Agenda item

Alasdair Smith, Head of Service, Permanence will give a presentation on adoption with Rory Patterson, Director, and Children’s Social Care. An officer report on Adoption is enclosed.

7.1  Rory Patterson, Director of Children's Social Care, and Alasdair Smith, Head of Service – Permanence, briefly presented. The Director indicated a power point presentation had been prepared, but this had not been circulated (this is attached to the minutes).

7.2  A member asked what the target period set by central government for perspective adaptors progressing through to approval is, and how long this takes in Southwark. Officers explained the target is 6 months, end to end, and Southwark’s average was 2 years, however of the new cohort half did under 6 months. People can also start and stop, and the clock does too, and some people also come and go. Members asked what the issues are and officers responded that bereavement and accommodation are common reasons for people pausing.

7.3  Members asked if there is under representation of ethnic groups amongst adopters and officers said is a BME shortage. The government emphasised that trans-racial adoption should not be a barrier - however most white adopters want white children and likewise black adopters. The Director said the council have been very successful in their outreach to faith groups and churches. The council are also doing a leaflet drop particularly targeting certain communities. A member commented that whenever she sees a banner near her home she thinks of adoption.

7.4  A member commented that the average time taken between a child entering care and moving in with its adoptive family in the paper supplied  have gives no context, and an improvement of 60 days may not be that significant for a 14 year old but it would be for a child under 2 years . The Director explained that formally the council were not allowed to do parallel planning but now social service can do this, this means that alternative arrangement can be considered before proceeding have culminated. The council is now at 20 odd weeks, whereas we were formally at 50 weeks. Some young people get permanence from foster care and this is a route that that we now have more latitude to promote. Numbers of adoptions are going up but time is still an issue. Members requested more information particularly for under twos and disabled children.

7.5  A member commented that she is an adoptive parent and she decided to take a bit of a gamble with fostering for permanence, which paid of off. She went on to ask why the council is not an example on trans-racial adoptions and asked if the council could reach out to more people to foster and adopt. Another member remarked that she had been considering adopting for a long term but there is fear of the first step. The Director responded that there are gorgeous kids but perspective adopters do have concerns and social workers do need to explain about potential family dynamics, mental health problems, and foetal alcohol syndrome. The Director said it is crucial there is long term support for adopters and long term guardianship. The council organise drop in sessions and meeting in cafes to enable perspective adopters to find out more and take the first step. The Director went on to comment that a Google of Southwark will show that the council has been a pioneer with  same sex adopters and supported trans-racial adoptions, for example one women has adopted a black child with hearing difficulties and she has also taken older children . A member commented that London has a complex make up of ethnicities and therefore exact matches are not always possible or desirable.

7.6  The Director said he was chairing a group looking at fostering for adoption. There is a legal structure now to support this, whereas formally there was not. The group is exploring this issue, particularly given all the evidence that the earlier children are placed in a permanent family the better.

7.7  The chair commented that as an adopter she had met the minister leading on adoption and had been impressed. She went on to ask the officers if it would be possible to facilitate a focus group with randomly selected adopters and potential adopters to support the review. Officers assured her it was and this could be done in a couple of weeks.

7.8  The Director was asked about some of the difficulties in realising successful adoptions and he mentioned the lack of BME adopters, older children, children with complex needs and sibling groups. A member asked if there was a ceiling age for adopters and he responded that there is none legally and this would be explored – the oldest is nearly 60 and there is a very young couple who wanted a child.

7.9  The chair thanked the officers for the session and offered to help out if needed in promoting adoption and commented that her feedback as an adopter had been that contact with families had been her strong point.

RESOLVED

A focus group will be organised.

Officers will be asked to provide more context on adoption timescales and numbers for children, particularly:

-  Under 2s

-  by ethnicity

-  with special needs / disability