Manchester has some of the best – and some of the worst – boroughs in the country for adopted children and their welfare after care, according to new national figures.
Of 151 local authorities, Rochdale had the highest percentage of 19-year-olds who were ‘looked after’ or in care at aged 16 and now classified as ‘NEET’ – not in employment, education or training.
Last year 65% of 19-year-olds in the borough were in this category compared to the national average of 36%.
Gladys Rhodes White, Interim Executive Director of Children’s Services at Rochdale Council said: “The cohort is very small and therefore any changes from one or two young people has a noticeable impact on the cohort figures.”
The borough was one of only ten to have over 50% of young people NEET, and one of only two to have over 60%.
The other was Blackpool, with 63%.
Another borough of Greater Manchester shamed by the figures is the City of Manchester, this time in relation to suitable accommodation.
Only 79% of young people aged 19, who were looked after at aged 16, are now deemed to be in suitable accommodation.
The national average for formerly adopted young people in suitable accommodation is 88%, and Manchester is one of only 14, out of 151, to fall below 80%
Those figures are in stark contrast to neighbours Salford.
The city can boast that 100% of adopted young people aged 19, who were looked after at aged 16, were in suitable accommodation last year.
The city council has placed 100% of young care leavers in suitable accommodation for three years in a row, the report shows.
Only 12 other local authorities had 100% of 19-year-olds who had previously been in care in suitable accommodation in 2012. The national average was 88%.
Salford is one of only five councils to have maintained this 100% record since 2010.
Furthermore, only 19% of 19 year olds who had been in care in Salford were not in education, employment or training, compared to the national average of 36%.
Councillor John Merry, assistant mayor for children and young people, praised council staff for their achievements.
“Children come into the care of the local authority for many different reasons and we take our role as corporate parent extremely seriously as these statistics demonstrate,” he said.
“We work hard to make sure that our young people get excellent support to move on to successful independent living after they become adults at 18.
“We work hard to find them suitable accommodation and support them in going on to training courses, apprenticeships, further and higher education or finding employment.
“We are delighted to have such an excellent track record and wish all our care leavers every success.”
Only three other councils had less than 20% of adopted young people NEET.
There was also positive news from Wigan, which was one of the most improved last year in terms of adoption success.
In March 2012, Wigan, Warrington and St Helens councils merged their adoption services to form WWISH.
A successful marketing and publicity campaign to recruit potential adopters saw a surge in those coming forward seeking to adopt.
WWISH had 34 prospective adopters approved and currently has another 42 adopters being assessed.
Ruth Fitzgerald, WWISH adoption manager, said: “We’ve been able to attract a significant number of new adopters in our first year. But there is still a shortfall in the amount of people coming forward offering to give a child a home and the number of children waiting to be adopted. This is a national problem.”
Since last March, 55 children have been adopted.
Ms Fitzgerald added: “It’s a real achievement to get 55 children adopted into loving, permanent homes in the space of 12 months.
“The adoption process is complex and time-consuming.
“We merged our services to try and speed up that process and give children needing to be adopted more opportunities. So far, it seems to be working.”
WWISH picked up two prizes at the Improvement and Efficiency Awards, 2013, a national competition honouring excellence in the public sector.
At a ceremony in London, staff from WWISH received gold in the ‘working together’ category and bronze in the ‘innovation in social care’ category.
WWISH was one of only two council services to win two prizes.
Ms Fitzgerald said “It’s been a great first year for the service and I’m delighted all our hard work has been recognised.”
Picture courtesy of Mike Delgaudio, via WikiCommons, with thanks.
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