Minimum standards gain Baaf approval

Baaf Adoption and Fostering has welcomed the publication of the
final national minimum standards for voluntary agencies in England
and Wales and English local authority services.

Baaf says the standards, which come into force on 30 April, are
clearer than last year’s draft proposals, and should help voluntary
and local authority adoption agencies meet the requirements.

The standards set out the regulatory framework to which adoption
agencies will work and be inspected on by the National Care
Standards Commission and the Welsh assembly, which will also
register the agencies.

One of the biggest changes is that the different sets of standards
for voluntary and statutory services proposed originally have been
merged into one.

“The initial plan was confusing and this makes much more sense to
adopters, children and birth families,” said Felicity Collier,
Baaf’s chief executive.

Collier also welcomed the inclusion in the final standards of a
“values statement” setting out the principles of adoption as a
child-centred service. This was omitted from the initial document.

Another change is the emphasis on involving birth parents in
planning and decision-making and the requirement for them to have
access to a support worker when it is decided that the child will
be adopted. 

– More at
www.doh.gov.uk/adoption/national-minstandards-vaaslas.htm