An Update from Our Head of Service

Published: Thursday, April 27, 2023

An Update from Our Head of Service

The Regional Adoption Agency Leaders’ Group is working hard to streamline coordinate Adoption Services around the county. Across the country, there is inconsistency around what support adoptive families can access and we are taking steps at a local and national level to improve this. We’re concentrating on developing a universal early support offer, for the first few years of placement, and moving onto what would be an intensive support offer with the aspiration that any work undertaken in adoption support would be accepted by Local Authorities, when their services are accessed.

Support Assessments

We recognise that repeat assessments feel intrusive and repetitive and we are working on ways we can continue to understand and support the ever-changing needs of our adopted young people whilst balancing the impact of multiple assessments can have on our adoptive families.

Data Collection

You might be aware of adoption data that is currently being reports, such as how many children have adoption plans, are placed for adoption, and the average time children wait for adoption. What is currently lacking, however, is data being collected on how many families access adoption support services and what services are being sought and provided. The Leader’s Group workstream is developing reporting methods for this kind of data to help gain a better understanding of how we can best meet families’ needs throughout the country. This is a large undertaking, with multiple systems and data sources to consider, but it is a goal we are currently working hard towards.

Birth Family Support

The services birth families can access is variable up and down the country. The workstream has plans to look into what support can be offered and how resources can be allocated to this support. At Adoption East Midlands, we’re delighted to be able to offer a robust service to birth families in the region, which we talked about in our March Newsletter. Missed the March Newsletter? You can read it again here.

We are working hard to build a robust offer of Adoption Support for all adoptive families across the county. At Adoption East Midlands we’re proud of the services we are able to offer, and hope that with this workstream we can continue to offer effective and supportive services to the families in our region.

Shelagh Mitchell.

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