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Issue:- 31 March 2010

Simply ‘Outstanding’!  North West Adoption Agency achieves Ofsted accreditation

THIS week has seen Government Inspectors hail North West Adoption Agency Adoption Matters Northwest as ‘Outstanding’ in all its areas of work.  This accreditation is the highest awarded by the official care and education inspector Ofsted recognising outstanding childcare providers throughout the UK. Adoption Matters Northwest (AMNW) will now be published alongside other excellent services in the Ofsted Annual Report 2011.

Childcare providers on the list have shown an excellent quality of care and education across the full range of their work to support children in their development.  The report states that AMNW is an agency that has an exceptional approach to ensuring children’s futures are safeguarded through adoption. It highlights in particular the rigorous attention to detail and high levels of staff stating that the agency has recruited only the most suitable people that can help to give children an optimistic future.

With nearly 200 children in care in the North West who have been waiting more than nine months, AMNW hopes that this accreditation will help raise more awareness across the region of these worrying statistics.

Chief Executive of AMNW Norman Goodwin comments:- “To be named once more as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted is a huge achievement by the whole team. Our work is so much more than a ‘job’, we touch people’s lives every day and hope to offer a service that is both sensitive yet professional.”

The inspector was also impressed during his visit with the conscientious approach the agency has to its work with families. The service’s therapy project, introduced last year, is accredited in particular as showing complex, therapeutic intervention to assist parents to meet their children’s needs.

The report states that this, combined with other activity, shows an open-ended commitment by AMNW to its families by working tirelessly with all agencies involved to secure the most suitable matches.

Goodwin adds:- “We hold a great deal of admiration and respect for the families we deal with daily, whether they are at the start of their journey or adopters already with children in placement, and this accolade shows that our achievements have been recognised.”

The adoption agency, which has offices in Chester, Hale and Blackburn, is proud to have consistently held the ‘Outstanding’ badge for the past three years since it was introduced and this report will see AMNW hold Oftsted’s highest stamp of approval for a further 3 years.

“With 500 children still in care in the North West we now hope that we can move forward over the coming year and place even more children into new families.”

Childcare providers that appear on the Outstanding Providers list receive commemorative certificates and are authorised to use an exclusive ‘outstanding provider’ logo. Adoption Matters Northwest was one of only 18 adoption agencies (13 local authorities and 5 VAAs) to be awarded the standard and one of only two adoption agencies to retain the standard for a second period.

New schemes to get Liverpool In Work

A MAJOR drive to encourage new businesses and get thousands of unemployed people into work over the next 2 years is to be launched in Liverpool.  ‘Liverpool In Work’ is a new approach which will see advisors working with residents in community buildings across the city and help get them into a job.

Around £4.4 million has been secured for the project over the next two years, with half coming from the European Social Fund and the remainder from the city council and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). 

It is estimated that around 4,000 people will be helped into employment by this project between now and 2013. It will focus on the most deprived communities and those people who need the most support.  In addition, £600,000 is to be pumped into a ‘neighbourhood business start up’ scheme over the next year, to encourage people to start their own companies. It aims to develop 650 new firms over the next year, creating 800 new jobs and secure a further 650 posts.

This initiative will be led by business experts with strong links with schools, colleges and other education establishments. They will focus on under 25s, over 50s, women and black and minority ethnic groups.

Councillor Nick Small, cabinet member for employment and skills said:- “This is an ambitious programme to help thousands of people off the dole and into proper jobs.  Although many new positions have been created in the city in the last decade, we still have major issues with long term worklessness in Liverpool.  This is a fundamental shift which will enable us to focus more of our resources on helping and supporting people by reaching them in the places that they go to, rather than waiting for them to come to us.  At a time when we are trying to squeeze as much out of every pound that we spend, it is vital we focus our funding on the front line rather than it being locked up in overheads such as buildings.  It is another key part of our aim to develop a well trained workforce that is well placed to take advantage of the city’s improving economic fortunes.”

Talks are already underway with a number of RSLs to secure their support for the projects and lever in the additional funding.

Nick Kavanagh, the city council’s Director of Regeneration, said:- “This is a new way of working which will enable us to eliminate the duplication and overlap between our work and that of Job Centre Plus, and make sure we get to those who most need our support.  By working closely with our partners such as Registered Social Landlords in communities across the city, we can deliver a more efficient and effective service which will get more residents off benefits and into work, which is vital to grow the city’s economy.  These organisations are well placed to support us with this new approach because they understand the needs of their residents and have a great deal of knowledge of the issues and barriers to getting a job.”


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