Adoption and Children Bill – in a Public Bill Committee am 11:30 am ar 20 Tachwedd 2001.
There has been a long-standing partnership between Bury children's services and Manchester Adoption Society (MAS). MAS is piloting concurrent planning in England, with Bury as one of the local authority partners. The project began in 1998 and is being evaluated by the Thomas Coram Foundation. The Goodman Project builds on North American practice and recruits carers who can undertake both fostering and adoption tasks.
Children are selected for the Project in situations where there has been a great deal of social services involvement and major concerns about parents' abilities to meet children's needs. Children are assessed with the possibility of an adoption plan if rehabilitation fails. This has been effective in reducing the number of placements for children who go through this process. The involvement of senior members of the judiciary has been instrumental in improving outcomes for children. If parents are not able to improve their ability to meet the child's needs, plans are made concurrently for children to remain permanently with their foster carers. If rehabilitation is not assessed as feasible within the appropriate timescale for the child, the plan is made for adoption and the role of the carers changes.
In the first year, Bury has used the Project for babies who have gone into adoption planning without having to have a change of placement. A new group of carers has been recruited and Bury looks forward to using the service for more children.