CORPORATE PARENTING GROUP
Wednesday 22 March 2006 at 2.00 pm / Agenda item
3
ADOPTION SUPPORT SERVICES
Report of the Director of Children, Schools & Families
Author: Brenda Simmonds, Head of Adoption Service
Tel: 01992 588739 (28739)
Executive Member: Jane Pitman
1. Purpose of the report
· To report on the activity of the adoption support team in 2005/06.
· To inform members of national developments in adoption support and the implications for Hertfordshire County Council.
2. Summary
2.1 The new regulations and guidance on adoption support services issued in 2005 in respect of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 have further prescribed the services required in relation to adoption support.
2.2 The adoption support service currently offers a full range of services from the universal to those targeted at families with specific needs. However, there is likely to be increased number of referrals to the adoption support team in relation to children and families who are in difficulties as a result of the new statutory guidance. Similarly, there has already been increased demand for the intermediary service from birth relatives and adopted adults and further demands are anticipated but as yet unquantifiable in relation to the new statutory provision of the Special Guardianship Order.
2.3 Verbal feedback from the adoption inspection held in February 2006 indicated that inspectors considered the adoption support team to be offering a “well developed service”.
3. Conclusion
3.1 The adoption support team has met many of the challenges presented by this area of work and has developed to meet all statutory requirements in a rapidly developing field. This work contains many difficult and highly skilled areas of social work dealing with families who may feel themselves to be at breaking point and with the very complex emotions around tracing birth relatives and possible reunions.
3.2 The team is highly skilled and professional, open to learning new methods of intervention and to considering the role of evidenced based research into this area. This year has seen a consolidation of practice which is well evaluated and well placed to meet the forthcoming challenges of the new regulations and guidance. In 2006/07 further work needs to be done on analysis of capacity in the light of experience of the impact of the Adoption and Children Act.
1. The Adoption Agency responsibilities in relation to adoption support services.
1.1 Section 3 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 requires local authorities to make a range of adoption support services available in their area to meet the needs of people affected by adoption. This includes support groups, training, advice and mediation, support to enable an adoption placement to continue, financial support, support with contact arrangements and therapeutic services. The range of services and the differing needs of the parties make this a complex area of work. Appendix 1 gives details of the different services which the parties are entitled to receive.
1.2 The Adoption and Children Act places great emphasis on the need for ongoing support to maximise the stability of an adoption placement. Social workers preparing permanence reports on children, in preparation for a decision at adoption panel that adoption is an appropriate plan, must complete an adoption support plan which reflects the needs of the child beyond adoption placement. The plan must be considered by the adoption panel and any further recommendations for support recorded.
1.3 Similarly, prospective adopters when presented to the panel for approval must also have an identified adoption support plan. And finally, on matching a child with particular adopters, a detailed adoption support plan must be presented to panel as part of a comprehensive placement report which sets out how the adopters can meet the particular needs of the child. The adoption panel may further advise the agency on aspects of adoption support, contact and introductions to the adopters.
1.4 The adoption support guidance issued in 2003 required local authorities to have a designated Adoption Support Services Adviser (ASSA), requiring that they be of sufficient seniority to ensure the strategic development of adoption support, whilst also being the first point of contact for requests for adoption support services. Hertfordshire designated the Head of Adoption Service as the ASSA, delegating day to day management and contact arrangements to the adoption support team manager. The new 2005 guidance and regulations emphasise the operational nature of this role and therefore it will not be necessary to change Hertfordshire’s current arrangements which are compliant with 2005 guidance.
1.5 While the legislation lays down criteria about who must or may be entitled to be assessed for adoption support, the provision of support is at the discretion of the local authority. In Hertfordshire a comprehensive adoption support assessment is carried out by the adoption support team which is then considered by the team manager. Adopters are informed of the outcome within the timescales laid down by the regulations. If the applicant is dissatisfied with the outcome, they have leave to make representation within 28 days. At this point the Head of Adoption Service will consider the merits of the application in line with the resources available and departmental policy.
1.6 To date all adoption support plans have been available for panel in relation to matches and approval. On the occasions when these have not been sufficiently comprehensive in relation to children’s adoption plans further detail has been provided at the matching stage. All assessments for adoption support have been completed within the timescales.
1.7 Cross boundary issues and arrangements have been simplified under the new regulations and the placing authority is now responsible for providing adoption support for three years post adoption order. The provision of on going financial support remains the responsibility of the placing authority until the child reaches 18 years of age.
1.8 From the 30th December 2005, a new Special Guardianship Order came into force. This too comes with an entitlement to assessment of support. As yet it is impossible to predict overall demand. Information packs, forms and procedures have been put in place and there appears to be some interest in pursuing these orders particularly in relation to children in kinship placements and long term foster care. The regulations make provision for ongoing financial support but strict eligibility criteria will apply in line with criteria for payment of adoption and residence allowances.
2. The Adoption Support Team
2.1 The team based at Parkway, Welwyn Garden City consists of the following staff: -
1 FTE Team manager
1 FTE Senior practitioner
3 FTE Social workers
1 FTE Professional Assistant
1 FTE Admin Support Worker
Sessional use of a clinical psychologist (funded from CAMHS grant)
Sessional use of a play therapist (funded from base budget)
There are currently 30 social work hours which remain vacant.
3. Adoption Support Service Activity
3.1 The adoption support team has worked with 63 adoptive families during the period 1st January 2005 to 1st February 2006. These cases cover a range of work from one off assessments to ongoing intensive support requiring an allocated key worker. This work has also included families supported by the sessional psychologist and the play therapist.
3.2 In this period also, 36 birth parents have received a service from the adoption support team ranging from one off meetings giving advice and information to ongoing support.
3.3 There are currently over 500 letter box contact arrangements between adopted children and birth relatives. These vary in the number of transactions which take place per letterbox arrangement, ranging from 1 annual contact to as many as 16 exchanges in complex sibling and birth family arrangements. The work is steady throughout the year although there is increased activity during the Christmas period.
3.4 Support groups for adopters have been held every month. In addition the annual picnic, always a popular event, was attended by over 70 families. Other group activities include a number art and craft events for younger adopted children, a group for teenage girls and a group for parents of teenagers. A group for fathers has also been instigated at the request of male adopters.
3.5 The adoption service has tailored a nationally renowned parenting course. ‘Webster Stratton’ to the needs of adopters. A ‘pre-Webster Stratton’ taster course is offered prior to adopters receiving a placement to help them to prepare, followed by the full parenting programme once they have a child or children placed. Three Webster Stratton parenting groups and two pre-Webster Stratton courses have taken place in the last year.
3.6 There have been 212 referrals from adult adoptees requesting either information or help with tracing relatives. Many of these will be adoptions by other agencies and therefore require information to be sent to the agency in their area. A tracing day was also held during the year, which gave information as to how and where past records might be accessed in order to help adults to trace birth relatives themselves.
3.7 When a birth relative is traced and the adopted adult wishes to progress to a reunion, the team has always encouraged the parties to use the adoption support service or registered intermediaries to set up the first meeting. However, the Adoption and Children Act 2002 has changed this process and for the year 2006-2007 the adoption support service will only provide a limited intermediary service prioritising those adoptions which took place prior to November 1975. A review of the demands on the service for birth relative initiated contact will take place in the autumn and further decisions will be taken on the resource and financial implications for extending this further.
3.8 A range of information has been developed by the team, to explain the services available for birth relatives and for children. This has been well received by users and is available in a range of formats. There is a comprehensive program of evaluation by service users through use of evaluation forms following service provision, training or group sessions and through a regular focus group which meets quarterly.
3.9 The evaluation forms show a high rate of satisfaction with the support and training offered. The parenting groups have also been particularly successful with comments like “great learning experience” “knowing you are not alone” Other compliments on the work of the adoption support team from other agencies include” I would like to compliment you on the quality, content and presentation of the information” and in relation to individual work “I am so grateful to you for putting so much effort……..I cannot explain how much it has meant to us as a family”.
4. National Developments
4.1 The Adoption Support Regulations 2005 which came into force on December 30th 2005 are for the large part very similar to the 2003 regulations on which our procedures and policy was originally developed. Since that time the policy and procedures have been amended to take account of the new requirements under the Adoption and Children Act 2002.
4.2 Under the Adoption and Children Act, counselling for adults who were adopted (previously known as section 51) has been replaced by regulations on access to records for pre-commencement adoptions and those adoptions taking place after the 30th of December, known as post-commencement adoptions.
4.3 There are clearly defined procedures and regulations in relation to the disclosure of identifying information to adopted adults seeking information on their birth family and for birth relatives seeking information, tracing and possible reunion with their adopted children. It is clear from the early consultation with the government that the DfES anticipated that much of the adoption support work to provide what are called ‘Intermediary Services’ would be carried out by Adoption Support Agencies (independent bodies or individuals registered as such to provide this service) rather than local authorities.
4.4 However a number of local authorities such as Hertfordshire have built up expertise in this area and wish to continue offering this service at some level if at all possible. Experience gained from adults adopted and their birth families through this work is also invaluable in informing current adoption practice. We are concerned however because we anticipate that the level of referrals is likely to increase as a result of the media advertising the changes for birth relatives in the new legislation in a manner which suggests this is now a “right” rather than a possibility.
4.5 Whilst the new act requires all those offering an adoption support service apart from local authorities and health services, to register as an adoption support agency, the associated inspection by Commission for Social Care Inspection has deterred many individuals from registering. There may therefore be limited access to these services for many birth relatives and the system of charging may also put these services beyond the reach of many birth family members, unless financially supported by the relevant local authority. Ironically therefore, a legislative provision which was designed to increase the availability of intermediary services may have had the perverse effect of reducing access for many. From Hertfordshire’s perspective, we will need to keep demand under review in the coming year.
5. Work Programme for 2006/7
5.1 The adoption support service operational plan contains the following key objectives and activities: -
· To maintain the training and support groups on a monthly basis.
· To run three Webster Stratton parenting groups over the year.
· To run three pre –Webster Stratton parenting groups over the year.
· To consolidate the ‘father’s’ group as a regular meeting.
· To develop a more sophisticated data base to inform service analysis
· To develop stronger links with the area teams
· To improve consultation to birth parents and increase participation for birth families.
· To review the intermediary service currently being offered and to plan for 2007.
· To recruit to the psychologist post and to the currently vacant social worker hours
· To produce a paper on late disruptions of adoption placements to inform future practice.
6. Key Issues and Challenges for 2006-7
6.1 The adoption support service continues to inform practice in the mainstream and family finding adoption teams by disseminating their findings from interventions with adoptive families under pressure. The indications are that families taking some of our most troubled and anxious children will continue to need support throughout the child’s minority and sometimes into adulthood. This has significant implications for social work time and resources needed for adoption placements both in the early stages and for the longer term.