Agenda item

Adoption Partnership South East is a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) providing adoption services for Medway, Kent, and the London Borough Bexley.

The fourth RAA Annual Report attached provides information and an overview of the adoption service activity and practice development for the period April 2023 – March 2024.

Discussion:

The Head of Adoption Partnership South East introduced the annual report which detailed the service activity and practice development for the period April 2023 – March 2024.

Members raised several comments and questions which included:

Wait times – it was asked what could be done to further reduce the wait times for prospective adopters and children waiting to be adopted. The officer said that the wait time at stage one of the process was high nationally and this was due to the stringent checks that must be carried out to ensure that safe decisions regarding placement of children were being made. In the last year, in Medway there had been an increase between placement orders, to point of matching. Eighteen children had placement orders granted, out of which, there were two children with extremely complex needs, including life limiting conditions, which meant it took longer for them to be matched.

Partnership working – it was asked how effective the partnership working was in light of the fact that Kent was dominant due to its size and scale and how officers ensured that the needs of Medway children continued to be met. The Director of People and Deputy Chief Executive said she was pleased with the partnership, it worked very well. At the time Medway had joined the partnership, both local authorities already in the partnership were outstanding. Medway’s performance was inadequate and both authorities were gracious with their time and resources and through the partnership Medway had made significant improvements. This was evident from the last ILACS inspection.

Wrap around support – the work being done to support adopters of children with complex needs was commended and it was asked what wrap around support was provided post adoption. The officer said that they continued to raise awareness with partners about the needs of these children, who were the most vulnerable in the community and had met with the Integrated Care Board who had agreed that adoptive children would be a priority in the commissioning processes. It was acknowledged that families struggle post adoption and funding had been received from the Department for Education for a pan regional approach pilot scheme in keeping connected with families. Many parents did not always reach out for support until they reached crisis point and this scheme would enable officers to maintain contact at crucial stages. There was also work being undertaken to develop a strong post adoption community peer support network.

Currently, there were currently 40 peer mentors who buddied up with families and provided support from the beginning of the adoption process right through to placement, they built relationships with families which often continued for many years. There were currently five community groups and officers were exploring how to develop more. A coffee shop morning run by adopters was due to be launched and adoption picnics regularly took place.

Budget - it was noted that there was an under spend and it was asked what would happen with the funds. The Finance Business Partner said that there was an underspend of £328,000, of which if returned, £66,000 would be Medway’s share. When there was an underspend, the Board would make a decision on whether the amount should be returned to the Local Authority or rolled forward to the following year’s budget. It was unknown at this stage whether the underspend would come back to the Local Authority as it had in previous years due to challenges in the system.

Deregistration - in response to a question on what was being done to avoid deregistration, the officer said that this was a decision made by adopters that had been approved then decided not to continue for various reasons.  Officers did work to identify and provide support where necessary.

Decision:

The Committee noted the annual report as set out at Appendix 1, which outlined the activity that had taken place across the Adoption Partnership South East between April 2023 – March 2024.