Regional DPS framework of Voluntary Adoption Agencies

The South East Wales Adoption Service would like to move towards a strategic sourcing approach to providing adoption placements for children across the South East Wales Region when using external agencies to provide placements. A move towards a strategic sourcing approach would project the likely number of placements to made by the Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAA) each year, offering the VAAs more security from which to enhance their service and provide the Regional Collaborative with clearer information for budgeting. Greater parity would emerge between the sourcing of external placements from statutory and voluntary sectors in Wales, with Welsh VAAs being used as an integral part in supporting placement activity within the Regional Collaborative. Critically, it would strengthen the Wales placement strategy in the placement of more Welsh children with families in Wales. Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council acting as lead commissioner on behalf of the South East Wales Adoption Service, is seeking expressions of interest from organisations who can actively support the Welsh Placement Strategy to place Welsh Children in Wales and wish to be considered for inclusion on a regional DPS souring framework of Voluntary Adoption Agencies. There will be an expectation that interested parties maintain collaborative working arrangements to reduce waiting times for children and the infrastructure is in place to manage the number of placements likely to be required.