Department of Health. Department and Education and Further Education Services DFES.
- Assessment of Children
The social worker for the child undertakes all assessment work relevant to producing and facilitating the adoption plan. This worker produces, for the Adoption Panel, reports on the background and needs of the child, and proposals for the placement to meet his/her unique requirements. They may be assisted with guidance from the Senior Practitioner Adoption based in the Adoption Team.
- Assessment of Prospective Adopters
The Resource Team of adoption social workers carries out recruitment and training of people wishing to become adoptive parents. (See section on Recruitment for full details).
Those wishing to adopt from another country are informed of the process they must follow, the international legal framework and the eligibility criteria of the country concerned.
- Support of Birth Parents
The child’s social worker works withbirth parents throughout the adoption process. Where appropriate a separate worker may be provided, and the service of the South West Adoption Network offered to provide an independent link.
- Adoption Support Service
Borough of Poole has a dedicated adoption support social worker, looking at the needs of the adopted child and their adoptive family (under Section 1 of the Adoption Act 1976 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002).
Borough of Poole also provides information and counselling for adults who were adopted as children (before 12.11.1975) under Section 51 of the Adoption Act 1976. via an initial contact with the adoption support worker and the Service of South West Adoption Network..
- Contact
Consideration is given to the need for information exchange, and/or face-to-face contact after adoption between any significant person from the child’s past and the child, so far as this is in the interest of the child. The adoption support worker manages this exchange with assistance from another worker. All active arrangements are reviewed on an annual basis.
2.MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
2.1Borough of Poole is the registered provider of adoption services in the Borough.
Services Provided
Services are provided via:
(i) Adoption Support Lead person is the Head of Children Service
(ii) Resource Adoption Team
(iii) Adoption Panel
(iv) Pool of prospective adopters
2.2 Resource Team
There is one team based in Poole Children and Families offices.
The responsibilities of workers, and services delivered specifically in relation to adoption are outlined below:
Recruitment, preparation and assessment of adopters, including presentation at Adoption Panel.
Supervision and support of adoptive placements.
Nominated key worker post-order.
- Reports for approval of adopters and Court reports in adoption proceedings.
Post adoption assessment of need, and support provided by dedicated worker.
Post adoption counselling for adults (S51 Adoption Act 1976).
Guidance to child care workers, attending permanency planning meetings and introductory placement meetings
Duty system for adoption enquiries
Assisting of placement of some children who have been accepted for Adoption and Fostering placements twin tracked to prevent delay.
Adoption procedures for the Unit
notifications to National Adoption Register
supervision of sessional workers undertaking overseas assessments.
2.3 Organisational Structure
The Head of Children Service has responsibility to monitor the Adoption Service and ensure the Strategic Children Partnership promotes links across all agencies for Adoption Services. The Children Service Manager has overall responsibility for the management of the Adoption Services in Borough of Poole working closely with the other Children Service Managers. The Principle Officer Services Management who is managed by the Head of Service manages the Children Service Managers
The Children Service Manager manages the Senior Practitioner Adoption. The Senior Practitioner manages the Adoption Support worker, Family Placement Officer and the Social Work Assistant Adoption. The health and education workers for looked after children extend their role tot assisting with children placed for adoption or adopted children and adopters and included a teacher, education welfare officer, an educational psychologist, clinical psychologist, and nurse who works closely with the community paediatrician.
2.4.CSM Adoption Co-ordinator
All business for Borough Of Poole’s Adoption Panel is channelled through the Panel Adviser responsibility for:
Management support and availability to discuss adoption issues, provide training and follow up areas raised by the panel chair.
Support and advice to social workers.
Ensuring all relevant paperwork is submitted to panel administrator and circulated to panel members.
- Minutes of panel meetings.
Producing quarterly statistics.
Producing annual report to Committee with the Panel Chair.
Lead role in South West Adoption Consortium.
2.5 Membership of South West Adoption Consortium and South Coast Adoption Consortium
Poole is an active member of both Consortia. The terms of reference are held in the Adoption Team and are readily available.
3.COMPLAINTS
Borough of Poole’s Complaints and Compliments leaflet and Access to Personal Information leaflet is sent to all adoption enquirers.
At the time of writing, applicants who are not satisfied with the recommendation or reasoning of the Adoption Panel or Agency decision concerning their assessment application for approval as adopters are granted a 28 day period to produce any additional information. All the papers for a completed full assessment may then be passed to another Adoption Panel within the South Coast Adoption Consortium Adoption Panel, with whom there is a reciprocal arrangement (under Adoption Regulations 1997). That adoption panel’s recommendation is passed to Borough of Poole’s Decision-maker.
When the Adoption and Children Act 2002 comes fully into force Borough of Poole will be bound by the independent reviewing system as set out in the act.
Borough of Poole maintains a record of all complaints and their outcome.
4.RECRUITMENT, APPROVAL, TRAINING AND SUPPORT OF PROSPECTIVE ADOPTERS
The needs of the children likely to be placed for adoption by Borough of Poole Social Services vary considerably and the Children & Families Unit aims to recruit and maintain a pool of prospective adopters to enable placements to be made, and to provide a choice of placements and an appropriate range of adopters to suit the needs of each child.
Borough of Poole has established a clear process to manage the recruitment service; in recognition of the importance of the early stages of the process in ensuring prospective adopters are well-informed concerning knowledge and skills required, the adoption process and the law, and the assessment process itself.
4.1Recruitment
Borough of Poole utilises its management information systems to collate information on their approved adopters (both with and awaiting placement), their skills and areas of expertise, and age groups covered. This information, alongside knowledge of the needs of children both in and requiring adoptive placements, informs the ongoing recruitment strategy. IT is necessary to work closely with the Adoption Consortia to have a collaborative approach to recruitment across a broader regional area.
Borough of Poole utilises a variety of methods within its recruitment strategy. It utilises Department of Health information and publicity from national recruitment campaigns as well as locally targeted recruitment. In recent years there has been an emphasis on those interested in placement of sibling groups, particularly with a school aged child, young children with disabilities, and single children of school age. Alongside these, Borough of Poole operates a continuous lower key community development approach, including a presence in local shows, libraries, articles and advertisements in newspapers. Borough of Poole has its own website dedicated to adoption services with links to other appropriate websites.
Recruitment Process
The Recruitment deals with:
All initial contacts and acknowledgements.
Provision of information in writing within 5 working days.
Regular information sessions, held every 8 weeks.
- Expressions of interest (written form).
Checks and medical consents.
Initial home visits/personal interviews.
Organisation around assessment training.
Handling completed application forms.
Maintaining a database of those expressing interest in adoption.
Information provided to those expressing interest in adoption includes:
Borough of Poole information setting out general information on adoption and who can apply to adopt.
A fact sheet outlining the different steps in the adoption process.
Information on adoption in Poole, and how to start the process.
- The assessment process, and the timescales involved through to approval.
Details on checks and references to be undertaken.
Information about Borough of Poole Children and Families and specifically the adoption services Statement of Purpose.
An explanation of legal terminology in adoption.
Training and support.
Details on where adoption allowances are applicable.
In addition, it is stressed to those interested in adoption that they:
Will be welcomed without prejudice and will be treated fairly, openly and with respect.
Are making a special commitment in opening their own families, yet require strong motivation and have to be resilient and flexible, and not give up on children when there are difficulties.
Will be provided with as much information as possible, including about children locally and across the country that require families, to enable them to decide whether to proceed further.
Will be informed regularly of Somerset’s recruitment priorities, which are kept under review.
Borough of Poole maintains an equal opportunity approach to the recruitment of adopters. The fact sheet gives information to those interested on issues of age, health including fertility treatment, marital status, family, employment and financial assistance, and how to start the process and find out more.
Considerable care is taken to ensure as far as is possible that those people expressing interest have a very clear picture of the tasks and responsibilities alongside the rewards of adoption before completing a formal application form and entering the formal assessment phase. This should also enable individuals to withdraw or be counselled about the appropriateness of continuing during this stage.
Training
In addition to information and personal discussion, Borough of Poole requires those interested in applying for approval as adopters to undertake a series of group training sessions prior to completion of their assessment.
The team or local authorities working with Borough of Poole deliver training courses
The groups offer opportunities to discuss issues with social workers with expertise in adoption, with approved adopters and with others interested in becoming approved as adopters. Areas covered in the training programme include:
Understanding child development and behaviours, and issues of attachment.
Exploring the role of caring for disadvantaged/damaged children and the impact of abuse, discrimination.
Safe caring.
- Post adoption support.
Where individuals complete an application form and continue with the formal assessment stage, these prospective adopters are made aware that observations from the training sessions will be fed back to their assessing social worker to form part of their assessment. Borough of Poole also provides access to adoption preparation courses specifically for those interested in adopting from overseas, in collaboration with SWAC.