Plans to merge adoption services in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole along with those provided by a local voluntary adoption agency, Families for Children have been agreed by Bournemouth’s Council’s Cabinet today.
Councillors were asked to agree to develop a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) for submission to the Department for Education (DfE) for approval and funding. The proposal was also approved by Borough of Poole on Tuesday, 9 Feb, Families for Children in January and it is being considered by Dorset County Council.
The proposal means combining the adoption services of Bournemouth Borough Council, Dorset County Council, Borough of Poole and Families for Children.
Councillor Nicola Greene, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, Bournemouth Borough Council, said: “All three authorities are very proud of their high performing adoption teams and by combining the expertise of all three councils and the specialist agency, to cover the whole of Dorset, we will further improve the adoption process for our residents.”
The proposal follows Government’s expectation that Regional Adoption Agencies are set up across England to enable better targeting for the recruitment of prospective adopters, speed up the matching and placement of children, improve adoption support services and potentially create efficiency savings.
Subject to funding and work to develop a business case, it is hoped the RAA would be in operation from April 2017.
