This meeting was scheduled to include an update on the work of the One Adoption West Yorkshire agency. The Committee was also scheduled to receive the agency's half year report.

One Adoption West Yorkshire

This was scheduled to be a wide ranging discussion covering all aspects of the adoption agency's work, and including updates on the issues raised at the previous meeting on 13th October 2023.

Multi-disciplinary Team Funding

The Head of Service, Michelle Rawlings, was scheduled to update the committee on the agency's attempts to secure funding for its multi-disciplinary team. The previous meeting had heard that the team had lost funding from the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.¹ The team, which is responsible for providing support and services to adoptive families and children, had already had to remove its speech and language therapist position due to the funding shortfall. At the previous meeting the committee had agreed to write to the WYICB to request that it reconsider its decision. The report prepared for this meeting states that:

The proposed budget for 2025/26 has not currently been agreed, nor have the funding for the multi-disciplinary team within the agency. A reduction or removal of funding poses a risk to service delivery within the context of rising demand.

-- HOS Report December 2024

Early Permanence

The Head of Service's report describes two projects that aim to develop the use of early permanence². The first project is funded by the national adoption strategy team, and aims to place children who typically wait longer for adoption with families. The second project is being run in conjunction with local Voluntary Adoption Agencies and aims to develop and increase the use of early permanence practice across Yorkshire and Humber.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Councillor J Pritchard had requested an update on how the agency is supporting the families of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).

Delays to Medical Examinations

The committee was scheduled to discuss the ongoing issue of delays to adoptive parent’s medical examinations. According to the minutes of the previous meeting many surgeries are deprioritising the examinations. This creates delays in the adoption process. .

Half Year Report

The committee was scheduled to consider the One Adoption West Yorkshire Half Year Report for April-September 2024. The report was prepared by Michelle Rawlings, the Head of One Adoption West Yorkshire. The report had not been published at the time of the meeting. The report for the previous 6 months, to March 2023 showed that:

• 181 children were adopted
• 242 children had an adoption plan but were not yet matched with an adoptive family

The report also described how the agency was attempting to recruit more adoptive parents from BAME communities. It stated that A Black adoption manager has started to lead on this work by building links and networks with religious and community groups. .