Agenda item

To inform the Board of the work and developments within One Adoption West Yorkshire between April 2020 and September 2020.

Contact: Suzanne Whitley, Service Delivery Manager, One Adoption West Yorkshire

The Board considered the half yearly Adoption Agency report from One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY) presented by Suzanne Whiteley.

Suzanne Whitely highlighted the key issues from the report which set out the work and developments within OAWY between April 2020 and September 2020 and advised the Board that:

-       There had been some challenges to staff morale as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but managers had worked hard to support their teams;

-       Most of the vacant positions within OAWY had now been filled, and interviews were scheduled to recruit to any remaining vacant posts; 

-       Letterbox work had been redirected to the Leeds office as an interim measure whilst accommodation in Kirklees and Calderdale was refurbished;

-       This created some delays as staff had to travel from Huddersfield to Leeds to access files and process file work;

-       A reduction in income from the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) ,as a result of the pandemic, had put pressures on the budget but a plan had been actioned to address this;

-       The ‘Duty and Advice’ service was running remotely and a telephone choice system had been implemented to efficiently direct incoming calls;

-       The Operational Leads group had met to discuss aligning adoption payments and joint audit work was agreed;

-       The Centre of Excellence project had progressed but due to increased costs the final model was amended to remove the post of the Assistant Psychologist;

-       A medical advisor protocol has been agreed and ‘Peer Supports’ and audits had taken place across the region to support the improvement of medial information provided to adoptive families; 

-       Work with Virtual School Heads across the region continued progress and the educational helpline was well used;

-       Virtual training sessions with schools, and workshops with doctors, to increase awareness around ‘Attachments and Trauma’ had been delivered and were well received;

-       The Special Guardianship (SG) support plan was being tested by the kinship teams across the five local authorities (LA’s) in West Yorkshire;

-       A therapeutic parenting programme for SG’s had been commissioned and a group application for funding on behalf of the region was to be made;

-       The Grandparents Plus project was progressing well with the further support provided from the ASF Covid-19 funds;

-       Training in ‘Non-Violent Resistance’ had been commissioned for the kinship teams across the five LA’s; 

-       The OAWY’s website had been resigned and was now live;

-       There was a significant increase in families interested in becoming adopters during the first half of the year;

-       OAWY had undertaken a review of perspective adopters and the decision was made to temporarily hold applications for young children;

-       Technology had been used to continue to deliver the work of OAWY virtually throughout the pandemic and training workshops and ‘profiling events were well received;

-       OAWY (after adopting the University of East Anglia’s model) used virtual technology to increase the ‘getting to know you’ phase which helped build relationships between children and adoptive families;

-       Meetings of Virtual Adoption Panels were being held more frequently (7 or 8 times per month) and the feedback on the virtual arrangements from social workers was positive;

-       Reports presented to panels were given ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ feedback which was reflective of the continued hard work of social workers;

Suzanne Whiteley further highlighted the key statistics within the Performance Reports (appendix 2) noting that in the first 6 months of 2020/21: 

-       61 adoptive families were approved by OAWY across the region;

-       52 families had been matched with children from West Yorkshire which was an increase when compared to the same timeframe in the previous year;

-       Within the 61 approved households 12 individuals (11%) of the children matched had a BAME backgrounds, 9 households (15%) were approved for sibling groups and 16 households (25%) were open to an Early Permanence Placement. 

In response to a question from the Board regarding the budget, Suzanne Whiteley explained that OAWY had undertaken work to address pressures, such as examining the interagency budget and vacancy monitoring.

In response to a question from the Board regarding the outcomes of the discussions with CCG’s in relation to the Centre of Excellence project, Suzanne Whitley advised that there was an agreement across the region to fund the Centre of Excellence, but an amendment had been made to the final staffing model as there had been an increase in the cost of commissioning of the Assistant Psychologist post. The amendment removed the post to ensure costs were within the budget.

The Board then enquired about the plans to track the outcomes and impact of the Centre of Excellence project and Suzanne Whitley explained that OAWY had implemented measures such as ‘goal-based outcomes’ to monitor and evaluate outcomes. A Project manager was also supporting the evaluation work in the interim in the absence of an Assistant Psychologist. 

In response to a question from the Board concerning the position of letterbox work, Suzanne Whitely confirmed that post was still being directed to Leeds, but accommodation had now been secured Kirklees.

The Board asked what impact the pandemic had on Court proceedings. Suzanne Whitley explained that there had been some delays in terms of initial care proceedings and adoption order applications, but these were managed more efficiently as the pandemic has progressed.

Clarity was requested on the reasons why adoptive families for younger children who were put on hold. Suzanne Whitley explained that this was because there was a high number of families who were seeking approval for the younger age range of children. The decision was taken to prioritise families who were open to taking children from groups who were considered more difficult to place. This had been a temporary position and OAWY had ensured transparency when communicating with the families involved.

RESOLVED –

1.             That the Board noted the OAWY 6 Monthly report and thanked Suzanne Whiteley for her contributions.

2.             That figures be provided to the Board on the number of staff from Kirklees who had attended the Non-Violent Resistance Training.