Agenda item

To consider a report by the Director of Children’s Services which presents the Annual Report of the One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY) and provides an overview of adoption service activity from April 2020 to March 2021. (Appendix A refers)

  The report provides an updated statement of purpose for One Adoption West Yorkshire (Appendix B refers). The Statement of Purpose is required as part of the national minimum standards to provide those services.

(Report attached)

The Director of Children’s Services submitted a report which presented the Annual Report of the One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY) and provided an overview of adoption service activity from April 2020 to March 2021. (Appendix A referred). The report also provided an updated statement of purpose for One Adoption West Yorkshire, which was required as part of the national minimum standards to provide those services.

Addressing the report, the Head of Service spoke of the developments within One Adoption West Yorkshire from April 2020 to March 2021 which included:

·  COVID-19 - OAWY response

·  Use of Resources

·  Partnership Working

·  Performance Management

·  Practice, Quality of Provision and Management Oversight

·  Continuous Professional and Service Development

Members were informed the Covid-19 pandemic had brought many challenges for the service and the staff had worked tirelessly to ensure that families had been supported and plans for children moved on. Online working had worked well, and many positive changes had been made to improve service delivery. The Head of Service said the challenge was now to start to rebuild relationships with staff and encourage them to return to the office.

Referring to the Use of Resources (Staffing & HR) the Head of Service said the recruitment of health staff to the Multi-Disciplinary Team continued during the first quarter of this year with a number of posts been filled. Two Members of the Team had chosen to retire/ leave, recruitment to the two post was ongoing.

On the issue of child placement, the Head of Service informed Members that during the last period a total of 184 children had been placed. It was anticipated numbers would be lower due to covid, but this was not the case, homeworking assisting in the acceleration of some processes. Members were also informed that covid had also impacted on the Court Service with no face-to-face meetings taking place, resulting in a “slow down” of Placement Orders.

Referring to online working Members asked how families had adapted.

In responding the Head of Services said that the service had worked with approximately 800 adopted families. Many families had adapted well, children had spent time away from school and this had resulted in less pressure on school relationships and less problems in general. Other families had experienced a number of challenges and a range of support measures had been put in place to assist parents. Members were informed that face to face contact was important in building relationships, but some work could be carried out online: webinars and virtual training to support the assessment process.

The Head of Service said overall the service had adapted well to meeting everyone’s needs.

Responding to a question on the work of Adoption Panels, Members were informed that Adoption Panels had moved to online working and had increased in numbers to eight panels per month. The Head of Service said it was the view of all involved: Members of the Adoption Panel and the Adoptive Parents that the process was working well.

Members asked if medical assessments had been carried out in a timely manner.

The Head of Service said that medical assessors had continued to support the adoption process but accepted there had been some delays due to the impact of Covid. It was highlighted there had been particular issues in Wakefield due to sickness absence by an individual GP.

The Chair thanked everyone for their contributions.

RESOLVED –

(i)  To receive the annual report of One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY), detailed in appendix A of the submitted report, as required by the National Minimum Standards for Adoption 2014, pursuant to the Care Standards Act 2000.

(ii)  To note the assurance provided by the Director of Children’s Services that the agency was effective and was achieving good outcomes for children and/or services users

(iii)  To agree the updated statement of purpose for One Adoption West Yorkshire