Contact: Sue Stewart ext: 5598 email:[email protected]

Hampshire Adoption Service

1.1 The purpose of this report is to inform Social Care Policy Review Committee of the level of service demands and Adoption activity between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2003 as required by the Department of Health Local Authority Circular (98) 20 and the National Adoption Standards for England.

1.2 In addition, the National Adoption Standards for England (Department of Health 2000) require that Social Care Policy Review Committee recommends to the Social Care Executive that the Statement of Purpose of the adoption agency (Appendix A) be formally approved.

1.2.1 Service Demand and Adoption Panel Activity

There are three domestic Adoption Panels which meet to consider children's plans and the suitability of applicants as prospective adoptive parents, and proposed matches of children with families who can best meet their long term needs. These panels met on 35 occasions during the year.

1.2.2 The Inter country adoption panel which has in the past met to consider only Inter-country applicants now also considers domestic cases (as described above) and met on 8 occasions over the same period.

1.2.3 A comparative summary of Panel activity in respect of children's plans for adoption and applicants approved as adopters is outlined overleaf. In the year 1 April 2002 to 31 March 2003 there was a significant increase of 31 in the number of children where plans for adoption were recommended and agreed compared with the previous 12 months, whilst the number of domestic adoptive parents approved remained the same as in the previous year. The number of children placed for adoption also rose by 11 from the previous year although the number of adoption orders made dropped by 10.

Comparative summary of Panel Activity 1 April 2002 - 31 March 2003

1.2.4 Appendix B shows the age range of the children whose plans for adoption were agreed and the age range of approval for prospective adopters.

1.2.5 There are 11 children from previous years for whom an adoption placement has not been found.

1.2.6 Between the year from 1 April 2002 and 31 March there are 21 children for whom no adoption placement has yet been found, of these 21 children:

4 children are likely to be linked with prospective adopters shortly: these are all single placements which include a sibling group of 3 being placed separately.

6 children are still involved in care proceedings.

Of the remaining 9 children:

A boy aged 8 with complex behavioural needs

A female sibling group of 3 aged 4,8 and 10

A boy of 23 months assessed as having severe global developmental delay

Two male siblings aged 5 and 6 with complex behavioural needs

Two male siblings aged 6 and 7 who are to be placed separately, both of whom have complex needs including learning difficulties and behavioural problems.

Inter-Agency funding has been agreed for all the above children whose social workers are actively seeking placements nationwide via the adoption consortium of which Hampshire is a member, the National Register and other resources.

1.3 The Consortium

Hampshire, Surrey and Oxfordshire formed an Adoption Consortium in early 2002. This was later joined by Parents and Children Together (PACT), a voluntary agency who assess prospective adopters. Between 2002 - 2003 Hampshire did not match any of its children awaiting placements with approved adopters from within the Consortium.

Hampshire did link two sets of approved adopters with 2 children from Surrey. The Consortium meets on a regular basis every 2/3 months to share details of children from each agency requiring adoptive placements and who have not been found placements within their own agency and to share details of approved adopters who have been approved for six months and who are still awaiting a placement.

1.4 National Adoption Register

The register became fully operational on 1 April 2002. The details of all children for whom adoption is the plan and who have had a "Best Interest" decision made are sent to the Adoption Register, which suggests potential links with those approved adopters also on its data base, from anywhere in England and Wales. Hampshire has not had any children linked with approved adopters via the Adoption Register but has had one set of approved adopters linked with a child from another part of the country. The details of all approved adopters are also sent to the register, with the consent of these adopters. On 1 April 2002, 37 Hampshire adopters went "live" on the register.

1.5 Panel Training

Adoption panel members were offered two training days in the year. The first of these was presented by BAAF and was on the subject of "Good enough Parenting" with reference to the National Standards. The second training day focused on Adoption Law - the current 1976 Adoption Act and the future Adoption and Children Act 2002 and was led by Barbara Greenrod, Legal Advisor to Hampshire's Adoption Panels. Feedback from participants was very positive.

1.5.1 It is proposed that in the future Panel training will continue to be offered for two full days each year.

1.6 Panel Membership

There has been an active recruitment drive to address vacancies of independent panel members, with press and radio coverage. A large amount of interest was generated with over 30 telephone calls to the County Adoption Service requesting further information. Following interviews 9 individuals have joined panels as independent members. An induction programme is being prepared. Hampshire continues to meet the regulatory requirements in respect of panel membership including a good level of commitment from elected members.

1.7 Applicants Attending Panel

Applicants have been invited to attend Adoption Panels from 1 September 2002. Most have chosen to do so. Feedback surveys, based on questionnaires given to applicants attending panels, indicate a high level of satisfaction with the process. Panel members also regard it as a helpful innovation.

1.8 The County Adoption Team

The County Adoption team is now in its third full year of operation. The team comprises of one full time manager, nine full time equivalent social workers and 1 full time equivalent Inter-County adoption social worker. As the children's services remodelled during the year, 3 part time dedicated step-adoption social workers joined the team, and a "post adoption" service began to be developed.

37 families were approved during the year and of these 19 were linked. In addition 6 families were approved during 2002 - 2003 to adopt from overseas: one from Mexico, two from China, two from Vietnam and one from Cambodia.

The team trained several groups of prospective adopters, using the new BAAF 4 day training programme. As well as running 3 open days and 6 information days. The team are developing a specific training programme for foster carers wishing to adopt. During 2002/03 9 foster Carers were approved as adopters for 12 children already in placement with them. This represents an increase as in 2000/1 there were 2 foster carers, 2001/2 4 foster carers.

Considerable work has been undertaken within the team in supporting and maintaining placements of children deemed to have more complex needs. This has affected the availability of team members to undertake new assessments on applicants at a time when the numbers of children with a plan for adoption has increased.

1.9 Permanence Teams

There are 3 permanence teams (See Appendix A and C ) which were established as a result of the remodelling of children's services in September 2002.

This service was established in order to ensure that planning for children's permanent placements took priority. The number of children being considered for adoption was slowly falling and there was a need to ensure that children were not "drifting" in care.

In addition, achieving permanence for children through placements with family or friends or kinship placements was an area which required strengthening.

The teams were established under one operational service manager, and despite the challenge of recruiting staff during the latter half of the year 2002/3, the impact of the service was already being seen, as the number of children's plans coming to panels increased.

1.10 Post Adoption

Post Adoption Services continue to develop to ensure the availability of a comprehensive adoption service to all parties involved in the adoption process. The emphasis is now upon the recognition of adoption as a life-long process which does not stop on the making of an adoption order, and which continues to be much more "open" process than in the past with an emphasis on facilitating contact between adoptive families and birth families, either indirectly where appropriate. This is a brief summary of some of the post adoption work undertaken in the last year.

The Adoption Information exchange continues to be routinely provided to those adoptive and birth families who wish to participate in this "letter box" system. The system currently deals with some 210 adoptive families (represents 260 children) who regularly exchange a combination of letters, cards and photographs with birth family members. the number of families forming part of the exchange is likely to continue to rise.

The following table shows the number of adoptive families participating in the exchange and growth of the Adoption information Exchange since 1994.

The telephone helpline - a direct line separate from the switchboard and advertised in leaflets and Yellow Pages has been in operation since January 1998.

The following table details the figures for the telephone helpline for the last 5 years:

Telephone Helpline since 1998

Year Calls Received

1998 296

1999 387

2000 330

2001 230

2002-3 242

The Birth Records Counselling service (section 51 of the Adoption Act 1976) for adoptive adults seeking information from their records continues to be provided across the department.

The following table gives the figures for numbers receiving Birth Records Counselling for the last 5 years:

Birth Records Counselling (Sect.51) Figures since 1998

Year Number of applicants

1998 167

1999 149

2000 134

2001 104

2002-3 110

These figures are a mix of Section 51 cases received via the Office for National Statistics and applications direct to area offices.

The workshops for adoptive parents on how to explain adoption to their child continue to be organised twice yearly, with an average attendance of 10 families each time.

1.11 The future

Work is being undertaken to develop adoption support services with the publication of the Adoption Support Regulations, which came into force on

31 October 2003.

A "training" workshop also runs twice a year and is aimed primarily at adopted adults but the day also includes birth parents and adopters. Two such workshops run during the year, and in 2002/3 the total number of participants was 98.

One of the commissioning managers (post Adoption) has moved into operational management to develop a specific team for Adoption Support. during 2002/3 one new Social Worker post was created with plans for a team of four dedicated staff in the following financial year.

A structure chart (Appendix C) illustrates management and staffing arrangements for the service.

Recommendations

That the contents of the above report be noted and the terms of reference recommended for approval by the Executive Member for Social Care.

That committee indicate if additional information would be useful to accompany next year's annual report.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Documents

The Following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt of confidential information as defined in the Act.

NoneAPPENDIX A

Hampshire Adoption Agency Statement of Purpose

Aims and Objectives

Hampshire Adoption Service is responsible for the recruitment, assessment and training of prospective adopters for children who would otherwise remain in the care of the local authority for the duration of their childhood. It is responsible for planning for children's placements, preparing children and their families, and supporting all those who are involved in the adoption process. Adopted children are offered a support and counselling service through to adulthood.

Structure and location of the service

The service is made up of a county recruitment team, three district based permanence teams, a panel and advisory service, an inter-county adoption service, a service for step-parents wishing to consider adoption, and an adoption support service. All of these work closely with the overall children and families services to ensure that children's plans are made in a timely way and that staff are fully informed about the planning process where adoption is likely to be the long term plan.

The recruitment team, panel and advisory service and adoption support services are based in Swanwick. The Permanence teams, who work with children who are to be placed for adoption, are based in each district, covering the following areas:

North District - Basingstoke , Aldershot, Alton

South East District - Fareham, Gosport, Havant, Petersfield

South West District - Winchester, Andover, Romsey, Eastleigh, New Forest

Appendix C shows structure charts with the location and staffing arrangements for each of the services.

The functions of the service are fully described in the annual report of the agency, presented to Social Care Policy Review Committee on 28th November 2003.

APPENDIX B

Hampshire Adoption Panel Activity 1.4.2002 - 31.3.2003

Children's plans Agreed

Age Range of Child

Prospective Adopters Agreed

Age Range of Child

Appendix C

Strategic Service Manager : Sue Stewart

Strategic Service Manager - Adoption - Sue Stewart