Fostering & adoption agencies in Scotland

A number of agencies and authorities work together to provide services for children, including local authority adoption, fostering and residential services, voluntary adoption agencies and independent fostering providers. This page provides information about the regulation and management of these services.

Some of the documents linked to on this page are in the pdf format.

To read pdfs you will need Acrobat Reader (download free from Adobe).

> Finding providers of adoption and fostering services
> Regulatory bodies
> Regulations
> Standards
> Inspections and ratings
> Managing services for children and families
> Involving children and young people in decision making
> Interagency and registration fees
> Services for BAAF member agencies

Finding providers of adoption and fostering services

Our agencies database lists details of registered adoption and fostering services in the UK who are BAAF members.

A searchable database of registered care services in Scotland provided by the Care Commission

A list of councils in Scotland provided by COSLA offering contact details and website links.

Regulatory bodies

The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission) http://www.carecommission.com
started under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 to regulate and inspect care services in Scotland.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) http://www.sssc.uk.com is responsible for raising standards social care standards in Scotland through registration of the social service workforce and promoting and developing education and training

Regulations

• The Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 1996
• The Fostering of Children (Scotland) Regulations 1996
• The Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2002
• The Regulation of Care (Requirements as to Care Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2004
• The Regulation of Care (Applications and Provision of Advice) (Scotland) Order 2002
• The Regulation of Care (Applications and Provision of Advice) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2004
• The Regulation of Care (Registration and Registers) (Scotland) Regulations 2002
• The Regulation of Care (Registration and Registers) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2004

Standards

• Using Care Services? National Care Standards a Guide: Background information for care users
• National Care Standards Adoption Agencies
• National Care Standards Care Homes for Children and Young People
• National Care Standards Foster Care and Family Placement Services

Inspections and ratings

The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) was set up in 2002 to regulate and inspect Scottish care services. Information about the inspection process and copies of inspection reports are available on the website http://www.carecommission.com

Managing services for children and families

Listed below are a number of resources on good practice and service development.

Good Practice

• The Audit Commission report 'Old Virtues, New Virtues'provides an overview of the changes in social care services from 1996-2003 and highlights examples of good practice as shown in Joint Reviews in England.
• The Joint Reviews Making Ends Meet website provides guidance and examples of good practice for managing the demand for placements and managing the supply of placements
• The 'Racial Equality in Health and Social Care: Good Practice Guide' published by the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety includes strategies for good practice
.

Improving Services

• 'Tomorrow's Children' is a discussion paper highlighting the needs of vulnerable and excluded children and examining how UK childcare services need to develop in the next decade in order to meet these needs. http://www.adss.org.uk/
  publications/other/tomorrow.pdf
• 'From vision to reality: transforming outcomes for children and families' is a guidance document produced by a coalition of children's sector organisations detailing proposals for the development of children's services. http://www.lga.gov.uk/
  Documents/Publication/visiontoreality.pdf
• Information about the six strands of the Co-ordinating Children's Services Programme (includes Children's Trusts and Information Sharing and Assessment) can be found on the Children and Young People's Unit website at http://www.cypu.gov.uk/
  corporate/services/index.cfm
• The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) has published the first in a three-part briefing series designed to help people working in children's services to consider the most effective means of delivering improved outcomes for children and their families http://www.idea.gov.uk
  /children/?id=childrenbriefings

Involving children and young people in decision making

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child http://www.unicef.org/crc/bg007.htm states that children have the right to express views on all issues that affect them, and that their views should be taken into consideration. The UK has ratified this Convention and the requirement to seek and take into account the views of children and young people is becoming part of UK law and policy. Listed here are a number of resources and tools that are designed to help policy makers involve children and young people.

Research

• A summary of a study carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research, which explored the challenges that local authorities may face when involving young people in local authority decision-making http://www.jrf.org.uk
  /knowledge/findings
  /government/632.asp
• The 3rd Quality Protects Research Briefing looks at young people's participation. It sums up the issues, reviews local authority action plans, and makes recommendations for improving practice http://www.rip.org.uk/
  publications/documents
  /QPB/QPB3.PDF
• 'Building a culture of participation' describes the ways that children and young people can be involved in decision making and identifies factors that promote good outcomes http://www.dfes.gov.uk/
  listeningtolearn/downloads/
  BuildingaCultureofParticipation
  %5Breport%5D.pdf
• 'Listen then commission' is published by the Who Cares? Trust and the Fostering Network and reports on a study examining how young people looked after in public care could be involved in the commissioning process for foster care provision http://www.dfes.gov.uk/
  choiceprotects/pdfs/listen.pdf

Resources

• A list of questions on consulting children has been provided on the Making Ends Meet website http://www.joint-reviews.gov.uk
  /money/children/4-210
  .html#4-2102
• A list of books and tools that can be used to help children and young people in contact with children's services make decisions about their care http://www.dfes.gov.uk/
  integratedchildrenssystem/
  involvingchildren/involving1.shtml
• Details of books and tools to help practitioners communicate with and involve disabled children in planning and decision making http://www.dfes.gov.uk
  /integratedchildrenssystem/
  involvingchildren/
  involving2.shtml and http://www.dfes.gov.uk
  /integratedchildrenssystem
  /involvingchildren
  /involving3.shtml
• Listening to Children is a Choice Protects supplement on good practice in children's advocacy and participation http://www.dfes.gov.uk/
  choiceprotects/pdfs
  /issue2_aw.pdf
• The 'Building a culture of participation handbook' discusses ideas on successfully involving children and young people in service planning, delivery and evaluation http://www.dfes.gov.uk/
  listeningtolearn/downloads/
  BuildingaCultureofParticipation%5
  Bhandbook%5D.pdf
• Re:action is a toolkit designed to offer practice guidance on consulting with children and young people on policy related issues http://www.savethechildren.org.uk
  /temp/scuk/cache/cmsattach/
  960_reactiontoolkit.pdf

Interagency and registration fees

See our financial information section.

Services for BAAF member agencies

BAAF provides a host of Services for BAAF member agencies, from training and advice to consultancy. For more information see the BAAF members' area, or join BAAF.