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Guidance

Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): adoption support agencies

Guidance on how Ofsted inspects adoption support agencies.

Updates to this page

From:
Ofsted
Published:
22 February 2017
Last updated:
1 April 2026
Show all updates

  1. Clarification in 'The inspection principles', 'The focus of inspection' and 'Evaluation criteria' sections regarding adoption agencies that provide services to adults. Revised section on 'Evaluating the experiences and progress of children'.

  2. We have clarified the list of the provider types that the SCCIF applies to, adding ‘Supported accommodation for looked-after children and care leavers aged 16 and 17’ in the Introduction section. We have also clarified the content of the inspection report in The inspection report section and our policy on publishing monitoring reports. In response to the Big Listen, we have clarified the focus and principles of inspection, including children’s voices, placement planning, promoting permanence and belonging.

  3. We have clarified the process to raise concerns or complaints during and after an inspection. In the ‘Start of the inspection’ section, we have clarified how the provider can request any adaptations to the inspection process due to a protected characteristic, or any reasonable adjustments due to a disability. We have made minor changes to the evaluation criteria and on-site inspection sections to reference non-speaking children.

  4. This framework has been updated to clarify that, when applying the framework, inspectors will take appropriate action to comply with Ofsted’s Equality Act duties, clarification on the opportunities for providers to discuss and/or provide information on potential equalities duties, including reasonable adjustments for individuals, clarification regarding Ofsted’s updated arrangements for publishing the report, quality assurance and handling concerns and complaints in line with Ofsted’s new complaints process in the timeframe sections, references to Ofsted’s pausing process, updated to reflect regulation amendments (Dec 2018) and to confirm Ofsted’s expectation that NMS 25 reports are shared annually, updated guidance on monitoring visits, updated section on reporting concerns about the administration and management of controlled drugs.

  5. Additional guidance on deferring an inspection, inspector conduct during inspections, when and how the provider can raise issues, concerns or complaints during and after the inspection, supporting the well-being of the provider’s managers and staff during inspections and visits, attendance at keeping in touch meetings, discussions with staff and feedback meetings and who the provider may share provisional and final inspection outcomes with

  6. Minor amends to the guidance on case tracking to make it consistent with the independent fostering agencies and voluntary adoption agencies SCCIF guidance. Guidance added to the ‘Inadequate judgements: next steps’ section on feeding back to local authorities.

  7. Minor changes to the evaluation criteria to align, where applicable, with other framework changes on children’s progress, the management of risk and the need to appoint a registered manager, if the post is vacant, within 26 weeks. Small change to guidance for inspectors on recording evidence in the inspection database.

  8. Minor edits for clarity in the 'Timeframe' and 'Monitoring visit' sections. Revised text referencing the updated 'Ofsted code of conduct' policy.

  9. Added updated SCCIF for April 2022: added guidance for when inspectors discover possible unregistered provision.

  10. Updated guidance on the scheduling of inspections of agencies previously judged inadequate or requires improvement to be good, to make this consistent with our guidance on all adoption and fostering agency inspections.

  11. Added guidance on inspecting adoption support agencies during COVID-19 restrictions. Updated guidance to reflect the changes to Ofsted’s post-inspection processes and complaints handling (including the timeline) that we introduced in September 2020. Updates to the 'Frequency of inspection' section to include a rolling 3-year inspection programme. Minor edits for readability.

  12. First published.

Applies to England

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Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): adoption support agencies

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This framework sets out Ofsted’s process for inspecting adoption support agencies.

Our approach is underpinned by the following 3 principles that apply to all social care inspections:

  • to focus on the things that matter most to children’s lives
  • to be consistent in our expectations of providers
  • to prioritise our work where improvement is needed most

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