Southampton’s adoption service is delivering a good service for vulnerable children in the city and is successfully arranging adoption for more children in care than the national average, according to Ofsted and the government.
To coincide with National Adoption Week 2011, the government released figures on how councils’ adoption services are performing. Southampton is performing well against the key indicators and is outperforming neighbouring authorities when it comes to the percentage of children in care being adopted. 16 per cent of children looked after by Southampton City Council are successfully placed for adoption, above the national average of 12 per cent.
Ofsted inspectors visited the city’s adoption team during the summer to assess the quality of provision. All aspects that were inspected have been judged as good, with even stronger elements of practice in some areas. The inspectors’ verdict was that vulnerable children and young people in Southampton are being well cared for by a highly skilled, committed and innovative adoption service.
Special mention is given in the report to the attention paid to children’s healthcare, describing the team’s approach as an “innovative working style” which is “effective on several levels.” Inspectors noted that staff “clearly respect the effective and inspirational leadership provided by their immediate line managers” and “are committed to continuing improvement in the service.”
Councillor Jeremy Moulton, Southampton City Council’s cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “I am delighted with the outcome of Ofsted’s report on our adoption service, which is a testament to the hard work of our dedicated staff.
“The report provides clear assurance to the people of Southampton that the interests of children, young people and their families lie at the heart of everything we do. However, we are not complacent. We are committed to continuing to improve in order to provide the best services possible, to honour our commitment to improving life opportunities and health for children and young people in Southampton.”
The adoption service undertakes or makes arrangements for all statutory adoption work. They recruit, assess and approve adopters, match and place children with families and provide support to those affected by adoption. If you are considering adopting a child the team holds hold regular information sessions. Please call 023 8091 5700 to find out more.
Information about adoption in Southampton is available at our adoption pages.
Copyright © Southampton City Council 2009
