Agenda item

6.1

6.2

6.3

6.4

6.5

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director, People Services, attaching the Adoption Service – Annual Report 2017/18.

In attendance for this item were Councillor Jackie Drayton (Cabinet Member for Children and Families) and Paul Dempsey (Assistant Director – Provider Services, Children and Families Services).

Paul Dempsey presented the report which detailed the activity and performance of Sheffield City Council’s Adoption Service for 2017/18 and set out the improvement and development work planned for 2018/19.

Members of the Committee and members of the public raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·         Feedback was obtained from attendees of groups and activities, but there was no formal way to assess the feedback at present.  Most of the feedback was positive. Timings had been improved and support workers were now allocated within 5 days.  Further work was needed on educational support.

·         A regional advisory board was being worked on which would enable engagement with adoptive parents.

·         The website would be amended to provide details of the Adoption Support Fund and how to access it and details would be made available in other formats.  80 families were currently in receipt of funding from the Adoption Support Fund.

·         Government legislation stated that adoption services should operate on a more regional level.  Doncaster had come forward to host, but there had been concerns regarding the capacity, therefore discussions had reopened.  It was important to ensure service improvements would be made.  The discussions did not affect the day to day running of the service and a briefing note of the current situation would be prepared.

·         Staff absences had reduced, supported by the HR process and the vacancy was currently being recruited to.

·         Looked After Children now qualified for the pupil premium and the designated teachers had been notified.  All adopted children would be part of the Virtual School, with designated teachers and personal education plans.  More training for adoptive parents was also being developed.

·         21% of Looked After children were adopted or placed into Special Guardianship in 2017/18 and this figure was at 24% already for 2018/19.  There had been a decrease in adoption and an increase in Special Guardianship.  The Council looked at all ways to get children into permanent homes, whether by adoption, foster carers becoming Special Guardianships and wraparound care post 16.  The Committee would be provided with the latest figures.

·         It was important to write the correct plan for each individual child and if necessary, the child may be placed with adopters outside Sheffield if it better met the needs of the child.  Timeliness of placements had improved and a monthly tracker meeting took place for all children.  The Authority was trying to recruit adopters for specific types of children.

·         Some children were adopted via external agencies, others via other Councils.  All were regulated and checked by Ofsted.  The Council would prefer to place children with it’s own approved adopters, but timely placements were in the best interests of the children.  The cost of using external agencies was offset by the reduction in foster care payments.  One of the Council’s key targets was to recruit more adopters.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)         notes the annual report of the Adoptions Service now submitted and the progress made, together with the responses to the questions now raised;

(b)         thanks Councillor Jackie Drayton and Paul Dempsey for attending the meeting and responding to the questions raised; and

(c)        requests Paul Dempsey to:

(i)            provide a briefing note for the Committee on the status of the Regional Adoption Agency and include progress reports within the regular Committee reports on the Recovery and Improvement Plan;

(ii)          reconsider publicity and communications of the Adoption Support Fund, via the website and other means;

(iii)         circulate information on national benchmarks for adoptions; and

(iv)         report back to the Committee in three months regarding formal feedback mechanisms post-adoption, including performance indicators.