Local democracy

Agenda item

ONE ADOPTION WEST YORKSHIRE ANNUAL REPORT

The report of One Adoption West Yorkshire (Document “I”) provides an overview of the adoption service activity from April 2019 to March 2020.

 

Recommended –

 

That the Corporate Parenting Panel receives this report and continues to support the work of One Adoption West Yorkshire and the local authority to ensure our adopted children and families receive the best possible support.

 

(Michelle Rawlings – 0113 535 0913)

 

 

Minutes:

The report of One Adoption West Yorkshire (Document “I”) provided an overview of the adoption service activity from April 2019 to March 2020.  The key issues in the report were highlighted for members.

 

The following questions were asked by member and answers given:

 

·         Should the letterbox service be picked up more frequently than fortnightly ?

-       The letterbox was now being picked up weekly but the vast majority of correspondence was by email and there had been no impact or delay.

·         The time taken to do medicals had been raised before by the Panel but while appreciating the Covid19 had made an impact members required more than an assurance that discussions were taking place with  CCG’s to get back to normal.

-       The frustration in getting medical appointments was acknowledged and it was noted that virtual medicals were being accepted.  GP’s were not seeing this as a priority piece of work which had been raised with CCG’s and they in turn had agreed to circulate the concerns to GP’s

·         Were the issues regarding accommodation not anticipated and will they be resolved?

-       The issues were due to increased staffing capacity, however since 18 March staff had all worked from home and looking ahead it was unlikely to be an issue as home working continued.

·         What progress had been made in enabling information to be shared with Kirklees through the portal?

-       Portal work with Kirklees was not moving at a significant pace but information was able to be accessed when needed.

·         Are virtual medicals robust enough?

-       Virtual medicals were for adopters not children and were considered robust.  Children’s medicals posed an on going challenge in terms of capacity, however confidence was expressed that they were not holding up children with an adoption plan.  The Health Co-opted member added that long standing work was being undertaken on medicals for adults and children and that Covid 19 had presented challenges.  She noted that a meeting would take place shortly to investigate what could be done to speed things up and that avenues were being explored to meet demand and reduce timescales in the future.

·         12 children have been waiting for last 18 months for adoption since March 2020 how many of them are subject to placement order (free for adoption) and how long they have been subject to placement order- what are the ages of the children waiting for adoption? And How old are the children?

-       All 12 are subject to placement orders.  Their ages could be provided for members.  11 of the 12 were hard to place ie over 5 years old, sibling groups, having a disability of BAME.

 

·         OFSTED had expressed concern about long drift and delays in adoptions, what was being done to ensure that no further drift and delay occurred?

-       Monthly tracking meetings were being held with One Adoption and Bradford to identify any cases that drift and delay.

·         When will training be live and what has been the uptake?

-       Virtual adopter preparation training had taken place the previous week.  Early adopter training and sibling training were scheduled to take place in July and August.  There had been a backlog from March to May but there had been a 54% increase in the last 3 months and early indications were that uptake was good.

 

 

Resolved –

 

(1)          That One Adoption West Yorkshire be thanked for the report.

 

(2)               That the report to the Panel on the Performance Tracker update include information on drift and delay for Bradford children.

 

ACTION: Deputy Director, Children’s Social Care

 

 

 

Supporting documents: