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Adoption & Permanence Support Statement of Purpose

2017 – 2018

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Contents What is a Statement of Purpose

Who is it for?

Where can you see this Statement of Purpose?

Changes to this Statement of Purpose

Suffolk Children & Young People’s Services Directorate Plan

Our Vision: Securing families for Suffolk children

Our values: How we try to carry out our mission

Our Aims Commitments Our policies

Who receives adoption and permanence support services?

We assess prospective adopters using objective, fair and transparent criteria

Foster to Adopt – Concurrent Planning and Early Placement

Non-Agency Adoption Service

Suffolk County Council’s Inter-Country Adoption Service

Counselling for birth parents

Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Services

Support to children and carers with Special Guardianship Orders

Monitoring of the Adoption Service

Where to find us

Who manages the agency

Our permanence panels

How decisions are made

Children’s Guide

How to complain

How are we organised?

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What is a Statement of Purpose? Government regulations require us to set out our principles, information about the services we provide and how the Agency works in a “Statement of Purpose”. This is a complete guide to all the services we provide and how we provide them, to help all those affected by adoption to know what to expect of the service. The Statement of Purpose also provides information about Special Guardianship and Child Arrangements Order support services. This Statement of Purpose sets out the aims and objectives of the Suffolk Adoption Service, the services provided and how the aims and objectives are to be met. The information contained in the Statement of Purpose is prescribed in Schedule I of the Adoption National Minimum Standards (Standard 1). The Statement of Purpose will be regularly reviewed and formally updated as required by the National Minimum Standards. This document has been informed by:

Adoption and Children Act 2002

Care Standards Act 2000

The Local Authority Adoption Service (England) Regulations 2003

Adoption National Minimum Standards 2014

Children Act 2004

Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005

The Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005

Adoption (Inter-country Aspects) Act 1999

Related Regulations, Local Authority Circulars and Statutory Practice Guidance

The Adoption Agencies (Panel & Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2012

The Adoption Agencies & Independent Review of Determinations (Amendment) Regulations 2011

The Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013

Special Guardianship Regulations 2005

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Who is it for?

✓ Young people

✓ Birth family members

✓ Prospective adoptive parents

✓ Adoptive parents

✓ Agency staff (this includes social workers, social work practitioners, managers, and business support staff)

✓ Members of our permanence panels

✓ Councillors

✓ Other adoption agencies

✓ Other organisations that work with children and families

✓ Inspectors

✓ Members of the public

Where can you see this Statement of Purpose? You can find it on our website. When staff and panel members join us, we give them a copy and inform them of any changes or new revisions. Written copies are available at all our offices. If you would like a written copy please write to; Professional Adviser Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service Suffolk County Council Endeavour House, 8 Russell Rd Ipswich, IP1 2BX When needed, we will arrange for the statement of purpose to be translated into other languages or made available in a format that is right for someone with physical, sensory, learning impairments and communication difficulties.

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Changes to this statement of purpose The statement of purpose will be regularly reviewed and updated as the Service changes and develops. Suffolk Children & Young People’s Services Directorate Plan The Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service is part of the Corporate Parenting Service of Suffolk’s Health, Wellbeing and Children’s Services. The Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service aims & objectives are set out in a service plan and are linked to the Suffolk Family 2020 strategy, which can be found here. We are committed to providing a comprehensive and high-quality service to meet the lifelong needs of all those individuals whose lives are affected by adoption. We prioritise finding and maintaining safe and secure families for children and young people needing adoption, helping them to achieve the best possible outcomes for life. Our Vision: Securing families for Suffolk children To enable all children and young people in Suffolk to aspire to, and achieve their full potential, giving them the basis for a successful life as active member of their community.

Our values: How we work to carry out our vision We fully support the values and principles set out in the National Minimum Standards, and base our standards on them. These values sum up what we stand for and what we expect our staff, panels, adopters, and partner agencies to support:-

✓ Children are entitled to grow up as part of a loving family which can meet their needs during childhood and beyond

✓ Where possible it is best for children to be brought up by their own family

✓ The child's welfare, safety and needs will be at the centre of the adoption process

✓ The child's wishes and feelings will be actively sought and fully taken into account at all stages

✓ Delays in adoption can adversely impact on the health and development of children; therefore, adoption plans should be progressed in a timely manner

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✓ A sense of identity is important to a child’s well-being. To help children develop this, their ethnicity, cultural background, religion, language and sexuality will be recognised, positively valued and promoted

✓ The particular needs of disabled children will be fully recognised and taken into account when decisions are made

✓ The role of adoptive parents in offering a permanent family to a child who cannot live with their birth family will be valued and respected.

✓ We consider it important to offer support to birth relatives of children being adopted

✓ Adoption has lifelong implications for all involved and requires lifelong commitment from many different organisations, professions and individuals who should work together to meet the needs of those affected by adoption

✓ Adopted adults have their adoptive identity safeguarded and the right to decide whether to be involved in contact or communication with birth family members

Suffolk’s Adoption and Permanence Support Service are committed to providing our services with best practice Customer Care standards and principles at the core of service delivery.

Our Aims

✓ Work hard to apply best practice in Customer Service, working to

improve skills and knowledge across the service

✓ To avoid delays in the process of adoption and ensure it is effective and supportive for children and adults

✓ To provide Suffolk children with prospective adopters who can meet their individual needs

✓ To ensure there is a positive welcome to all users of our service

✓ Enabling adoptive families to grow stronger and access support services

Commitments

✓ To respect and value all service users at all stages of the adoption journey

✓ To listen to your experiences and learn from the feedback you provide us

✓ To develop a Suffolk Signs of Safety and Wellbeing approach to all aspects of our service delivery

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✓ To be polite, courteous and professional in treating you with respect, sensitivity and empathy

✓ To manage all information in line with the Data Protection Act

✓ Respond to your enquiries in a timely manner

✓ To provide responses to your enquiries which are clear, accurate and easy to understand

✓ We will apologise when we get things wrong and work with you to put them right

✓ To ensure that our services promote equal opportunities by not discriminating against anyone based on their age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religion or culture

✓ To continuously improve standards of practice and service to respond to changes in law, standards and best practice

✓ To develop and enrich partnerships with local, regional and national agencies, to improve standards and offer a complete service, and take every opportunity to share best practices as openly as possible

Our Policies We have detailed adoption policies and procedures to guide us in the way in which we put our principles into action. These cover children, adopters, placements and planning, concurrency placements with Fostering to Adopt carers, birth families, adoption support, non-agency adoption and inter-country adoption. When staff and panel members join our service, we provide a copy of Suffolk Adoption and Permanence policies. They are expected to work within this framework. Visit here to access Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service policies on the Internet or ask us for a hard copy. The service has a complete range of more general Suffolk policies (for example, concerning Equalities, Conflict of Interest, Security of Confidential Information, etc). Staff are familiarised with these policies as part of their induction. Who receives adoption and permanence support services?

✓ Children requiring adoption

✓ Birth relatives

✓ Prospective adopters

✓ Approved adopters

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✓ Children and their adoptive families who need adoption support

✓ Adopted adults and members of their birth families

✓ Children who are placed permanently with their foster carer, and the foster carers themselves

✓ Children and their carers who need Special Guardianship and Child

Arrangements Order support

What services do we provide? The Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service publicises adoption, Special Guardianship and Child Arrangements Order services and how to access them. This includes information about services provided by other agencies. The Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service has a dedicated phone line (01473 264800) for enquiries about adopting. An Information Guide is sent to enquirers and pre-booked phone calls are offered with an Adoption Worker for further discussion. Adoption information is available on the Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service website which can be accessed directly from www.fosterandadopt.suffolk.gov.uk. The website provides information leaflets and links to other useful adoption organisations.

We have streamlined our recruitment process so that at every stage staff are there to advise and support enquirers and applicants We hold monthly information meetings. These meetings give an overview of adopting in Suffolk and include information about Fostering to Adopt and Suffolk children needing adoptive homes. Enquirers can also meet experienced adoption workers and adoptive parents. When the service has accepted an Application to Adopt, prospective adopters enter Stage One of the application process. During this phase police checks, medicals, and references from personal referees are required. Applicants are asked to attend an adopter’s preparation course and together with their adoption worker, consider how they can best prepare themselves for the task ahead. The government target for completion of Stage One is 2 months. We do all we can to work within this target. In Stage Two, a home study assessment is completed, usually within four months, although sometimes the assessing social worker or the adopter may decide to take longer to complete the process.

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The assessing social worker will make a recommendation about the suitability of the applicants to be adopters. Applicants see the completed Prospective Adopters Report and can comment on it before it is presented to the Permanence Panel. Prospective adopters routinely attend the Permanence Panel where their application is being considered. We assess prospective adopters using objective, fair and transparent criteria Our information booklet provides clear criteria on the qualities and skills required to adopt a child or children. Adopters will need to show that they can: -

✓ Learn from experience

✓ Cope with stress

✓ Meet the ethnic, cultural, health and educational needs of the child needing adoption

✓ Offer consistency of care and opportunities for bonding and attachment

✓ Work with children's social workers and other agencies to secure necessary services for the child

✓ Build and sustain close, intimate, and reciprocal relationships

✓ Be in touch with sad and angry feelings

✓ Resolve past wrongs or losses

✓ Build secure attachments and share difficulties

✓ See the child as he or she is and not how you would like them to be

✓ Show qualities such as acceptance, commitment, flexibility, “stickability”, sensitivity and openness

✓ Cope with a bit of mess and disruption - not perfectionists

✓ Ask for and accept help

✓ Show a sense of humour A wide range of people can adopt and these include:

✓ Families from all types of backgrounds

✓ People with or without children

✓ Couples who are married or not

✓ Single people

✓ People from all ethnicities

✓ People who are heterosexual, lesbian, gay or transgender

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✓ People with disabilities

✓ People who are not "perfect"

✓ People who rent their homes

✓ Some overweight people

✓ People whose infertility treatment has ended Foster to Adopt Concurrent Planning and Early Placement

Suffolk offers a concurrent planning and placement service for children (0-2 years) where the preferred plan is to reunify the family and the assessments are underway to pursue this objective. However, should the plan be judged as potentially unlikely to succeed, the child is placed in a dually approved foster carer/prospective adopter family on a fostering basis with the expectation that they be adopted by that carer, should the court make a Placement Order.

Other Foster to Adopt early placements may be made for a child where the local authority is not actively pursuing a rehabilitation plan, and the intention is usually to avoid the disruptive impact of an additional foster placement prior to moving to a permanent family. Where appropriate, relinquished babies may benefit from these arrangements. Through early placement, young children are given a greater opportunity to find stability and form secure relationships with permanent adoptive parents. They experience consistency of early life care and avoid the disturbance of a move from a foster to adoptive home should the court make a Placement Order, or parents’ consent to relinquish their baby.

Non-Agency Adoption Service Suffolk County Council provides a Non-Agency Adoption Service to step-parents, partners and other private law applicants. The service provides written information for enquirers, advice by telephone and when required, an office meeting. Enquirers notify the Agency in writing if they wish to proceed with an application. It is a requirement that they agree to statutory checks and references being undertaken by the agency at this stage. On satisfactory completion of the checks, the applicants place their application with the Court and a social worker begins to interview all parties (including the child(ren) and absent birth parent(s)). A detailed report for the court is prepared. The applicants and social worker attend the court hearing.

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Suffolk County Council’s inter-country Adoption Service For those applicants wishing to adopt children from abroad, this service is provided on our behalf by the Intercountry Adoption Centre (IAC), a national independent specialist provider. IAC offers advice, assessment and preparation, consideration by Adoption Panel and subsequent approval processes with the Department of Education. Contact details below. IAC 22 Union Street Barnet Hertfordshire EN5 4HZ Tel No 0208 447 4753 or on their website http://www.icacentre.org.uk Counselling for birth parents The service offers support, information and counselling to birth parents and other family members, as it recognises the lifelong implications of adoption.

A social worker explains the adoption process and asks the birth parent's views about the kind of family they would ideally like for their child, their views about contact and whether they would like their child placed with siblings. Birth parents can give their written views on proposed plans for adoption with the support of a worker from Coram Cambridgeshire, if they so wish. When an adoption order is made birth parents are entitled to be assessed for adoption support services. The Adoption Service will be responsible for providing the birth family with information about local and national support groups and helping them to fulfil agreed plans for contact. All birth parents will be encouraged to provide information and contribute to their child's life storybook and a letter for later life. In addition, birth parents are offered access to independent counselling provided through Coram Cambridgeshire. The Adoption Service provides information leaflets for birth parents explaining the adoption process. We help children prepare for placement with prospective adopters and support them after they are placed and adopted The Adoption Service makes every effort to find a placement that meets the child's emotional and developmental needs. This takes into account heritage, religion, language, culture, gender and disability. However, no child should have to wait indefinitely for the ideal placement. Placements that cannot meet all these needs, but are sympathetic to them, will be considered. Every child should have a life storybook and a letter for later life.

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The Later Life Letter gives the child an explanation of why he/she was adopted and the reasons and actions that led up to this decision being made. The life storybook provides a simple and age appropriate explanation of what has happened to the child up until they join their adopted family. It includes pictures of important people and places in the child’s life so far, mementos and other information relevant to the child. The child's social worker does this work with help and advice from the adoption social worker. Social workers, foster carers and others work to prepare children for adoptive placement. Once a family has been agreed, children are given appropriate information about their new family in a format they can understand. This often includes photos, books and DVDs prepared by the prospective adopters. We prepare prospective adopters for the placement of a child and support them after the child is placed and adopted When a match with a child, or children is being discussed, the adoption social worker and child's social worker provide information about the child to the prospective adopters. The Adoption Service holds Child Appreciation Days, usually for older children. Prospective adopters meet with significant people from the child’s past to help them to understand how events in their past may have impacted upon the child. When the adopters and all professionals are happy to proceed, the adopters will receive further detailed information. A Placement Planning Meeting will be called before any match is presented to the Permanence Panel to ensure that the adopters have all the relevant information available about the child. The Adoption Service provides the prospective adopters with a copy of the child’s permanence report, matching report and adoption support plan before the meeting. The adopters and the agency are then able to reflect upon the proposed match and the plan to support the placement. Following the Placement Planning Meeting the match will be considered at the Permanence Panel and if recommended and subsequently agreed by the Agency Decision-Maker, the introduction programme will typically start some 10 days after the panel. The Adoption Service reviews the programme part way through and will revise it if necessary. Once the child/children are placed the child's social worker and the adoption social worker continue to visit the prospective adopters to support the placement.

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The Adoption Service will make arrangements for at least one meeting between a child’s birth parents and the prospective adopters after the child has been placed, providing this is in the child’s best interests and the parents agree. Regular meetings chaired by an independent reviewing officer are held until an adoption order is made. The adopter or adopters are informed that they can make contact with the Service at any time in the future if they wish the adoption support plan to be reviewed.

We have clear criteria for adoption financial support and other payments, the arrangements for review and making these available to adopters The Adoption Service has a scheme for financial support, details of which are provided to adopters and which are available on the Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service website. This type of support is outlined below.

1. Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service is able to pay some

introductory expenses.

2. Where the Court has given leave for the birth parent(s) or guardian(s) to contest the application to adopt, prospective adopters’ views will be represented by the local authority’s legal adviser. In exceptional circumstances funding may be made available for separate legal representation with approval for meeting legal costs considered by the Head of Service. In these circumstances, the solicitor instructed must be either a member of the Law Society's Family Panel or Children Panel and the work is undertaken at public funding rates.

3. Financial support to adoptive families can be made in a variety of ways,

including lump sum payments and in certain circumstances regular payments linked to the child’s assessed needs. In all cases the Adoption Social Worker will undertake an assessment of the child’s needs and the adoptive parents’ financial circumstances. Financial support is not automatic but is matched to the needs identified in an adoption support assessment.

Payments will need to be agreed by the Head of the Adoption and Permanence Support Service. When a regular payment is made, it will usually be for a time limited period rather than lasting until the young person reaches the age of independence. Where there is a need, this type of payment will be subject to an annual review.

4. Where existing foster carers are adopting, the Head of Service can agree to

regular payments for a period up to two years linked to foster care allowances minus any child related financial benefits e.g. Child Benefit, Tax Credits.

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Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service There are a range of post adoption support services available to all those affected by Adoption. Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service acknowledges that adoption is a lifelong process and at various times in their lives adopted children and their families may need support to manage issues or concerns that can arise. In particular, many children may need to make sense of their identity at key stages in their development. Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service has social workers dedicated to adoption support, in the Adoption and Permanence Support Team. This team provides an intermediary service to some members of birth families and a service for adopted adults seeking to access information about their adoption. The team also provides a range of direct services to adoptive families if they are experiencing difficulties. The team has an established close working relationship with the CAMHS Specialist Team CONNECT. The Service is also commissioning and developing more specialist therapeutic services from external providers. The services provided by the Adoption and Permanence Support Team include:- Assessment of family support needs for children, adopters and other

family members

Support and advice on parenting and school issues

Support with direct and indirect contact arrangements with birth relatives

Life Story Work with children and their parents

Therapeutic work with families

Access to a programme of training workshops

Support Groups for adopters and SGO carers

Events twice a year.

Coram Cambridge – an independent service is commissioned to provide counselling services to anybody affected by adoption in Suffolk

In addition the service also provides:-

Services for adopted people over the age of 18 who are seeking information about their origins through access to their birth records

Support to adopted adults who wish to make contact with birth relatives through our intermediary service. Please note we are not a training agency

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Support to birth relatives who wish to contact an adopted relative through our intermediary service post 1975

Support to all those affected by Special Guardianship Orders and Child Arrangements Orders when they are experiencing difficulties

Support to children and carers with Special Guardianship Orders

The team also offers advice and support to those affected by Special Guardianship Orders, where the children have been previously looked after by Suffolk County Council. An assessment of need is completed and tailored services offered including practical support, support around contact, group support, parenting advice and financial support. The team also facilitates access to therapeutic work from other relevant agencies. Services are governed by the Adoption and Children Act 2002, and the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005.

A child under a Special Guardianship Order, a special guardian or a birth parent of a child under a Special Guardianship Order may request an assessment of their support needs if:

• The child lives in Suffolk and was previously a looked after child in Suffolk

• The Special Guardianship Order was made over 3 years ago in another local authority but now the child lives in Suffolk

• The child does not live in Suffolk but was a looked after child in Suffolk and the Special Guardianship Order was made less than three years ago

• The child lives in Suffolk but has never been a child looked after in Suffolk. In this case the team will consider undertaking an assessment of support needs where this is requested, although it is not obliged to do so

Following an assessment in respect of a child who was previously in the care of Suffolk County Council, the team will agree one of the following options:

• Advice and information

• Signposting to another agency or service who may be able to support their needs

• Undertake an assessment of support needs

All support plans will be developed with the child / special guardian / birth parent and will be shared with them and agreed by them. Financial support may also be available subject to the above eligibility and subject to a formal financial assessment.

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Anyone applying for Special Guardianship Order Support will be given information relating to the support available. The assessed needs will be reviewed when necessary and if circumstances change. Support services for those affected by Child Arrangements Orders are also being developed. We have an equal opportunities policy that covers all aspects of adoption The Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service works to the Suffolk County Council's Equalities Policy and its Equality Schemes. The Agency will treat all service users fairly, openly and with respect throughout the adoption process and in providing support services to those affected by Adoption, Special Guardianship Orders and Child Arrangements Orders. How we monitor and evaluate our services Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service strives to constantly improve and develop with the key aim of improving outcomes for children and families. High priority is placed on monitoring and evaluation of the service and gaining service user feedback to shape service development. Monitoring of the Adoption Service

The performance of the Adoption Service is monitored and analysed in the Annual Report. The service also reports quarterly to the lead member for Children in Care

The Suffolk Permanence Panel performs a quality assurance function to uphold best practice, in conjunction with the Agency Adviser to the Panel. An Annual Panel Report is produced

Staff at all levels are provided with regular supervision by their line manager and consultation is also available for very complex cases

The Corporate Parenting Management Group receives quarterly reports on the performance of the Adoption Agency

The Children and Young Peoples Quality Assurance and Performance Board provides regular monitoring and scrutiny

Suffolk has a Department for Education scorecard action plan which is reviewed quarterly

The service undertakes close monitoring of the timescales within stages one and two of the assessment process and monitors dropout rates

There is regular monitoring by the Permanence Consultation and Referral Meeting of the progress of children prior to placement to include scrutiny of family finding activity

Analysis of disrupted placements

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The child’s statutory review along with the function of the Independent Reviewing Officer has a quality assurance role

Feedback from service users Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service seeks feedback from service users at each stage of the journey for the adopters / permanent carers, the child and birth relatives. This includes:

Feedback from information meetings for prospective adopters in the form of anonymous short questionnaires

Questionnaires following the preparation course for prospective adopters

Feedback relating to the experience of coming to permanence panel for all attendees

A questionnaire is sent to all adopters asking their views regarding all stages of the adoption process along with a letter of congratulation following the granting of the Adoption Order

The child’s views, wishes and feelings are required in the Child Permanence Report, in accordance with their age and stage of development

The child’s statutory review ensures that the child’s views are fully explored

The Agency places high priority on direct work to prepare children for adoption and provide the opportunity for them to explore their feelings, their views and wishes

Brighter Futures links with groups of children and young people who are in care to ensure they are able to have their say in all matters affecting their lives

All support services provided by the Adoption and Permanence Support Team request feedback from both adults and children involved when the service ends

The service has established a parent’s support forum which has been used to gain views and identify gaps in the service. Gaps have been addressed through specific events, for example provision of training

Feedback forms are provided to adopters and permanent carers accessing Theraplay counselling and children complete their own child friendly forms

Where birth parents have received counselling, they are asked to provide feedback in the form of a questionnaire at the end of the intervention

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Providers of attachment focussed therapy obtain feedback at mid-point and at close of the package which provides feedback about the service provided and service user’s views on how effective it has been

The feedback from the above sources is analysed and consideration is given to ways in which it can be used for service improvement and development

Contact plans and processes for adopted children The Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service recognise the importance of children and young people having appropriate contact with their birth families and other significant people. The service has processes in place for making, maintaining, monitoring and reviewing contact plans for adopted children. Such contact is entirely governed by the best interests of the children. Contact can vary from the annual exchange of written information to face-to-face contact with members of the birth family at intervals appropriate for the child. The Service operates a letterbox contact scheme for the exchange of information between adoptive families and birth families. Birth families are also supported in arrangements for letterbox and direct face-to-face contact with the child by adoption support social workers. It is encouraged for the adoptive parent or parents to attend at least one meeting with the child's birth parents around the time of introductions, and other significant birth relatives may also be involved. Where siblings cannot be placed together with the same prospective adopter, contact arrangements between siblings are made when it is in the best interests of each of the children. Reviews of disrupted placements Very few placements for children do break down, but where there is a disruption the Service convenes a Disruption Meeting to help to understand the factors that led to the breakdown of the placement This assists in planning future placements for the child. The meetings are chaired by an experienced independent social worker who does not know the adopters or the child. A summary of the conclusions of the meeting are sent to the Adoption Management Team, each member of the adoption teams and the Permanence Panel to inform future practice. We make sure that child protection concerns are investigated Suffolk Adoption Agency is committed to ensuring that any safeguarding concerns are thoroughly investigated and appropriate procedures followed.

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Where children are placed for adoption any safeguarding concern, incident or accident, serious illness, a child who is missing, death or serious injury of children, incidents likely to impact on the child’s welfare, or complaints are recorded and appropriately investigated in accordance with statutory and safeguarding guidance. It also ensures that outcomes are analysed and relevant parties notified. We also publish a leaflet for adopters explaining how we deal with child protection concerns and allegations entitled Dealing with an allegation. All social work staff, panel members and others involved in the service will have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service clearance and references will be obtained and verified. Social work staff will hold a current registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council and are expected to adhere to the standards of proficiency and the code of ethics. http://suffolkscb.org.uk/procedures/lscb-policies-guidance-and-protocols/

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Where to find us

The Recruitment, Assessment and Matching team is countywide, based at Endeavour House. Our Permanence Support Teams are based at: Endeavour House 8 Russell Road Ipswich Suffolk IP1 2BX Riverside Campus 4 Canning Road Lowestoft NR33 0EQ West Suffolk House Western Way Bury St. Edmunds IP33 3YU The telephone number for Public enquiries: 0845 606 6067

Additional Contacts (Agency Managers)

Robina Khan Head of Suffolk Adoption and Fostering 01473 260788

Christine Smith Panel Professional Adviser 01473 265861

Allan Cadzow Service Director for Children and Young People’s Services

01473 260938

Cliff James Head of Corporate Parenting 01473 264731

Sue Cook Corporate Director for Health, Wellbeing and Children’s Services

01473 265354

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Agency Medical Advisers Dr Awais Khan and Dr Moira Pinkney are based at: St Helen’s House 571 Foxhall Rd Ipswich IP3 8LX Phone: 01473 321209

Who manages the Agency?

Robina Khan started her social work career in 1990. She began work as a

Development Worker in Children and Families and qualified as a social worker in 1996. Robina has worked as a Senior Manager in Safeguarding Children’s services and since 2010 has been responsible for Children in Care, Care Leavers and Fostering and Adoption Services. Robina has worked as an Interim Head of Service since 2012, in various local authorities and a Trust leading rapid improvement work. This work has included Looked After Children, permanence planning,

Care Leavers, Adoption, Fostering, Children in Care Council and promoting the voice of children and young people. Robina is passionate about developing the Adoption Service and ensuring good matching and timely adoption for our children. Christine Smith has been the Agency Adviser to the Suffolk Permanence

Panel since September 2008. She has worked in Children and Families Services since 1980 qualifying as a Social Worker in 1985. She has worked as a Social Worker, and Social Work Manager, within Local Authorities and the voluntary sector. She has extensive practise experience particularly in the area of permanence planning. For the last 18 years she has worked as a Children’s Guardian in the London region and

continues with this work as well as undertaking assessments as an Independent Social Worker.

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Dean Marsh has practiced as a qualified social worker and manager since 1997 and has worked across all areas of child care spanning child protection, looked after children, adolescent outreach, independent reviewing, MASH and leaving care. Appointed to the recruitment, assessment and matching team in May 2016, Dean’s experience in local authority and independent sector social work and fostering sectors, including quality assurance management, social work practice and management, fostering panel

management, policy development, will combine with a first career in marketing and publicity to further drive Suffolk’s recruitment of carers. Additional experience as an accredited practice educator and having completed the post-qualifying child care award / PQSW, will support Dean’s interest in service development alongside previous involvement with user participation and co-production in the private fostering sector. Dean has had many roles within the independent sector which has required working across 12 local authorities as part of a management team holding entire commissioned out services. With significant experience within Suffolk’s child and young people’s services and a strong belief in co-production as an essential component of recruitment work, Dean remains passionate about the provision of a high quality local service and recruitment of carers to contribute to support local children who need it. Catherine Biedul was appointed as Practice Manager for the Permanence

Support Team in April 2015. Catherine first became involved in children needing alternative care arrangements 27 years ago when she became a foster carer for the Local Authority. Fourteen years later she completed her Diploma in Social Work at Suffolk College Ipswich. On qualifying as a social worker Catherine worked for two years in the child care teams before joining the Adoption Team in 2006 as a social worker, when the Adoption Support Team was created. In 2008 Catherine completed the Post Qualifying Child

Care Award; she then progressed on to become the Practice Manager for the Adoption and Permanence Support Team in April 2010.

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Gill Davies was appointed as Practice Manager for the Fostering Changes for Children Team in April 2015. Gill joined Suffolk County Council in June 2005 as a social care practitioner and qualified as a social worker in 2008. Before joining Suffolk, she worked for the British Refugee Council supporting adults and families seeking asylum in the UK. Gill has been a member of the County Fostering Panel and her contribution to the Panel process has been sharing her knowledge of social work practice, policy and law as well as advising on resources and services

that might be useful. She has recently undertaken the role of Professional Advisor for Fostering on a temporary basis, working on a variety of projects including Staying Put and a new Fostering Allowances and Fees Scheme. Julie Macer-Wright is the Practice Manager for the Short Term and

Therapeutic Fostering Team. Julie worked for several years in drug rehabilitation and prevention clinics across London before qualifying with a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Goldsmiths College London, in 1997. Julie then worked in child protection in Camden before moving into fostering in 2003. Julie joined Suffolk Fostering Service in 2008 and has been a manager in the service since 2010.

Nicola Lewis has been working in administration for 25 years, joining the Suffolk Fostering and Adoption Service in 2010 as a Business Support Manager. She is keen to ensure that processes and procedures are followed throughout the service providing consistency and high-level support to Operational staff and Managers.

The senior managers with overall responsibility for Adoption Services in Suffolk are; Cliff James, Head of Corporate Parenting, Allan Cadzow, Service Director for Children and Young People’s Services.

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Suffolk Adoption Service Social Work Staff All Social Workers within the Suffolk Adoption Service are social work qualified and registered with the HCPC http://www.hcpc-uk.org/landing All staff with access to children are required to have an enhanced disclosure by the Disclosure and Barring Service and are subject to identity and employment checks in addition to personal references when appointed. Social workers working for the Suffolk Adoption Service will understand the key legislation, conventions and policies relating to children and adoption. Social workers experienced in adoption work will assess potential adoptive parents for children and produce adoption reports. Those with less than 3 years post qualifying experience will be supervised by the Consultant Social Worker or Team Manager. Student social workers will be closely supervised by qualified adoption social workers. Birth records counselling will be undertaken by qualified social workers trained and experienced in this type of counselling and with extensive knowledge of the legislation surrounding access to birth records and the impact of reunion on all parties. A full list of Suffolk Adoption and Permanence Support Service staff and their relevant qualifications will be made available to Ofsted. Our Permanence Panels The role of the panels The panels are set up under government regulations for adoption panels. The panels are there to make recommendations to the agency on three main issues:-

✓ Whether to approve people as suitable adopters

✓ Whether a match for a child with a adopter or foster carer is right for them

✓ Whether a plan for adoption should be recommended, where the parents have decided to relinquish their child

They may also comment on:-

✓ Adoption support plans

✓ Contact arrangements

✓ Issues of concern, which they feel the Agency needs to address

A senior person designated as an Agency Decision Maker must then consider the panel’s recommendations before making a decision.

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Panel arrangements Suffolk has three panels, each meeting once per month. Each panel has up to ten members. These include the chair, a medical adviser, independent members with some background or experience in adoption and social workers. How decisions are made The three panels have the same independent chair, Lyndsay Davison. She is responsible for helping the panels to reach a recommendation.

Lyndsay Davison is a qualified social worker and also has a MA in Social Work Practice and Planning and the Advanced Award in Social Work. Lyndsay has always been passionate about improving the outcomes for looked after children and specialised for many years in Adoption and Fostering services as a social worker and manager. In addition, she managed other children’s services and has worked in various Local Authorities before deciding to work independently in 2011.

Since then Lyndsay has chaired Adoption and Fostering Panels and acts as a Social Work Consultant. Lyndsay has three grown up children and her family, friends and various interests keep her busy when she is not working. The Agency Decision Makers are Allan Cadzow, David Jacobs and Cliff James Allan Cadzow is the Service Director for Children and Young People’s Services and took on this role in April 2016. Allan qualified as a Social Worker in 1987 and worked in London until 1995 when he moved to Suffolk to manage a newly formed Child Protection team. After occupying various management roles in Children’s Social Care Allan took up a post as Children and Young People’s Services Area Director in Southern Area in 2006. In 2011, following a reorganisation, Allan was appointed as Assistant Director, Integrated Service Delivery. In April 2015, he became Deputy Director with the lead for Early Help and Specialist Services. David Jacobs is the Head of Service for Children’s Social Care Fieldwork and was appointed to the ADM role in June 2014. David has been employed in Social Work practice since 1979, working within various residential child care settings for statutory agencies and the voluntary sector. He qualified and began practicing as a Social Worker in Suffolk, in 1991, occupying Team Manager roles between 1995 and July 2004, when he became a middle manager within Children’s Social Care Services. David has been

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committed to continuing professional development and achieved an MA (distinction) in advanced Social Work Practice in 2010. In July 2011, within a new departmental re-structuring, David was appointed as ‘Service Manager’ within Children’s Specialist Services (his current substantive role), responsible for the Social Care children’s teams in Ipswich South and West Localities and for South Suffolk and Sudbury in respect of services to children over 12 years old. David has been in a Social Worker role for Suffolk’s “out of hours” Emergency Duty Service (providing emergency social work responses to all customer groups) continuously since 1994 to the current date. He has also managed the Emergency Duty Team on a rota basis since 2008, providing management decisions and guidance “out of hours” for all customer groups across Suffolk. Cliff James is the Head of Corporate Parenting for Children and Young People’s Services and took on this role in November 2012. Cliff qualified as a Social Worker in 1980 and worked as a social worker before taking up several management roles in various authorities. He moved to Suffolk in 1990. Prior to taking up his current role Cliff was Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance. He has extensive experience of planning for children to ensure they achieve permanence in a safe setting which meets their needs. In their role as Agency Decision Maker, Allan, Cliff and David are committed to achieving positive, permanent arrangements that provide the best possible outcomes for children and young people. Children’s Guide The service provides each child for whom adoption is the plan with a booklet explaining what adoption is, how they will be involved in it, how the adoption process works and how they can express their wishes and feelings or make a complaint. How to Complain The service wants to know if a service user is unhappy with the service provided. Both adults and children have a right to complain about services received. A complaint can also be made on behalf of another person, for example, someone who is not able to make a complaint on his or her own. These are examples of things which may be complained about:

staff behaviour / attitude standard of service quality of communication decisions considered to be unfair delays in assessment

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delays in providing a service In the first place, service users are encouraged to talk about the problem with a member of staff to see if it is possible to sort things out there and then; however, if a service user is not satisfied with the outcome, they can ask for a formal investigation. If the complaint is from an adoptive applicant about the panel and agency’s recommendation not to approve them, then this is dealt with separately. The applicant can ask for their case to be reviewed by the Independent Review Mechanism. Information is available here. A leaflet called “Having Your Say” has full details of the complaints process. It is available from any of our offices. Alternatively, the leaflet can be obtained by writing to: - Customer Care Manager Social Care Department Endeavour House Ipswich IP1 2BX Phone: 0845 606 6067 Another way of getting this information (and complaining online) is from the Suffolk Social Care website at: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/about/give-feedback-or-make-a-complaint/. This service is regulated by Ofsted, who can be contacted to complain or express concern about the safety or welfare of children served by the Agency. Contact details are as follows: Ofsted Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA Phone: 0300 123 1231 Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk Website: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Signatures

Date:

Allan Cadzow

Service Director for Children and Young People’s Services

Date:

Councillor Gordon Jones

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education and Skills

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How are we organised?

Cliff James, Head of Corporate Parenting

Robina Khan, Head of Adoption and Fostering

Dean Marsh Practice Manager

Recruitment,

Assessment & Matching Team

Nicola Lewis

Business Support Manager

2 x Ft Business Support Assistant Manager 4 x Ft Business Support Co-ordinators 4 x Pt Business Support Co-ordinators 9x FT Business Support Officers 19x Pt Business Support Officers 2 x Pt Business Support Administrators 1 x Apprentice

Allan Cadzow, Service Director for Children and Young People’s Services

6 x Consultant Social Workers 13 x Ft Social Workers 11 x Pt Social Workers 4 x Family Support Practitioners 1 x Ft Social Workers (Fixed Term)

Christine Smith 0.5 x

Professional Adviser

Permanence

Panels

Catherine Biedul

Practice Manager

Permanence

Support Team

Julie Macer-Wright

Practice Manager

Short Term Therapeutic

Fostering Team

3 x Ft Consultant Social Workers 8 x Ft Social Workers 6 x Pt Social Workers 3 x Family Support Practitioner 1 Psychotherapist /Clinical Lead I Therapist 0.4 x Psychologist 1 x KEEP Co-Ordinator

Gill Davies Practice Manager

Fostering

Changes for Children

2 x Ft Consultant Social Worker 12 x Ft Social Workers 1x Ft Social Workers (Fixed Term) 1 x Specialist Support Worker

2 x Consultant Social Workers 4 x Ft Social Workers 5 x Pt Social Workers 2 x Ft Support Practitioners 3 x Pt Support Practitioners 1 x Ft Social Worker (Fixed Term) 1x Pt Community Recruitment Worker (fixed term)