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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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