3.9.4 Adoption Support Services

RELEVANT CHAPTER

Relevant Guidance: Guidance on Assessing the Support Needs of Adoptive Families (2008).

AMENDMENT

Section 2, Definition of Adoption Support and Section 9.1, Introduction of this chapter were amended in October 2011 to include reference to cross-boundary issues, as required by the Adoption Guidance and the National Minimum Standards published in March 2011, which became effective from 1 April 2011.

What is Adoption Support?
Definition of Adoption Support
Why Offer Adoption Support?
When to Consider Adoption Support
Which Local Authority Should Carry out the Assessment?
Which Local Authority Should Provide the Services?
Process of Assessment for Adoption Support
The Adoption Support Plan
Financial Support
Pathways to the Permanence Support Team

1. What is Adoption Support?

Adoption Support is the contemporary way of referring to post adoption work. It includes any support likely to be required for an adoptive placement to endure through to adulthood and is applicable to both existing and new situations.

Local authorities must now make arrangements, as part of their adoption service, for the provision of a range of adoption support services.

Assessments carried out by social workers for the provision of adoption support will attend to the needs of adopted children, birth families and members of adoptive families in relation to their entitlement to adoption support services

Local authorities must act reasonably when deciding whether to provide support services following an assessment, and may arrange for the required services to be provided by appropriate voluntary organisations.

2. Definition of Adoption Support

Adoption Support is defined as including:

Financial support to adopters;
Services to enable groups of adoptive children, adoptive parents and birth parents to discuss matters relating to adoption;
Assistance, including mediation, with contact arrangements between adopted children and their birth parents or others with whom they share a significant relationship;
Therapeutic services for adoptive children;
Assistance to adoptive parents and children to support the adoptive placement and enable it to continue, including respite care;
Assistance to adoptive parents and children where a placement disrupts or is at risk of disruption;
Counselling, advice and information;
Assistance with cross boundary matters;
Intermediary Services.

Financial Support will be subject to the approval of the Designated Manager (Adoption Support).

Support provided under 2. to 6. above may include cash assistance, for example to pay for a babysitter, although this would not be regarded as an ongoing financial support arrangement.

3. Why Offer Adoption Support?

To ensure that more people are able to adopt 'Looked After children' and that the placement remains stable and meets the needs of the child;
To afford children, birth families and adoptive families the help they require to overcome the difficulties that can arise during the adoption process;
To ensure that local and national targets are achieved in relation to numbers of looked after children who are adopted.

4. When to Consider Adoption Support

Adoption Support must be considered at the earliest opportunity where permanence is being planned.

Practitioners should consider the need for adoption support at the following stages of care planning:

When preparing the case for presentation to the Adoption Panel as to whether child should be placed for adoption.
See Placement for Adoption;
When considering the suitability of prospective adoptive parents.
See Assessment and Approval of Agency Adoptive Parents;
When considering the matching of prospective adopters with a child for whom adoption is the plan;
At a child’s reviews following the adoptive placement
See Reviews of Adoptive Placements;
When requested by an adoptive parent, an adoptive child or a child of an adoptive parent;
When requested by birth parents/birth relatives including siblings, significant others or any other people affected by the adoption.

The assessment of need is only required to consider those adoption support services to which the person making the request is entitled.

An assessment in respect of supporting contact arrangements only should be provided at the request of:

A birth parent or birth relative of the adoptive child;
A person with whom the adoptive child has an important relationship.

The adoption does not need to have been arranged by the local authority or an adoption agency in order to qualify for an assessment for adoption support. It is only where the adoption is by a step-parent that there is no requirement to carry out an assessment

Section 10, Pathways to the Permanence Support Team sets out which practitioners in Walsall will be responsible for carrying out the assessment for adoption support.

5. Which Local Authority Should Carry Out the Assessment?

The table below sets out which local authority has responsibility for carrying out the assessment of adoption support, and in what circumstances.

Circumstance	Responsibility for Assessment
Our child being looked after and in respect of whom an adoption plan is considered	Walsall MBC
Our child, placed with or adopted by family living in area	Walsall MBC
Our child, adopted by family living out of area	Walsall MBC has responsibility for 3 years after the Adoption Order is made and then the local authority where the adopters reside will have the responsibility
In all other cases (i.e. non agency placements except step parent adoption)	The local authority where the requester lives must assess

6. Which Local Authority Should Provide Support?

The local authority responsible for carrying out the assessment of need should provide support to meet the identified needs.

The exception to this is where ongoing financial support and/or supporting contact arrangements have been agreed by the Placing Agency before the Adoption Order was made, in which case the responsibility to provide such support will remain with the placing agency.

7. Process of Assessment for Adoption Support

Section 10, Pathways to the Permanence Support Team sets out which practitioners will be responsible for carrying out the assessment for adoption support. (An assessment will not be required where counselling, information or advice is the only support requested or required).

The practitioners involved should conduct assessments by following the guidance set out in the Assessment Framework. Initial Assessment and Core Assessment Records should be used.

Where the assessment is of the child’s or adoptive family’s need for support, all the developmental needs of the child should be covered, including health, education and emotional needs, and contact issues.

The assessing social worker will usually need to interview the person being assessed - where this is a child, the adoptive parents will also need to be interviewed depending on the case and the age, understanding and wishes of the child.

The needs of the family need to be discussed with them and what is currently available clarified.

A written report of the assessment should be produced and a copy given to the person being assessed. Where the assessment identifies a possible need for financial support, the proposal must be presented to the Designated Manager (Adoption Support) for approval before it can be included in the written report (see Section 8 below).

The report should be sent to the person assessed with notice of the outcome of the assessment, which should state:

The person’s assessed needs for support;
Whether the local authority proposes to provide adoption support services and if so, what the proposed services are;
Where the assessment relates to the need for financial support, how this has been determined and calculated and the conditions to be attached, (see Section 8 below).

Where the person assessed is a child, and it is not appropriate to send the notice to the child, notices should be sent to the adoptive parent or the most appropriate adult.

Where services are proposed, a draft Adoption Support Plan should usually be attached to the notice and those assessed should be allowed time to consider and make representations on the proposal (see Section 8 below).

Where the service proposed is one-off, the notice of the outcome of the assessment will be sufficient to outline what is proposed and a draft plan will not be required.

The assessment and Adoption Support Plan will need to be completed after consultation with the appropriate Health Primary Care Trust, CAMHS or education departments where any special arrangements may need to be made. Where the child is placed in the area of another local authority, the agencies in that authority’s area will need to be consulted as to what services may be available for adopters and adopted children.

8. The Adoption Support Plan

An Adoption Support Plan (Form WSS 993) will set out clearly:

The objectives of the plan and the key services to be provided;
The timescales for achieving the plan;
Those responsible for implementing the plan and the respective roles of others; what should be provided, when and by whom;
The criteria that will be used to evaluate the success of the plan;
The procedures that will be put in place to review the services to be provided and the plan.

In preparing the plan, the agency should carry out consultation with the appropriate persons, including, where the child is placed in the area of another local authority, the relevant agencies in that authority’s area.

The Adoption Support Plan should include the proposed financial support (see Section 9 below) and have been agreed by the Designated Manager (Adoption Support).

Once a proposed Adoption Support Plan has the necessary managerial approval, a copy should be sent to the recipients and to any party involved in the delivery of the plan and the reviewing officer.

The recipients of the proposed support will have 10 working days to consider the proposals and make representations to the local authority about the proposed plan. Any representations made should be considered by the Designated Manager (Adoption Support), who should inform the recipients of the outcome of the consideration.

Where the Adoption Support Plan has been drawn up for a proposed agency adoptive placement, the Plan will then be submitted to the Adoption Panel with the Adoption Placement Report when the placement is being considered. See Placement for Adoption Procedure. After Adoption Panel, the Panel Coordinator will open an Adoption Support File for any child matched.

In all cases, a copy of the final Adoption Support Plan should go to all those involved in implementing it, and to the recipients of services (or appropriate adult).

An Adoption Support Plan which relates to an agency adoptive placement should be reviewed at the Reviews of the adoptive placement- see Adoption Reviews or at any time if there is a significant change of circumstances, within four weeks of the notification of the change. After the Adoption Order has been made, the Permanence Support Team will review the Plan annually and more often if a change in the person’s circumstances is brought to the notice of the local authority.

In relation to any other Adoption Support Plan, the Plan must be reviewed annually or more frequently if a change of circumstances is brought to the attention of the agency. This is likely to be carried out by the Permanence Support Team - see Section 10, Pathways to the Permanence Support Team.

The format and content of any Review will depend on the circumstances of the case. It may refer to only one element of the Plan or be relatively minor in which case an exchange of correspondence may be sufficient. However, where the change of circumstances is substantial, such as a serious change in the behaviour of the child, it may be appropriate to conduct a new assessment of needs involving other parties.

If as a result of a review whether before or after an Adoption Order has been made, it is proposed to vary or terminate the support, the proposed change must be approved by the Designated Manager (Adoption Support). Once so approved, the person concerned must be notified of the proposal and given the same information as in the notice of the outcome of the first assessment, together with a copy of the revised plan in draft. He or she must then be given 10 working days to make representations on the proposals.

Having taken account of any such representations, the Designated Manager (Adoption Support)will make the final decision. In the case of financial support, the decision should also consider whether it is appropriate to seek to recover all or any of the financial support already paid.

Notice of the decision must then be sent to the person concerned with reasons and, where appropriate, a copy of the revised plan.

Where there is an urgent need for support, the support can be provided before a Plan is drawn up but the above procedure should then be followed as soon as possible.

An Adoption Support Plan (Form WSS 993) will set out clearly:

The objectives of the plan and the key services to be provided;
The timescales for achieving the plan;
Those responsible for implementing the plan and the respective roles of others; what should be provided, when and by whom
The criteria that will be used to evaluate the success of the plan;
The procedures that will be put in place to review the services to be provided and the plan.

The Adoption Support Plan should include the proposed financial support (see Section 9 below) and have been agreed by the Designated Manager (Adoption Support).

Once a proposed Adoption Support Plan has the necessary managerial approval, a copy should be sent to the recipients and to any party involved in the delivery of the plan and the reviewing officer.

The recipients of the proposed support will have to consider the proposals and make representations to the local authority about the proposed plan. Any representations made should be considered by the Designated Manager (Adoption Support), who should inform the recipients of the outcome of the consideration.

The Adoption Support Plan will then be submitted to the Adoption Panel when a matching recommendation is being considered. See Placement for Adoption Procedure.

After Adoption Panel, the Panel Coordinator will open an Adoption Support File for any child matched.

A copy of the final plan should go to all those involved in implementing it, and to the recipients of services (or appropriate adult).

The Adoption Support Plan should be reviewed at the Reviews of the Adoptive Placement- see Reviews of Adoptive Placements – or, at any time if there is a significant change of circumstances, within four weeks of the notification of the change.

After the Adoption Order has been made, the Plan should be reviewed if a change in the person’s circumstances is brought to the notice of the local authority. This is likely to be carried out by the Permanence Support Team - see section 10 below, Pathways to Permanence Support Team

9. Financial Support

9.1 Introduction

The scheme for financial support to adopters provides for the following:

Greater use of lump sums;
Decisions to pay can be made at any point;
Additional flexibility for foster carers who adopt children already placed with them;
Payments to non agency adopters (except step parent adopters), if appropriate;
Statutory pay and leave for adopters from April 2003. (See Department for Trade and Industry leaflet for more information);
Existing allowances to continue;
Eligibility criteria to be established (as set out below).

Financial support is intended to supplement existing means of support available to adoptive parents and the child or children being adopted. Adopters must be given advice of entitlements to employee’s rights to leave and pay, benefits, tax credits and allowances, and these should be taken into account when considering amounts of financial support.

9.2 Criteria

The circumstances in which provision of financial support may be paid are as follows:

Where it is necessary to ensure that adoptive parents can look after a child;
Where the child needs special care which requires a greater expenditure of resources by reason of illness, disability, emotional or behavioural difficulties or the continuing consequences of neglect - and the child’s condition is serious and long-term;
Where it is necessary for the local authority to make any special arrangements to facilitate the placement or the adoption by reason of the age or ethnic origin of the child or the desirability of the child being placed with siblings or a child with whom he/she has previously shared a home;
Where such support is to meet the recurring costs of travel for visits for the child to members of the birth family/significant others;
Where the local authority considers it appropriate to contribute towards expenditure on legal costs, including Court fees (in cases where the adoption is supported by the local authority), or expenses associated with the child’s introduction to adoptive parents or expenditure on accommodating the child (e.g. adaptations to the home, furniture, clothing or transport).

9.3 Types of Payment

Payment to adoptive parents may be made in the following ways:

Regular payments (basic adoption allowance) - which will be based upon the developmental age of the child and calculated as agreed from time to time by the authority;
Lump sum payments (settling in costs, special needs and adaptations), which will cover items or adaptations that are required as a consequence of assessment of each child’s individuals needs;
Payment may be in installments and will end at a time specified by the authority;
Payments in special circumstances (for a child with additional needs or when foster carers adopt a child for whom they are already caring or where adopters incur legal expenses in contested cases.) Payment may be in installments and may end at a time specified by the authority.

Financial support cannot generally include the “reward” element which may be payable to foster carers. However, payments may be paid above the usual level where it is regarded as necessary to ease the transition from foster care to adoption.

Generally such additional payments can be paid for a period of two years although in exceptional circumstances, where the circumstances set out in 9.2 above are satisfied, additional payments may be paid for a longer period.

9.4 Assessment for Financial Support

Adoptive parents may be entitled to all or part of the above payments and this will be determined by the assessment. Section 10 below, Pathways to the Permanence Support Team sets out which practitioners will be responsible for carrying out the assessment for adoption support.

As part of this assessment, the adopters should be asked to complete a Financial Assessment Form and the completed form should be forwarded to the Finance Department. The Designated Manager (Adoption Support) will decide the level of support to be paid having regard to this assessment.

The Adoption Support Plan (see section 8 above) will include the proposed financial support agreed by the Designated Manager (Adoption Support).

In relation to proposed financial support for a new placement, the Adoption Support Plan will be submitted to the Adoption Panel when a matching recommendation is being considered. See Placement for Adoption Procedure.

9.5 Notification

The administrative staff in the Finance Department will send the adopters written notification of the decision to provide financial support and any changes in support. This includes the amount and terms of the support and information about annual reviews.

9.6 Terms and Conditions

If it is decided that financial support should be given to adoptive parents, payment may be subject to conditions and a date specified by which the condition is to be met.

For example, the authority may specify that equipment for which financial support has been given to meet identified need of a child be installed by a certain date and that all receipts for said equipment be made available for inspection.

Prior to making financial support available to prospective or adoptive parents, they will be required to inform the adoption service:

Of changes to their home address;
If the child (for any reason) no longer lives with them;
If there are any changes to their financial situation.

Where information is given orally, adoptive parents must confirm this in writing within 7 days.

9.7 Annual review of support

Adoptive parents must complete and supply the authority with a statement of their circumstances that will be reviewed annually.

This statement asks adoptive parents to specify the following:

Their financial circumstances;
The financial needs and resources of the child or children;
Their home address and whether or not the child or children live at home with them;
If there has been any changes to their own or the child/children’s circumstances.

Any proposed variation or termination of the financial support must have the approval of the Designated Manager (Adoption Support) and be notified to the person(s) concerned in accordance with the procedure set out in Section 8 above.

Should adoptive parents fail to supply an annual statement, the authority must send a written reminder and give 28 days to comply. If they fail to comply, the authority may suspend payment of the financial support provided.

9.8 Ending of financial support

Financial support will end in the following circumstances:

When a child reaches age 18, unless he/she continues in full time education or training when support may continue until the end of the course of education or training being undertaken;
Where a child ceases full-time education or training and commences employment;
Where a child qualifies for income support or job seekers allowance in his/her own right;
Where circumstances have changed significantly and the criteria are no longer met;
If a child leaves the adoptive home and this is regarded as a permanent departure. Temporary absences do not apply, e.g. boarding school, hospital, and respite care;
The child dies.

10. Pathways to the Permanence Support Team

10.1 Adoptive placements with Walsall approved families

Responsibility for the delivery and review of the Adoption Support Plan will be with the Adoption Team for the first 6 months after a child has been placed with prospective adopters or until the making of an Adoption Order, whichever is the sooner. At this point, it will transfer to the Permanence Support Team. To achieve this, the Adoption Team social worker involved in the case will complete the Change of Circumstances Form (WSS31). This should be passed, along with the Adoption Support File containing the most up to date Adoption Support Plan, to the Permanence Support Team Manager. It is anticipated that there will be a hand over visit prior to the transfer.

The child’s social worker or the Adoption Team social worker, where he or she is the case holder for the child, will retain case management responsibility up until the making of an Adoption Order or until all of the identified actions assigned to him or her in the Adoption Support Plan have been completed, whichever is the later. The Permanence Support Team will not be involved in case management tasks, including the preparation or updating of Court reports for Adoption Order applications.

Informed by the Adoption Support Plan and in consultation with the relevant Children’s Services Team Managers and the family, the Permanence Support Team Manager will decide on the best use of resources to deliver the required outcome. In some instances, it will be appropriate to allocate a dedicated link worker from within the team, for example where the child’s behavioural/emotional needs are complex or where there is frequent contact with the birth family or siblings placed elsewhere. In others, only regular reviews of the Adoption Support Plan might be needed until it is signed off and closed.

10.2 Inter Agency Placements

In relation to inter agency placements, the same arrangements apply, except that the Permanence Support Team will take over the coordination of the Adoption Support Plan at the time the child is placed, at which point the Adoption Team social worker will complete the WSS31 and pass this along with the Adoption Support File to the Permanence Support Team Manager.

The Permanence Support Team should be invited to the first review of the child’s adoptive placement.

10.3 Existing support arrangements

In cases where the Adoption Team are currently providing ongoing support to families without an Adoption Support Plan, the possibility of transferring responsibility for this work will be discussed between the team managers of the Adoption Team and the Permanence Support Team, as capacity grows within the Permanence Support Team. Where it is agreed that the case transfers, the Adoption Team social worker will ensure that the file is up-to-date and any contact agreements are in place. The social worker will complete a WSS31 and open an Adoption Support File. This will be passed to the Permanence Support Team Manager for allocation.

The Permanence Support Team will normally coordinate the completion of the Adoption Support Plan. However, it is an expectation that the Adoption Team social worker is involved in this process, before withdrawing from the case.

10.4 Adoptive placements by other agencies with Walsall approved families

Where another agency considers placing a child with a Walsall approved family, the Adoption Team Manager has the responsibility for negotiating any commitments made on behalf of Walsall within the Adoption Support Plan. Following approval of the match by the external adoption agency, the adoption social worker should notify the Walsall Panel Coordinator and request an Adoption Support File be opened.

The Adoption Team retains responsibility for any support agreed to be delivered by Walsall for a 6 months period or until the Adoption Order is made, whichever is the sooner.

At this stage, responsibility for co-ordinating the agreed support with the placing local authority will transfer to the Permanence Support Team. The social worker in the Adoption Team will complete Form WSS31. This should be passed, along with the Adoption Support File containing the most up to date Adoption Support Plan, to the Permanence Support Team Manager. It is anticipated that there will be a hand over visit prior to the transfer.

It must be remembered that the placing local authority retains responsibility for the adoption support services (including financial support) for up to three years after the Adoption Order is made or, in the case of financial support agreed before the Adoption Order, on an ongoing basis.

When it has been more than one year since the Adoption Order was made and more than three years since the child was placed, the Permanence Support Team will take over responsibility for the assessment and provision of adoption support services.

When responsibility for adoption support services for an eligible person transfers from an outside local authority, the Permanence Support Team will not accept an existing Adoption Support Plan unless it has been involved in the assessment for and preparation of that Adoption Support Plan.

Where there has been no prior consultation and agreement on the Adoption Support Plan with this agency, the Permanence Support Team will conduct a further assessment, which will be informed by any previous, recent assessment of need.

10.5 Children and families not currently in receipt of services from Walsall

Pathways to access adoption support assessment and services have been devised to adhere to the Walsall’s Child Care Concern Model.

Our aims are to:

Provide a consistent inter-agency approach to working with those eligible to adoption support assessments;
Avoid duplication or unnecessary intrusion into family life;
Ensure that the child’s welfare and safety remain paramount.

For children, adults and families not previously known or who are no longer in receipt of a service from Walsall, there are two routes for accessing an adoption support service from the Permanence Support Team.

Enquiries and Referrals to the Family Placement Service

The General Duty Officer, Family Placement Services will take referrals from those eligible for an adoption support assessment from Walsall (see section 5 above) or from a social care agency making the referral on their behalf.

The General Duty Officer will complete the appropriate Referral Form and carry out checks to determine if the child, family or adult is known to Walsall or to any other local authority.

The General Duty Officer will make an immediate assessment of the service required. The outcomes may be one of the following:

That the enquirer should be given advice and/or signposted to the most appropriate services (e.g. Adoption Support, Adoption UK, Office of Population and Census, universal services for health, education and leisure provision, etc), and then recommend No Further Action;
That the enquirer should be referred to the Permanence Support Team, for more detailed advice on adoption support issues;
That the enquirer should be referred to the Permanence Support Team, with a recommendation that an adoption support assessment or immediate service is required/requested.

All referrals for adoption support assessment or services must be passed directly to the Permanence Support Team Manager prior to being passed to administrative officers for inputting in to the electronic information system.

When the Permanence Support Team Manager is not available, the referral should be passed to either the senior practitioner for Adoption Support Services or to another Family Placement Team Manager.

The Team Manager (or senior practitioner) will make a decision on the nature and timescale for response, will allocate the referral and then pass to administrative officers for the referral to be inputted in to the electronic information system.

In some situations, a service from the Children's Service Teams will also be needed and the respective Team Managers, (i.e. Initial Response or Assessment & Inclusion and the Permanence Support Team Manager) will agree a joint working approach. In these cases, where the Family Placement Service has taken the referral, it will be inputted and then faxed to the Initial Response Team.

Enquiries and Referrals to the Initial Response Team

Some enquiries or referrals for adoption support services might be made via the Initial Response Team. Where the enquiry or referral relates solely to adoption support services, the Initial Response Team Duty Officer must decide whether it is more appropriate to signpost the enquirer to the Permanence Support Team or to complete a referral and fax this to the Permanence Support Team Manager for action and subsequent inputting.

In some cases, for example where there are concerns about Significant Harm, the enquirer or referral will necessitate a joint response from either the Initial Response Team or Assessment & Inclusion Team and the Permanence Support Team.

Enquiries and Referrals to Adult Services or Mental Health Services

These will usually be in situations where adoption is a feature, and the Child Care Concern Model indicates the child's level of vulnerability to be at Level 3, (e.g. children experiencing Significant Harm or where there is a likelihood of significant harm.)

Some children who have adoption support services needs may also have other special needs requiring a service from the Children's Service Teams.

These will most usually be children where the Child Care Concern Model indicates their level of vulnerability to be at Level 2, (e.g. children whose health or development is being impaired or there is a high risk of impairment.)

In such situations the Initial Response Team or Assessment & Inclusion Team Duty Manager, and the Permanence Support Team Manager will consider the referral. A joint decision will then be made on whether a joint Initial Assessment is needed. Where joint Initial Assessments are undertaken, the Children's Service Team will take the lead on determining the conduct of the assessment.

Enquiries and Referrals from External Adoption Agencies and Local Authorities

In many instances children will be placed for adoption with families outside of their local authority area. Where this occurs, the placing local authority ceases to be responsible for adoption support services assessment and provision to those families three years after the Adoption Order is made see table in Section 5 above.

In situations in which there is an existing and current Adoption Support Plan (less than 6 months since initially being made or since previous review), the Permanence Support Team will directly accept a referral from an external local authority or adoption agency.

The Permanence Support Team senior practitioner will arrange a joint planning or transfer meeting with the referring local authority. Where possible and appropriate, a joint visit to the child and/or family will be arranged.

The Permanence Support Team senior practitioner will ensure that the referral is passed to the Initial Response Team to input into the electronic information system.

In situations where there is no Adoption Support Plan or where the Adoption Support Plan is more than 6 months old, the Permanence Support Team will take a referral where the presenting situation and/or request for adoption support falls within the Child Care Concern Model Levels 0, 1 or 2 of vulnerability.

End