Hello, and welcome to the regionalisation newsletter
from the Y&H adoption consortium. There is a lot going
on as we move towards regionalisation so we’ll be
sending out regular updates like this.
What has happened recently?
The five national “Demonstration Projects” met in York in
early August, a very positive meeting which confirmed
the region as one of the leaders is this transformation. The five projects will be meeting
monthly with the National Adoption Leadership Board consultant, Mark Owers and focussing
on specific issues, the first three priorities being:
1. Making sure we get the funding arrangement and budgets for the new RAAs right
2. How can we ensure we get the best from our partnerships with the voluntary sector?
3. How do we ensure that we get “best quality”? - Who defines it and how, how do we
measure and how do we spread it.
Other big issues flagged up included, developing good IT systems which interface at all
levels – Local Authority, RAA and Hub, how inspections will work in the future, and how we
can ensure adopters and adopted children and young people are at the centre of our
planning.
Y&H have agreed to be a partner is an International Research Project led by Seville and East
Anglia Universities, exploring international comparisons into how children with adverse early
experiences are supported. An application for European funding is being made so keep your
fingers crossed!
We are considering 3 further funding requests to the DFE Practice and Improvement
Program: to support the development of a Regional Concurrency Scheme: To develop
preparation courses for adopters which are run by Adopters, supported by Adoption
workers: To develop a regional approach to supporting birth families.
What will happen and when?
Elected members are becoming increasingly engaged in discussions about the
regionalisation plans and “in principle” support has been given by most. The process of
gaining formal political approval has begun and will be on going throughout the coming
months. This is a key piece of work which each local authority will need to complete to
ensure the process is democratic and fair. Following on from this there will need to be some
formal consultation with staff and Trades Unions and it is anticipated that this will happen in
late autumn / early winter. But we will keep you updated as we know more.
The plan remains for launch in April 2017. There is a real energy, evident in the many
meetings and groups at all levels and perspectives across the region, to take this opportunity
and make this work for children. All the Boards, RAAs, Regional, Alliance, Adopter Forum and
AT_ID are greatly inspired by this. There is of course an enormous amount to do and a great
many questions unanswered, but with this widespread energy plus the skills and continuing
commitment from so many people, we will get there.
National Adoption Week is being celebrated this year with a regional conference which the
Children’s minister has been invited to open. Adopters, adopted young people, social
workers, teachers and many others involved will be invited. It will be a great opportunity to
celebrate adoption, what has been achieved in the region so far, to say a little more about
regionalisation and to launch the new regional brand. So put the date in your diary: Friday
21st October, at the Doncaster Keep Moat Stadium - watch for the flyer coming soon.
Adopter Voice Forum:
Adopter Voice Yorkshire and Humberside have completed their work on a 'timeline' of adoptive
family needs at every stage of adoption, and the quality and availability of effective adoption
support when such needs arose. The 'timeline' runs from pre-assessment until the children are
over 25 years old and reflects the experiences group members had in getting adoption support
at every stage. It also includes information about what support worked, what didn't and where
the gaps in support are.
Recommendations are included to assist development of adoption support services in line with
need as regionalisation takes place. There is also information on what makes a good adoption
support service across the range of specialist and mainstream services adopters and their
children have used or wanted to use. The 'timeline' reflects the standards and quality which
adopters in the group would like to see in terms of the services they need, for example, whether
it be access to therapy or EHCPs for the children or direct support for adopters themselves.
The 'timeline' is now being shared with the RPB and relevant LAs and other interested agencies
and organisations. We are looking forward to feedback and discussion on how this work can
influence service development and the culture and practice of adoption in the new RAA. Please
let us know if you would like to see a copy or have feedback on the 'timeline'
AT-iD are recruiting!
Our teens have such a valuable voice which is rarely heard in the public arena; it's not only
insightful, in ways we are constantly surprised by, but hugely empowering too. They have
experiences and ideas about professionals, schools, support services and family that are
being used in this huge project of change. If this sounds like something you’d like to be part
of, read on…
With money from the Department for Education, AT-iD is now able to take on another
Project Worker to help grow the voice of adopted teens and young adults across the region.
If you are interested in the role please follow the link: http://www.pacuk.org/about/vacancies/
Sub Regional Updates:
South:
South area board met again in early August. There are some significant challenges facing the
team here and we know that timescales are tight.. However work continues and there is
broad agreement on the direction of travel. The devil of the details are now where the main
focus of the work will be in the coming months and key areas such as finance and IT will
receive additional attention from the project team.
West:
West area board met in mid-August and progress is steady and ongoing with some key
areas identified for specific attention – similarly to north and south areas these are IT and
finance with a focus on establishing a budget for the new agency. It’s currently envisaged
that consultations with staff will take place later in the autumn or early winter subject to
approval by council executives.
A job description for a head of service for the new agency is being developed with the
intention of beginning the recruitment process in the autumn.
North:.
North and Humber RAA development is progressing at a steady pace. Adopters’ workshops
have been held which have provided feedback from adopters as to what they wish to see in
the new agency. There has been a workshop focussed on sharing understanding of current
processes and resources, predicting future need and considering best deployment of
resources in the new agency. As with other projects, determining the finances and budget
for the new agency, alongside having a workable IT solution in place for the new agency,
remains challenging.
Branding workshops:
Over 50 people from across the region attended branding workshops in the last month, from
Director to adopter, service delivery manager to adoption social worker we had a good range of
people, including some from comms and marketing teams come along.
There was a real consistency from all the sessions around people’s values and how they felt
about adoption. Lots of positive words like trust, caring, honesty and professionalism came out
of the discussions.
The passion for the job from those attending was really tangible and it was apparent that there’s
a lot that all the teams across Yorkshire and Humber have in common despite the differences in
geography.
We’ll have more on this to share with you soon.
How can you keep up to date with what’s happening?
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Newsletters – join the mailing list by emailing Emily at
[email protected]
We’re also posting updates about regionalisation on the Being Family website
http://beingfamily.co.uk/blog/
We’ll be holding a series of update meetings with various groups from elected
members to adopter groups, adoption teams and children and young people.
Agencies involved:
Barnardos, Adoption Matters, After Adoption, Yorkshire Adoption Agency, SSAFA, Adopters for Adoption, PAC_UK
and Adoption UK Leeds City Council, Bradford City Council, Wakefield Council, Kirklees Council, Calderdale
Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, Hull City Council, North Yorkshire County Council, East Ridings Council,
Barnsley Council, Rotherham Council, Doncaster Council, Doncaster Children’s Services Trust, Sheffield City
Council, North Lincolnshire Council, City of York Council,