ADCS - Leading Children's Services

The Association of Directors of Children's Services - ADCS - is the national leadership Association in England for statutory directors of children's services and other children's services professionals in leadership roles.

Our members specialise in considering, developing, commissioning, leading and managing children's services in all the diverse ways in which they are provided to children, young people, families and communities.

Through the contribution of our members, ADCS ensures a vigorous presence in all areas concerning education, children's social care and safeguarding. Our members are actively involved in the strategic planning, delivery, commissioning and management of services for children and young people including adolescents, children at school, in children's centres and nurseries, children in need of different types of protection and care - residential, fostering or adoption - as well as young offenders, teenage parents and vulnerable families.

ADCS is based on a welcoming and supportive regional branch structure which provides a network for mutual support and sits alongside our comprehensive policy committee framework.

ADCS works closely with Ministers, government officials, the community and voluntary sectors, local government organisations and other key local and national agencies on the implementation and implications of The Children Act 2004 and the Change for Children programme, the children's workforce, local authority and school inspections.

Through its national network of expert professional leaders in children's services, ADCS provides invaluable routine professional support and advice to colleagues.

About us...

ADCS

On 5th February 2007 the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) was formally launched. The new Association brings together Confed and the children’s element of the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS). (read more about the launch)

Purpose

The purpose of ADCS is to provide a national leadership organisation in England for DCSs appointed under the provisions of the Children Act 2004. The Association will provide a national voice as a champion for children with local and central government and with the public. The Association corporately and its members individually are committed to a national framework for children’s services with a clear definition of accountabilities, powers and responsibilities; local delivery of children’s services that are accountable to local communities through the democratic process; promoting research, development, innovation and learning across children’s services. Within local government ADCS is the professional contact point on children’s services issues with central government.

How it will make a difference?

ADCS will be the single association working with the leadership role for local authority children’s services. For the first time, the new Association will enable statutory DCSs (and children’s services leaders at 2nd and 3rd tier) to come together with a strong common voice, both nationally through the ADCS and locally through the regional branch structure of ADCS and will provide a single focus for national and local government, the public, media and leaders of other national statutory and voluntary organisations on the leadership of LA children’s services as we all work together to improve outcomes for all children and young people.

Our values

We are committed to:

A national framework for children's services with a clear definition of accountabilities, powers and responsibilities
Local delivery of children's services that are accountable to local communities through the democratic process
Promoting equality and diversity in service delivery and in the children's services workforce
Securing both adequate and equitable funding to deliver and support the work of children's services in each local authority area
Promoting improved outcomes for all children, young people, their families and carers so that they are healthy, safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well being.

Origins

Since the tragic death of Victoria Climbie, both ADSS and Confed, along with key voluntary organisations and children’s charities, have worked together on the influential Children’s Inter-Agency Group. In recognition of the creation of the new statutory post of DCS, surely one of the most challenging chief officer posts in modern local government, created by the Children Act 2004, ADSS and Confed established joint membership arrangements for DCSs.

ADSS and Confed had in the past dealt with social care and education functions respectively. However, in April 2006, the elected officers of Confed and ADSS agreed, through what became known as the Hinckley Accord, that a new single professional association should be created to represent DCSs and other senior leaders in local government children’s services. A ballot of all members in both associations soon followed, the result of which was overwhelming support for the creation of the new association ADCS.

About ADSS

ADSS was established when the statutory post of Director of Social Services was created in accordance with Section 6 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. Since its establishment ADSS has been the foremost Association for leaders in social care throughout local government and at the interface with the NHS. ADSS specialises in considering, developing, commissioning and managing social care in all the diverse ways in which it is provided to young people, families and communities.

About Confed

Initially established in 1906 as the Association of Directors and Secretaries for Education, the association evolved over time into the broader-based Society of Education Officers. The Confederation of Children’s Services Managers was officially launched in July 2002 by the then Secretary of Sate for Education & Skills, Estelle Morris, thus marking the beginning of the association’s expansion into the broader children’s services agenda.

Confed was an umbrella body and a Learned Society; the founding constituent bodies of the Confederation were the Society of Education Officers (SEO), the Association of Directors of Education and Children’s Services, (ADECS formerly the Association of Chief Education Officers), and the National Association of Senior School Improvement Professionals, (NASSIPs formerly the Society of Chief Inspectors and Advisers). Latterly (July 2005) the Association of LEA Advisory Officers for Multi- cultural Education (ALAOME) became a constituent body of the Confederation.