This report looks at the action being taken by local authority children’s services to address performance issues on adoption and permanence, including increasing the number of prospective adopters, the number of children being adopted and reducing delays in the adoption process. It outlines the current context and describes a joint LGA, ADCS, SOLACE and VSC seminar on 26th March 2013 attended by DCSs and senior managers from a wide range of authorities.
It summarises the varied presentations made at the seminar, and the main discussion points arising from them. The discussions prompted by the various presentations were held under Chatham House rules, so contributions from the floor are not attributed. The report concludes with an outline of the joint position paper on adopter recruitment, assessment and approval sent to Children and Families Minister Edward Timpson by the LGA, SOLACE and ADCS – which includes commitments to a sector-defined approach to increasing the number of approved adopters which it is estimated could reduce the current national shortfall by up to 50 per cent by March 2014.
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