This Statement of Purpose sets out Adoptionplus's aims and objectives. It explains our values and principles, the services we provide and the way we provide them.

The Statement of Purpose is intended to provide information to:-

• Prospective adoptive parents
• Children and young people
• Agency staff
• Adoption panel members
• Local authorities
• Birth family members
• Other adoption agencies
• Inspectors
• Members of the public

This Statement of Purpose is regularly reviewed and updated at least every twelve months.

The information provided meets the requirement of National Minimum Standards for Adoption, and the related regulations (Voluntary Adoption Agencies and Adoption Agencies (Misc. Amendments) Regulations 2003).

• Here is the Statement of Purpose
• Values
• Our Aims and Objectives
• Services Adoptionplus provides
• Responsible Individual and Registered Manager
• Organisational Structure of the Agency
• The procedures for assessing need
• Complaints Procedure
• Registration Authority

Here is the Statement of Purpose

Adoptionplus wants to ensure that children who are not able to live with their birth families grow up in safe, nurturing and healing families where they are able to develop to their full potential. We want to encourage children to have a positive sense of themselves and a clear understanding of their history. We want them to have good self esteem, be able to make friends and grow up in a family where fun and laughter are part of everyday life. We believe that the best way to do this is to ensure that adoptive families are provided with the comprehensive, high quality support they need, at the times that they need it. We believe that it is essential that we learn from what works, and ensure that we keep ourselves informed of all research and good practice in the field of adoption.

Alongside this, Adoptionplus also recognises the impact on birth families who lose their children to adoption. We want to ensure that birth families receive the support they need in order that they can start to heal and move forward in their lives. As an agency, we understand that adoption has life long implications for all involved.

Values

The values that underpin Adoptionplus are:-

• Respect for the individual
• A focus on healing and growth
• An understanding of the importance of fun and laughter
• Appreciation of the importance of listening and understanding
• Wanting to offer the very best service to every child and every adult we work with

Our Aims and Objectives

• To ensure that children grow up as part of a loving family, who can meet their needs during childhood and beyond.
• To recruit, assess, train and approve sufficient suitable families who are able to meet the varied needs of children referred to the adoption service.
• We will ensure that our services promote equality and do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of their age, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religion or culture.
• We believe that the child’s welfare, safety and needs should be the centre of the adoption process.
• We believe that a child’s wishes and feelings should be actively sought and fully taken into account at all stages.
• We believe that delays in adoption can have a severe impact on the health and development of children and should be avoided wherever possible.
• We believe that it is essential in the process of matching a child with his/her adoptive parents that as much information as possible is gained in order that informed decisions can be made.
• We will ensure that all our therapeutic services take into consideration current research and best practice in the field of adoption support.
• We believe fun and play are important aspects of a healing adoptive placement, and we will incorporate creative and fun aspects in our support services.
• We believe that truly understanding the individual child and adults needs, skills and strengths, is central to providing effective support services.
• We aim to work with the whole family network, as we recognise the importance of the support family and friends provide to the adoptive family.
• We aim to work with schools, as we believe sharing knowledge and adopting a joined up approach can help children with trauma and attachment difficulties. By increasing understanding of attachment and learning, we believe schools are better able to provide education in a way that children can access.
• We will ensure that all staff employed by Adoptionplus are appropriately qualified, experienced, recruited, supervised and supported in carrying out their responsibilities.
• We will involve and consult service users in the delivery and development of services.
• We will maintain confidentiality and security of all adoption records and information.
• With regards to our services for birth families our aim is to help birth parents come to terms with the loss of their child, through a creative and flexible approach to counselling.
• Our service objectives are to assist where appropriate in the quality of any contact between the child and birth parent.
• Where children have been removed by the local authority because of concerns regarding abuse or neglect, the service aims to support birth parents in understanding their responsibility in the circumstances that led to their child being removed and adopted. By doing so reduce the likelihood of repeated patterns of behaviour.
• The service will assist birth parents in accessing any additional specialist support services that may be helpful to them.
• Adoptionplus will work closely with local authority adoption and permanency teams to ensure the service remains consistent with their requirements.

Services Adoptionplus provides

• Adoptive placements
• Post placement support services
• Specialist attachment assessment services
• Specialist attachment therapeutic services ( including IDP, theraplay and narrative attachment therapy and specialist occupational therapy, sensory attachment intervention)
• Children’s books
• Children’s guides to adoption and adoption support (books and MP3 players)
• Therapeutic services to birth relatives
• Adoption counselling for adopted adults
• Counselling for adopters
• Specialist attachment and narrative training
• Training and advice for schools regarding attachment, trauma, and learning

Responsible Individual and Registered Manager

The Responsible Individual and Registered Manager is Joanne Alper based at the above address. Joanne is a qualified Social Worker holding a CQSW, a degree in Social Policy and Administration; a Diploma in Play Therapy and a Diploma in Management Studies.

Organisational Structure of the Agency

The procedures for assessing need

Adoptionplus has a variety of systems in place to monitor and review the services we provide. These include:

• Feedback forms completed after every 6th session of our counselling service.
• Internal evaluations.
• Local authority evaluations via quarterly reports.
• Board analysis.

Complaints Procedure

Since registration there have been no complaints received.

Registration Authority

The name and address of the Registration Authority is:

OFSTED
National Business Unit
Royal Exchange Buildings
St Ann’s Square
Manchester M2 7LA

The Statement of Purpose can be supplied in different formats appropriate to the physical, sensory and learning impairment, communication difficulties and language of all those who may need to read it.  Translations can be provided, MP3 players can be made available.