Agenda item

·         ACE Annual Report

·         Report of the Adoption Panel

·         Warwickshire Adoption Report

Sharon Shaw, Head of Corporate Parenting presented the annual adoption reports to the Panel and confirmed that Warwickshire is part of Adoption Central England (ACE) along with four other authorities - Coventry, Herefordshire, Solihull, and Worcestershire.  The annual report from ACE informed the Panel of the work undertaken over the last twelve months and the future work plans for ACE.  It was noted that the Warwickshire Annual Adoption Report included much more specific information relating to the children in Warwickshire.

It was confirmed that there has been a significant decline in the number of children adopted and that there are more children waiting for adoption but who had not completed the required process.  It was confirmed that many of the delays are still because of Covid and the backlog of cases.  It was also noted that there has been an increase in Special Guardianship Orders (SGO) and that this is likely to continue.  SGO is where a child is placed with a family member or connected person and is always preferrable to adoption.  Since April 2023, seventeen young people have been adopted with is already an increase from the total adoptions in the previous year.  73.3% of children adopted were part of sibling group.

Confirmation was given in respect to the Foster to Adopt scheme which often involves very young children who are often relinquished at birth or where previous children have been removed from a parent.  This scheme offers placement stability – children are placed with a family who will adopt them but who foster them at the start of the process.

The following points from the report were highlighted –

• There have been three adoption disruptions in the last 12 months – one female child and two male children.  All have now been moved to permanent adoptions.

• Moving forward, the focuses for the future for the Warwickshire adoption service will include more promotion of family time which especially important for siblings who aren’t placed together.

• The adoption service will be promoting Life story books for children and young people.

• The service will also be promoting the fostering for adoption scheme.

• The service will look to reduce the time between an adoption order being granted and the child/ren going to the matching panel.  It was noted that this can be challenging, especially if the child has special needs or is part of a sibling group.

Brenda Vincent, Head of ACE, confirmed that COVID and the cost of living crisis has had an impact on the number of potential adopters coming forward.  But there are signs of this changing and there are more people coming forward.  Currently there are 59 families going through the assessment process which is a sign that things are improving after the pandemic.  It was confirmed that consideration is given to how much support potential adoption families will need and that currently, there are 500 families across the region currently receiving support.

Councillor Marian Humphreys added that the ACE adoption panel also offer a lot of support for families, from the start of the process.  Councillor Humphreys added that members of the adoption panel also get a lot of training.  It was noted that support is also offered to birth parents, where appropriate and that courts look to maintain relationships with birth parents were possible.  This will include more than just postal communication.

Councillor Caroline Phillips stated that she was pleased to hear that family time is a key area of focus.  Brenda Vincent added that family contact is not always static; it evolves and is different with each child, and will change as the child gets older.  Contact has to be ok with everybody involved and officers are always careful in how they respond in each case.

It was noted that Councillor Marian Humphreys is one of only two elected members in the region to be on adoption panels.  Warwickshire is leading the way and hoping to encourage more elected members to join.

The Chair thanked all the officers for the reports stating that it has been easy to read and very understandable.