Agenda item

For the Select Committee to receive and note the report on Fostering, Adoption and Special Guardianship Orders

The Chairman introduced the item by emphasising the Council’s commitment to long-term, stable placements for each child, thus minimising the number of times a child may need to move. She highlighted the importance of integrated work to support each placement. Cllr Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services, commended the service and the hard work undertaken over the last few years   adding that the service had been expanded in a digital way, which has produced good results.

Richard Nash, Corporate Director for Children's Services, welcomed Palvinder Kudhail, Service Director Children's Social Care, and Sandra Carnall - Head of Children's Care Services.

The following key points from the report were highlighted:

·       The report sets out the key placement options for looked-after children in respect to fostering, both long-term and short-term, special guardianship orders, which    provide a long-term option for children where the guardian has parental responsibility, and adoption, the most secure placement.

·       Performance data in respect of recruitment of foster carers and adoptive parents is generally good, despite Covid-19 and lengthy court proceedings.

·       70 % of Buckinghamshire Council’s looked-after children are placed with in-house carers, which are likely to be local, enabling children to maintain local connections in the community and attend the same school.

·       A recruitment strategy for the next three years is in place, which includes a recruitment campaign to ensure carers cater for all children’s needs. A focus was placed on the need for child and parent placements, finding more foster carers from ethnic minority groups and placing larger sibling groups.

During discussion, comments and questions raised by the Committee included:  

·       It was noted that conversion rates in the recruitment and retention strategy seem to be dropping despite growing interest. It was also noted that single carers in particular seem to leave the system. The Council does return to these people to find out the reason for their leaving and whether they have an interest in returning to fostering. Standards for care are very high, and a comprehensive training programme is offered by the Council to increase retention of foster carers. Recruitment is mostly done through social media or existing foster carers. The pandemic had caused some single adopters to leave for different reasons including ill health, being furloughed and being unable to financially sustain their homes. Others had applied but then returned to work and could not then take up a fostering role. Where a foster carer had left or paused their role, the team gave support to them to see if there was anything that could be done to support them further. It was noted that due to the increase in time taken for court proceedings, children now stay in foster care longer, thus spaces for new children are limited.

·       A member asked what percentage of Buckinghamshire children are accommodated within Buckinghamshire, and how many the Council could accommodate. Richard Nash advised that it is most important to understand and meet the specific needs of a child at any point in time, whether that be within or outside of Buckinghamshire. The recruitment strategy aims to have as many foster carers as possible dealing with a wide range of children, but it may not always be possible to do so.

·       It was noted that the adoption process is less straightforward than fostering, and that less support is offered for adoptive parents despite making a lifelong commitment. Both processes are very rigorous and guided by national minimal standards. There is also an adoption fund that enables the Council to commission bespoke support packages. Some children were placed in “foster to adopt placements”; an approach sometimes used for babies.

·       Councillors praised the child-centred focus by the teams in supporting children in this difficult area.

·       Within the Children’s Services departmental structure there is a specific position of an appointed officer for children’s homes.  The council is currently looking to recruit to that role as it is the most suitable form of supporting that area of the service.

·       To improve the fostering and adoption service, the teams are consistently working within the national standards, reviewing offers to carers and how they are recruited and aim to prioritise issues raised in Ofsted inspections.

·       A number of foster carers move forward to adopt the child in their care. Furthermore, there has been an increase in foster carers applying for special guardianship orders. A policy has been devised to enable the Council to guarantee payments for two years, which had made a difference to those wishing to adopt.

·       Higher levels of support are offered to fosterers looking after older children. Many fosterers prefer to consider caring for younger children. Many of the out of county placements were for older children.

·       The Mockingbird activity is a model where a cluster of foster carers is recruited specifically for a group of children who know each other. Funding has been received to pilot the programme.

·       The chairman thanked members and officers for their hard work undertaken across the council and during the pandemic for children in the county.