Annual Report of the Fostering and Adoption Service - Appendix 1
Renfrewshire Council · 16 January 2025
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 16 January 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Page 1 of 19 Appendix 1 THE FOSTERING AND ADOPTION PANEL AND SERVICE ANNUAL REPORT 2023/2024
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Page 2 of 19 Foreword Introduction Context • Accommodated and Looked After Children/Young People • Overview of the work presented to the Fostering and Adoption Panel 01/08/23 – 31/07/24 • Panel Membership • Staffing • Commitment to permanency planning Report on the Fostering Service • Development of the Fostering Service 2023 – 2024 • Recruitment Activity • Preparation Groups • New Foster Carers and deregistration • Foster Carers Reviews • Permanent Foster Carers • Foster Carers Training • Foster Carers Support Group • Consultation Group • Fostering Events • Break Through Group • Newsletter • Future Development of Fostering Service 2024 -2025 Report of Supported Carers Service • Overview of Supported Carers Service Report on the Adoption and Permanence Service • Development within the Adoption Service 2023 – 2024 • The Adoption Register Scotland • Recruitment of Adoptive Parents • Family Finding • Adoption Plans and Links • Adoption Support Groups / Individual Families • Adoption Newsletter • Birth Relative Support • Letterbox Contact • Future Development of the Adoption Service 2024 – 2025 Conclusion
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Page 3 of 19 Foreword As one of the two agency decision makers I have the pleasure of welcoming the annual report of Renfrewshire’s Fostering, Adoption and Supported Care Service and The Fostering and Adoption Panel. On behalf of me and John, I’m delighted to present a report which demonstrates the work on the service and the panels over the past twelve months and also looks to the developments over the next twelve months. On 31 July 2024, Renfrewshire Council had 620 Looked After Children. Of these, 153 children and young people were looked after at home, 264 were looked after by kinship carers or friends/relatives and 213 were accommodated with foster carers, in pre-adoption arrangements or within residential placements. Renfrewshire Council had 69 Fostering households at this time. Children who are looked after in foster care, can either be with Renfrewshire foster carers or with foster carers approved by an external agency or charity. Wherever possible we try to have children live with Renfrewshire foster carers and only look to external agencies when a suitable match cannot be made with Renfrewshire carers. On 31 July 2024 there were 24 children/young people living with external providers, an increase of 3 from the previous year. The work of the Fostering and Adoption Service continues to ensure that children are living in the best and safest environments to meet their individual needs, and that children who require to live permanently in foster care or to be adopted are matched with an appropriate foster family at the earliest opportunity. The Fostering and Adoption Service remains committed to ensuring that the principles of Renfrewshire’s ‘Keeping Brothers and Sisters Together’ policy are embedded in all aspects of its practice. Where we cannot place brothers and sisters together, the service supports natural family time between brothers and sisters outwith formal arrangements wherever possible. The Fostering and Adoption Panel provides an important quality assurance role in ensuring that the work undertaken to assess children’s long-term care needs, and the assessment of their potential carers, is carried out to the highest standards. The Panel’s role is to make recommendations to the Agency Decision Maker who ultimately approves children’s permanence plans or confirms that a household can adopt or become foster carers. Panels continue to deal with a range of complex issues and to progress children’s plans in a timeous, focussed manner. Between the 1st August 2023 and 31st July 2024, 6 children’s permanence plans were approved by the Agency Decision Maker. We hope that you enjoy reading this year’s annual report. Michelle McCargo John Trainer Strategic Manager for Children and Justice Head of Children and Justice Social Work Depute Chief Social Work Officer Chief Social Work Officer
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Page 4 of 19 Introduction This is the 17th annual report of Renfrewshire Council’s Fostering and Adoption Panel and Service and covers the period 1 August 2023-31 July 2024. Renfrewshire Council has a statutory duty to operate Fostering and Adoption Panels. In Renfrewshire we have one Panel which carries out both functions. The Adoption and Fostering Panel operates within the statutory framework of the Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009 (Part II) (AAS Regulations) and the Looked After (Scotland) Regulations 2009 (Part VI) (the LAC Regulations). These regulations set the basis for the membership of the Panel, the frequency of meetings, the appointment of advisors and the different functions of the Panel. The Renfrewshire Fostering and Adoption Panel held its AGM in June 2024 with Panel members, Advisors, and an Agency Decision Maker in attendance. There is a Business Meeting at the start of each Panel to review overall functioning. The quorum for individual meetings of the Panel is three members, and it is ensured that this number includes people with relevant experience and a range of backgrounds to provide robust and independent scrutiny of the business presented. Responsibility for the functions and decisions of the panel rests with the Chief Social Work Officer. Authority is delegated to a Senior Manager in Children’s Services to chair the Panel. We have a second chair from the Association of Fostering and Kinship Adoption Scotland. The Head of Children and Justice Social Work, and the Strategic Manager for Children and Justice act as Agency Decision Makers for the Panel. This is to ensure compliance with the recommendation of the Guidance on Looked After Children Regulations (Scotland) 2009, to appoint more than one Agency Decision Maker, to cover, holidays, illness, alternatives for review (appeal) panels and other circumstances. The Panel has several purposes. This includes considering prospective foster carers, prospective adopters, and supported/continuing carers. It also involves reviewing existing registrations for foster carers, prospective adopters and supported/continuing carers. In addition, the Panel considers individual children’s needs for alternative permanent carers (where the care plan for the child is that they do not return home to their birth family); this includes considering the most appropriate legal route to secure this outcome. The Panel also considers the matching of a child with specific foster carers or adoptive parents within permanence plans. The fostering and adoption team is responsible for the recruitment, training, supervision and support of suitable foster carers and prospective adopters. There is also a significant role in providing post adoption support to adopted families once Adoption Orders are granted. Ensuring we have sufficient carers with the skills and experience necessary to meet the needs of the diverse range of babies, children and young people who need care away from their birth families is the over-arching objective of the team.
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Page 5 of 19 Context The work of the Fostering and Adoption Panel should be viewed in the context of the overall numbers of Renfrewshire Council’s Looked After and Accommodated children. Accommodated and Looked After Children/Young People As of 31st July 2024, Renfrewshire Council had 620 Looked After Children/Young People. The number of children living in Kinship arrangements has slightly reduced from the previous year, from 270 to 264. The number of children living with Renfrewshire Council’s foster carers also remained similar, increasing by 3 from the previous year, whilst those residing with independent/charity sector foster carers also increasing by 3. 31/07/2023 31/07/2024 Local Authority – Children in Children’s Houses 20 21 Local Authority – Children in Foster Carer 112 115 Independent Sector Children in Foster Care 21 24 Independent Sector Children in External Residential Resource 29 37 Pre – Adoption 2 5 Independent Sector Children – Secure School 3 1 Children Looked After by Kinship carers/friends/relatives 270 264 Children Looked After at home 170 153 TOTAL 627 620 Cases presented to the Fostering and Adoption Panel Business Item Aug 22 -July 23 Aug 23 - July 24 Child adoption plans and links 4 5 Approval of Renfrewshire adopters (households) 6 2 Approval of adopters to increase registration 0 0 Conversion of Foster carers to Adopters 0 0 Approval of Adopters for children from overseas. 0 0 De registration of adopters 0 0 Review of Registration (Adoption) 1 1 Children’s Permanence Order plans 9 1 Links with Permanent Foster Carer 4 1 Approval of new Foster Carer 6 1 Approval of Foster Carer – change from interim to permanent status 4 0 De registration of foster carers 4 5 Approval of Supported Carers 5 5 Initial review of Foster Carers after 1 year 2 6 Foster Carer Reviews (after year 3) 24 24 Total Number of Agenda Items 67 51
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Page 6 of 19 There were a total of 14 Fostering and Adoption Panels held between 1st August 2023 and 31st July 2024. Panel Membership There has continued to be a committed Panel membership over the past year. Very positively, the number of panel members has significantly increased from 12 to 24 including, chairpersons. The majority of Panels are chaired by the delegated Senior Manager from social work and the other is independent and commissioned from the Association of Fostering, Kinship and Adoption Scotland. An active recruitment drive for panel members ensured that the panel membership reflects a wide range of experience from a range of areas including social work, education, health, independent sector, and those with lived experience of fostering and adoption. In addition, there have been approved 2 new legal advisers. Panel members have all the support and information they need to make legally competent recommendations. The Medical Advisers continue to offer a valuable service and support to the Panel in respect of provision and interpretation of medical information in relation to the children and adults being presented to Panel. The Medical Adviser provides up-to-date written information regarding any health issues in relation to a child or a prospective foster carer or adoptive parent. The Panel has a representative from the council’s legal services who acts as Legal Advisor and provides written legal advice to the Panel in relation to adoption and permanence work. The Legal Advisor attends the Panel whenever permanence is being considered, and on other occasions where the chairperson feels their advice is required. At present, the Team Manager for Adoption acts as the professional Panel Advisor supported by the Team Manager for Fostering. The medical, legal and panel advisors are non voting members. Feedback from panel members is gathered and ideas generated are incorporated into the business meeting agenda for consideration on how to improve the functioning and participation at panel. Staffing Following an internal social work service redesign the structure of the Fostering, Adoption and Continuing Care/Supported Care Service will be as follows: • Senior Social Work Manager - Registered manager of the services • 1 Team Manager Adoption (responsible for adoption and permanence service, and management of staff) • 1 Team Manager Fostering (responsible for the fostering and supported care service and management of staff) • 1 Senior Practitioner • 8 full time Social Workers • 2 part time Social Workers • 2 Social Work Assistants For some years now, the fostering and adoption service has had a separate fostering team and an adoption and permanence team. This separation allows the development of more specialist
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Page 7 of 19 skills regarding fostering and adoption. Both teams work closely together and share expertise and learning. There is also a social worker dedicated to continuing and supported care. Commitment to Permanence Planning – 1st August 2023 to 31st July 2024 During this period, Renfrewshire has progressed adoption and permanence plans for 8 children. This is fewer than last year, and whilst last year there were more Permanence Order Plans being approved than Adoption Plans, this year there were significantly more Adoption Plans compared with Permanence Order Plans. Renfrewshire Council continues to recognise the importance in progressing plans for children within appropriate timescales. It is envisaged that the forthcoming social work service redesign will support and enable social work staff involved in permanence work to undertake both the direct work with the child and family and to complete the necessary reports. Renfrewshire Social work service is committed to keeping children with their birth families where it is safe to do so, and is working to improve identification of potential alternative care arrangements within parents’ wider family network at the earliest possible stage. This important work with parents occurs before presentation to the Fostering and Adoption Panel. Following this, even where permanence outwith the family becomes necessary, it can provide the child with important life-long links with their birth family and contribute to more positive long- term outcomes for children. The decision to place a child permanently outwith their birth family rightly involves a high level of assessment to ensure the plan is in the best interests of the child and will meet their needs throughout their childhood. During the permanence process, checks and balances are in place to ensure the best possible outcome for the child. Permanence planning work is complex however, it is also highly rewarding when children find new families and have the opportunity to thrive into adulthood. Report on Fostering Service The fostering service continues to offer a high standard of care to children in the care of Renfrewshire Council. While the number of foster carers has reduced over the period, the number of children being cared for in foster care has slightly increased. At times carers have gone outwith their registration to care for children needing care. The most common reason for this has been to keep brothers and sisters together. When carers go outwith their registration this must be approved by the Agency Decision Maker. It is a testament to the commitment of Renfrewshire carers that there are fewer foster carers caring for more children. Developments within the Fostering Service 2023 – 2024 • Implementation of the Scottish Recommended Allowance • Embeding the principles of the Promise by encouraging carers to become Promise Keepers. • Social Events for Foster Carers • Specific event for short break carers • Reviewed application process around Preparation Groups. • Piloted professional training plan for carers. • Manager engagement with neighbouring authorities and Social Work Scotland • Participation in AFKA practitioners forum. Recruitment Activity/ Preparation Groups The Fostering Senior Social Worker works with Renfrewshire Council’s Communication team to continue to develop and refine a recruitment strategy making use of social media. It is
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Page 8 of 19 recognised nationally that there is a shortage of foster carers and recruitment is on the national agenda. The Fostering Team Manager has been involved in discussion involving Scottish Government and representation from most Local Authorities in Scotland to share ideas about recruitment however success remains limited. When a person makes a fostering enquiry, an initial visit is carried out by the fostering social worker. Following this there is discussion between the social worker and the senior social worker/team manager and they consider whether to progress the enquiry based on the fostering criteria. Ideally at this stage the enquirer would be invited to attend preparation groups and it would not be until they had completed the preparation groups and with the agreement of the service, they would then submit their application and the home study part of the assessment process would begin. However, over the past year, the service has adapted this process due to the small number of enquiries, rather than an enquirer waiting for there to be enough people to run preparation groups, the assessment begins and the applicant can attend preparation groups at any stage of the process. This should reduce delay and get potential carers through the process quicker. The preparation groups are facilitated by social workers from the fostering team and they use the materials produced by the Fostering Network “Skills to Foster”. The preparation groups provide the opportunity for the participants to receive more in-depth information and to discuss the implications of fostering. The preparation groups tend to run over 5 evening ( or weekend) sessions and cover topics such as why children come into care, what a foster carer does, identity and life chances, working with others including birth parents, attachment and brain development and creating a secure environment. Experienced foster carers come along to talk to the group about their different experiences of caring for foster children, financial issues and support. There was enough interest to run one preparation group in August/September 2023 of which 4 households were invited. Only two households completed the sessions and progressed to assessment. Of these two, one withdrew early on in the process, citing concerns about financial uncertainty. The other household did progress through assessment but this application currently on hold due to concerns raised about her dog. It is still hope that this will progress. New Foster Carers and Carers Deregistered In the period August 2023 – July 2024, one new foster carer was approved and this was as a short break carer. During this period there were also five fostering households deregistered. One household was deregistered as they adopted the child they had fostered, one household was dergistered following a period of poor health. Another household, left after many years and coming to the end of their fostering career. The last two households decided they no longer wanted to foster. Foster Carer Reviews A Review of Foster Carers Registration takes place at the Fostering Panel at the end of their first year of fostering and every three years thereafter. Outwith this timescale, foster carers will also return to Panel if their registration requires a review due to a change in registration, consideration of a complaint or allegation, breakdown, or a significant change in circumstances. In Renfrewshire, Foster Carer Reviews take place annually, so when not reviewed by the Fostering Panel, the review is conducted by a Social Work Manager.
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Page 9 of 19 Between 1 August 2023 and 31 July 2024 the Fostering Panel reviewed 26 foster care households and 26 internal foster care reviews took place. Foster Carer Reviews are an opportunity for foster carers to talk about their experience, training, and support etc. Renfrewshire Council’s foster carers, in the main expressed satisfaction with their experiences of fostering and their learning and remain enthusiastic and committed. They have found the support provided by their social worker to be beneficial and available as required. The foster carers provide written and verbal contribution to the review process, as well as written reports from their birth children. Reports by their supervising social worker and child’s social worker are all part of the review process. Foster children are encouraged to contribute to the review process and birth parents are encouraged to submit a report for the Foster Carer Review regarding the care their child/children is receiving. The duties of the supervising social workers from the fostering team are to keep regular contact with the foster carers, this includes home visits and telephone contact. Supervision between carers and their worker generally takes place four weekly. This is dedicated time that allows discussion and reflection about caring for the children, training and development as well as performing a range of duties including ensuring health and safety checks are carried out annually, annual medical information is received and PVG checks are up to date, Safer caring policies are in place for each fostering household which include a minimum of two unannounced visits annually. Supervising social workers will also attend Looked After Children Review meetings and conduct joint visits with the child’s social worker as necessary. Permanent Foster Carers One child’s plan for a Permanence Order was approved between 1 August 2023– 31 July 2024 and the plan is that his current carers will be re-assessed as permanent carers for him. Foster Carer Training Foster carers have the opportunity to attend training designed specifically for them which is provided by the Social Work Training team and members of the fostering and adoption team. The latter have also provided evening sessions to capture carers who work. The range of training offered, covers child protection, safer care, lifestory work, promoting positive behaviour, children with disabilities and contextualising safeguarding which is delivered using Virtual Reality headsets. Social workers and foster carers can also attend external training courses. The Fostering Network and Association of Fostering and Kinship Adoption Scotland have provided training and network lunches to foster carers, the fostering and adoption team staff, who have also attended network lunches and practitioners forums. Foster Carers’ Support Group The foster carers have their own informal support group where they can share information/experiences and any issues raised within the group are fed back to the fostering team via the carers supervising social worker or the foster carers consultation group. The group meets monthly and is supplemented by a “WhatsApp” group that the carers use for communication.
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Page 10 of 19 Consultation Group The Carers Consultation Group met four times between August 2023 and July 2024. All foster carers are invited to this group, and it is attended by the Senior Social Worker Fostering, the Service Manager/or Operations Manager. This provides an opportunity for foster carers to be kept updated with any changes within the service and discuss any issues that have arisen for them or other carers. There is usually a group of between 10-12 carers who regularly attend but actions from the meeting are circulated to all carers. It is also the opportunity for more informal discussion. Foster Carer Events The Fostering Service has facilitated 2 Foster Carer Coffee Mornings over the last year, these have been an informal opportunity, where all fostering households are invited along as well as all the fostering and adoption staff and managers. Attendance at these events has been high, the foster carers come along, tea/coffee and cakes are provided people can have a chat in a very informal setting, it is also an opportunity for foster carers to put a face to the names of staff members whom they may not have met in other circumstances. The Fostering Service organised a Fostering Day Out at Finlaystone Country Park in May 2024 to coincide with “Fostering Fortnight”, a national campaign organised by Fostering Network to raise the profile of fostering. Foster carers were invited along with the children they care for including birth and foster children. This event was enjoyed by 38 children along with 32 foster carers and staff and managers from the fostering service including the Head of Service. There are 9 short break carers who provide an invaluable service mostly to families in the community by offering short breaks to children to allow parents/carers respite. Undoubtedly, this support has prevented some children being accommodated. Carers in this group also offer short break/holiday cover for our foster carers. This role has many similarities to our foster carers but also there are some differences. Many of this group continue in paid employment and offer support at weekends and so do not have the same opportunities to network. The fostering service held a coffee evening during “Fostering Fortnight” specifically for this group of carers, 8 out of 9 households attended and allowed the opportunities to meet other carers and staff within the service. This was a successful event and informal relationships were made. Breakthrough Group The Breakthrough group is now in its 9th year and has been running on a monthly basis since 2015. This is a semi structured participation group for children and young people in foster care. This group is facilitated by the Fostering Service and Who Cares Scotland. The group was originally set up to give children/young people a safe space with other children who may be experiencing similar issues whilst living in fostering families. The focus of the group was to support and facilitate the young peoples’ voices on issues important to them. There are around 9 regular group members, some of whom are original members from 2015 and 3 new young people were welcomed this year. Over the years the focus of the group has naturally evolved. Over the past year they decided to try and complete a project as a group as opposed to their individual stories being included in a newsletter. The theme of their project was called ‘Moving relationships’ addressing the importance of maintaining significant relationships throughout their care journey. The group worked in partnership with the Promise Arts and Culture Programme, and it was decided to create an animation, and funding was accessed via Future Paisley. The young people worked with an animation company Toads Caravan and over 6 sessions, their thoughts and ideas were
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Page 11 of 19 used and they created a short animation entitled “Moving Relationships” This animation was completed and shared with Children’s Services senior managers in February 2024.The young people appear to have enjoyed this experience, learning new skills. The group also worked with a local comedian, actress and business owner, Anna Devitt. Anna is a keen supporter of care experienced young people and having heard of the group, was happy to offer her expertise. Over the past 6 months she has been working on the groups newest project titled ‘We are in Care’. A project looking at what is important to the young people through different mediums. It is hoped to have this project finished by the end of 2024. Newsletter for Foster Carers The fostering newsletter is produced in Spring, Summer and Winter editions and distributed to all foster carers by e-mail. The focus of the newsletter is providing foster carers with updates on legal or practice changes that affect them or the children they care for and providing some thought-provoking articles about fostering issues. The newsletters seek to keep foster carers informed of changes within the social work service or procedures and also advertise training opportunities specific to fostering. The hope is that foster carers will become more involved in the content and focus of future newsletters as participation so far has been somewhat limited. Carers are contacted regularly to solicit contributions or ideas for contributions. In the summer newsletter this year one of our carers provided an interesting account on how to support children through play at the time of their transition to adoption. This involved resource material the carer had gained through some independent training she had attended. In the past the newsletter has been able to report on children’s artwork or achievements. Topics covered in the last year include updates on the social work service redesign, the redesign report for Children’s hearings, the AFKA Staying Connected Toolkit, the activities of the Who Cares Breakthrough group for fostered children, and a review of children’s books on emotional regulation. The summer newsletter provided a ‘long read’ article on the rewards and challenges of caring for the modern teenager. The newsletter provides the carers with links to explore more information on the topics covered and provides encouragement for carers to record any additional learning. Future developments of the fostering service 2024 – 2025 • Introduction of use of My Story App • Increase number of carers producing “Letter to the Child” • Update Safer Carer Policy in line with new guidance • Foster carer participation with Project Change • Offer “drop in” sessions to social workers on permanence • Develop and produce Permanence Training for social workers • Deliver training to social workers using the Staying Connected Toolkit • Collaboration with Educational Psychology to offer specific support to foster carers to help support the child in their care Report on Supported & Continuing Care Service 2023-2024 Current carers and outcomes for young people At present the service consists of 9 continuing carers and 2 supported carers supporting 11 of Renfrewshire’s young adults. Of the 11 young adults, 4 attend college placements fulltime, 1 attends university, 1 has an apprenticeship and 4 are in fulltime employment. 1 young adult, moved onto independent living and secured their own tenancy, whilst attending college and working parttime.
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Page 12 of 19 1 mother and baby placement ended as the young adult has successfully moved onto independent living. She is managing her tenancy positively and adapted to parenthood successfully. She works part time and reports from all agencies are that she has excelled as a parent. Many of our young adults have had the opportunity to go on holiday either with their carers or as independent adults both domestically and internationally. 1 young adult has been supported to maintain relationships with birth family in Poland. Several young adults are undertaking driving lessons with some having secured their driving licence over the past 12 months. Developments • Carers have been signed up to national online training database. • Carers have been actively encouraged to engage in the training and enhance their knowledge to support them to be more informed carers. • Welfare assessment being completed for young people Future Developments • Discussion with Care Inspectorate regarding registration as Continuing Care Service Report on the Adoption Service Developments within the adoption service in Renfrewshire 1 August 2023-31 July 2024 1. Secured a further year of funding from The Promise, allowing the Birth Connections service, which provides individual and group based support for birth family members affected by adoption, to continue until March 2025. 2. Significantly developed work with birth families affected by adoption, including supporting brothers and sisters separated by adoption to reconnect. 3. Developed support around final family time events for children and birth parents, to ensure these are positive and provide meaningful, lifelong information. This practice has been informed by birth parents with lived experience of these events. 4. Continued work with Scottish Adoption Support Services (SAAS - Barnardo’s) for young people, birth parents and adopters requiring additional support, where appropriate. 5. Continued work with Scottish Adoption Register/Link maker. Recruitment, Preparation & Assessment of Adoptive Parents Within the reporting period the Adoption Service received 23 initial enquiries which is three fewer than the figure of the previous year. Some of these did not progress due to a range of issues, and others continue to progress with their adoption journey. One preparation group was held, in May 2024. At this group, an Adoptive Parent spoke about his adoption journey, to support the learning of those attending. The feedback received from the group was extremely positive, particularly in relation to the contributions that came from lived experience. As a result
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Page 13 of 19 of this feedback, the service plan to review preparation group materials, with a focus on including the voices of birth parents going forward. The Adoption Service has progressed 2 adoption applications (households) to the Adoption panel during the reporting period, and both were approved. Feedback received about the adoption assessment has highlighted that although the process is lengthy there is recognition that the content and discussions although at times difficult are necessary in preparing for the next stages of the adoption journey. Renfrewshire Council’s Adoption Service has continued to use Scotland’s Adoption Register. Once applicants have been approved as adopters for a brief period, their information and what age of child they have been approved for is added to the Register. Adoption social workers across Scotland can access this information should they be trying to place a child for adoption. Family Finding There continues to be a need for adoptive parents for children of all ages particularly for brother and sister groups, older children, and children with additional support needs. Nationally, there has been a continued reduction in the number of children being placed for adoption which has seen the average wait for a child identified for adoptive families significantly increase. Consequently, there are a large number of adoptive parents on Scotland’s Adoption Register. Scotland’s Adoption Register previously reintroduced face to face Adoption Exchange days and Adoption Activity Days. Over the course of this reporting period, they have shifted to a mixed model, with some in person events and some online. The Register has continued to support practitioners in achieving permanence for children Scotland. Between 1st August 2023 and 31st July 2024, the Adoption Service has been actively family finding for 15 children in Renfrewshire, a significant increase on 4 from last year. Of these children, 5 have an adoptive family link formally agreed through the Fostering and Adoption Panel, and all of those have been placed with their adoptive family. Of the 15 children mentioned, a further 6 had an adoptive family link potentially identified, but not formally agreed, during this reporting period, and the service continues to search for adoptive families for the remaining 4 children. The Adoption Register (Scotland) - National Position Scotland’s Adoption Register is a statutory service fully funded by the Scottish Government. It provides a free service to support local authorities and voluntary agencies with family finding activity, and Renfrewshire’s Adoption service continues to actively engage with this. The Adoption Register is where prospective adopters, once approved, have their approval details registered. The Adoption Register is committed to facilitating social workers’ overall goal of securing children’s futures through moves to permanent families. A total of 62 children were matched with adoptive families through the Scottish Adoption Register in 2023/24. The Register played an active role alongside AFKA Scotland and AUK Scotland in the delivery of Adoption Week Scotland 2023 with a focus on support throughout adoption. This year returning to an in-person event with over 100 attendees throughout the day hosting stalls, networking and sharing, and attending free workshops.
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Page 14 of 19 The Adoption Register continues to improve the process and to support adoption agencies in reducing delays in matching children with adoptive families. The end of year total of matches is a very small increase on the previous year, up from 61 to 62 despite the continued increase in numbers of children being referred throughout the year. On 31st March 2024 there were 113 children on the Register compared to 134 the previous year, and 169 adopters on the Register compared to 209 the previous year. GENDER Of the 101 children referred to the Register in 23/24, 45 (45%) were girls and 56 (55%) were boys. This sees a continuation of more boys than girls following a brief change in 21/22 where more girls than boys were referred to the Register since its inception in 2011. ETHNICITY 83 (82%) were White (82% White Scottish). 14 White Other (13%). 1 (0.9%) of Indian heritage. 1 (0.9%) of Asian heritage. 1 (0.9%) of Black African heritage. 3 (2.9%%) of mixed heritage. SIBLINGS 33% of the children referred to the Register in 2023/24 were part of a sibling group. This is a small decrease from 35% last year. 40% of the matches made in 2023/24 were for sibling groups. Renfrewshire Adoption Plans and Links- 1 August 2023-31 July 2024 During the reporting period, 5 children were presented to the Adoption Panel for consideration of their adoption plans and links. This is a slight increase on the 4 adoption plans considered in the previous year. In all cases the Agency Decision Maker accepted the panel’s recommendations to approve the adoption plan and links between the child and their prospective adopters. Adoption Support Group
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Page 15 of 19 The Adoption Service continued to engage positively with families through Adoption Support Groups facilitated by the team. Over the reporting period, the support group met in November 2023 and March 2024, for Christmas and Easter themed activities. The Easter adoption support group took place in Barshaw Park, and was attended by 12 Adopters and 15 children and they enjoyed an egg hunt. The Christmas adoption support group was held at Eastwood Theatre in Giffnock to see a pantomime. Fourteen families attended, consisting of 21 adults and 22 children. The group met an hour beforehand to ensure families had time to come together for peer connection too. The pantomime was fun and aimed at the wide age group in attendance. There are some families who are regular attenders at the group, and it is positive to see established relationships that have formed, and warm welcomes extended to those who have not attended before. Many of the children recognise one another and are excited to come together. This support group also provides additional opportunity for brothers and sisters who live separately to come together. The feedback for this group remains very positive. Adoptive families feedback that they value the opportunity to come together, to form connections with other families. This provides a good support for parents, and for their children to be with other adopted children with shared lived experience. Adopters advise that attending the group enables them to feel part of a support network; it provides an opportunity to discuss adoption with their children openly and positively which helps them support their child’s growing understanding of their life story. Adoptive parents have consistently advised they value support groups and training. Therefore, this year the adoption service have continued to offer all adoptive families access to training through Barnardo’s SASS, and plan to further develop training opportunities with colleagues in other parts of children’s services in Renfrewshire Council. Adoption Support to Individual Families Throughout the year the adoption team have provided adoption support on an individual basis to 25 adoptive families and to 2 adopted people who are young adults. Barnardo’s Scottish Adoption Advice Service (SAAS) also continues to offer support, including counselling, to Renfrewshire families. A total of 42 children in 33 families received an adoption allowance during the reporting period. Post Adoption Support Planning meetings are held for all children when an adoption order is granted to consider their support needs. An adoption social worker is allocated to adoptive parents for 1 year following the granting of an adoption order at which point the adoptive family are invited to a review meeting to consider any further adoption supports required. Within Renfrewshire there are 85 adoptive families on the mailing list who receive the quarterly newsletter and notification of all support groups and training events. Birth Connections Birth Connections is funded by The Promise, via the CORRA Foundation, to support birth family members who are affected by adoption. Birth Connections launched in March 2023 so has been running for a year and a half. The service offers both individual supports, tailored to the individual’s specific needs, and group support every two weeks, providing a therapeutic environment to meet with other people who have had similar lived experience. The individual support provided since the service launched has ranged from supporting people to understand the Adoption process and the terminology surrounding this, supporting birth family members to engage in life story activities for children (such as photo albums, memory boxes, letters), to
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Page 16 of 19 filling in application forms (such as housing, ID, counselling referrals), supporting attendance at appointments (such as GP, Addiction support, Justice meetings), building up confidence out in the community, linking in with community led groups and organisations, supporting engagement with letterbox exchange, and more. The Group support launched in May 2023, so saw it’s first anniversary in this reporting period. Birth Connections’ aim is to provide lifelong support so that birth family members can access the support they need at any time when they feel able to, and can choose when they do or do not wish to engage. Birth Connections runs its fortnightly Group out of Station 7 in Johnstone (Active Communities) and are liaising closely with this organisation and the community opportunities that they can provide. Currently, the team facilitates quarterly Cooking/Baking classes through them and have also enjoyed other opportunities such as Barista training for the birth family members engaged with Birth Connections, through Station 7. The CORRA funding allowed for a full time staff member to run Birth Connections along with the Adoption Team. The initial funding was for one year and has been extended for a further period until 30 March 2024. Birth Connections currently supports around 33 birth family members with individual support and there are currently 4 birth family members involved in the Group Support. These numbers continue to grow. Adoption Newsletter The Adoption Newsletter is produced and distributed every 3 months, around Easter, Summer, Halloween and Christmas. The Newsletter starts with either a poem related to the season or lyrics to a song or a whole playlist readers can put on whilst reading through it. This aims to encourage adoptive parents to take some time to relax and focus on learning and feeling connected to our service and other adopters. The Newsletter contains information on what is new in the Adoption Team, but also in the world of Adoption, with relevant articles included. Any dates with training opportunities and events are highlighted for Adopters to plan their family diaries. Each newsletter is usually themed, and some activities relating to that theme are included – such as recipes for baking Halloween cookies, or descriptions of activities to do during the Summer holidays. Through these different strands of information, adoptive parents are recognised as parents like any others, with children to entertain in holiday periods; and as parents through adoption, with the specific circumstances and needs this can entail. There is also an Art Corner which contains artwork made by adopted children, sent in by their parents. This provides a platform for adopted parents to show how proud they are of their children’s achievements, and allows children themselves to be directly involved in this publication. Finally, the adoption teams’ contact details are always included. The Newsletter is distributed to every household on our mailing list of families. Some of these families have other, direct contact with the service, and others do not. Providing the Newsletter to all households reminds adopted families that the service is there for them should they need support and the message is that the need for post adoption support at some point is the norm, rather than ever having a sense of failure. Letter Box Contact Letterbox contact provides contact between birth families, adoptive parents, and sibling groups. It primarily supports children placed for adoption and their adopted and birth families, but also includes those living with permanent foster carers. The letterbox service can provide support in writing and replying to letters, and ensures information exchanged is safe and appropriate. Currently, the letterbox service has a caseload of 125 which 79 are operational. Letterbox contact varies on an individual case basis, mostly contacts are annual, however there are
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Page 17 of 19 some which are two, three, or even four times per year. The service previously introduced individual support and offered electronic methods of letterbox to support some participants to engage via email. This encouraged a high uptake of participants. Future Developments of the Adoption Service Over the next year the service intends to strengthen the adoption service by developing the following: 1. Introduction of Birth Parents’ Voices in Preparation Groups; including audio recordings and art work to help prospective adopters understand birth parents’ experiences. 2. Increase opportunities to attend support groups for adoptive parents and their children; specifically a monthly drop-in group for families. 3. Highlight the importance of Listening to and Supporting the Experience of Adoption during Adoption Week Scotland. 4. Build on our existing links with colleagues in Educational Psychology to offer training opportunities for adopters informed by the skills and knowledge of the care experienced aspect of their service. Conclusion This report has highlighted the work of the Fostering, Adoption and Supported Carers Services and the work of the Fostering and Adoption Panel during August 2023 - July 2024. The activity of the Fostering and Adoption Panel reflects the number of children unable to live with their birth families within Renfrewshire. The Fostering, Adoption and Supported Carers Services are committed to safeguarding children’s lives in Renfrewshire and to continual improvement. As the Registered Manager for the Fostering and Adoption Service, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our panel members for their commitment to Renfrewshire’s most vulnerable children. I would also like to express my thanks to Renfrewshire Foster Carers, Continuing Carers, Supported Carers and Adopters who have continued to show their commitment and love to the children they look after, and adopt. They help us to ensure that the children receive the best outcomes that they can. As always, we look forward to the coming year and to progressing our work with all partner agencies to continue to improve the outcomes and secure the future of Renfrewshire’s most vulnerable children. Fiona Duncan Social Work Senior Manager (Registered Manager of Fostering and Adoption Service)
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1 Appendix 1 Renfrewshire Council Fostering Criteria Who Can Foster? Renfrewshire Council accepts applications from different backgrounds as everyone has their own individual experience to offer. Requirements to foster: 1. Are over 21 years, 2. Are in good health and 3. Have a spare bedroom. You can be: 1. Single, married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership. 2. Own or rent the property you live in 3. Be employed or not employed. 4. Be of any religious background or sexuality. Preparation Groups Enquirers will be required to attend preparation groups before making a formal application. The purpose of these groups is to provide the opportunity to learn more about fostering, and the children who require to be in a foster placement. If preparation groups are not available other means will be considered to provide and share information with enquirers. Local Authority, Health, and Police Checks All applicants will be subject to stringent local authority, health, and police checks. These will extend to any other resident in the household over 16 years of age and to anyone who will have care of the child.
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2 Appendix 2 Renfrewshire Council Adoption Criteria Age All applicants must be over 21 years of age. Status Applications will be considered from couples or single applicants irrespective of their sexuality. A couple may be the same sex or unmarried. Same sex couples are not required to be in a Civil Partnership. Joint applicants must be in an enduring family relationship. Preparation Groups Enquirers will be required to attend preparation groups, if groups are available, prior to making a formal application. The purpose of these groups is to provide enquiries with the opportunity to learn more about the children needing adoption, their backgrounds and the genetic factors adopters may have to consider when parenting adopted children. If preparation groups are not available other means will be considered to provide and share information with enquiries. Infertility Prospective adopters should have completed infertility investigations at least 6 months prior to application. Local Authority Health and Police Checks All applicants will be subject to stringent local authority health and police checks. These will extend to any other resident in the household over 16 years of age and to anyone who will have care of the child.