Regional Update – August 2024
ABOUT US
WEST MIDLANDS ADCS NETWORK
West Midlands ADCS Network is the Regional Association for Directors of Children's Services and their Senior Management teams across the Region. We also work closely with our colleagues in the eight other English regions and with the national office of the Association for Directors of Children’s Services.
MEET OUR CHAIR
![Jo Britton - Telford and Wrekin.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d222e8_9f977a193e6b4801b8a5c058aba53509~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_34,y_0,w_332,h_400/fill/w_157,h_189,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Jo%20Britton%20-%20Telford%20and%20Wrekin.jpg)
Our members hold leadership roles in children’s services departments in the 14 local authorities and three children's trusts in the West Midlands, which are;
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Birmingham Children's Trust
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Birmingham City Council
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Coventry City Council
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Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
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Herefordshire Council
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Sandwell Children's Trust
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Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
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Shropshire Council
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Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
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Staffordshire County Council
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Stoke-on-Trent City Council
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Telford & Wrekin Council
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Walsall Council
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Warwickshire County Council
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City of Wolverhampton Council
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Worcestershire Children First
The current Chair of the West Midlands ADCS Network is Jo Britton, Executive Director, Children’s Services, Telford & Wrekin Council
They specialise in developing, commissioning and leading the delivery of services to children, young people and their families. This includes education, health, youth, early years and social care services. Working in partnership with other agencies our members work to achieve tailored and joined-up services for children, whatever their identified needs.
West Midlands ADCS Network is on a self-determined journey to be the best region for Children's Services in the country.
We plan to achieve this through collaboration, self-improvement, building on the annual self- evaluation and peer review and promoting best practice. We intend the West Midlands to be a place where children and young people thrive and families are supported, inspired by a dedicated workforce keeping children and young people safe, where we will consistently deliver good and increasingly outstanding, education, health and wellbeing outcomes for all our young West Midlands citizens.
The three pillars for change that we are using to underpin the journey to achieving our ambition are:
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WHAT WE DO
West Midlands ADCS Network members strive to drive improvements in all areas of policy and practice. Through the contributions of its members and provides the collective voice of professionals in children's services leadership roles on policy, practice and resourcing of the wide variety of services available to children, young people and their families across the West Midlands.
West Midlands ADCS Network works closely with local and national politicians, government departments, other public sector bodies, the community and voluntary sectors and other professional bodies on designing and delivering integrated services for children, young people and their families.
We aim to provide invaluable support and advice to colleagues. Our work is undertaken through the remit of the statutory requirement of Director of Children's Services and a supportive regional collaborative approach across the 14 local authorities areas. This is to make a positive difference to the lives of children, young people and families in the West Midlands.
WORKING NATIONALLY
We use our association with ADCS nationally to benefit from a network of expert professional leaders in identifying good practice and share learning to improve the lives of children, young people and families in the West Midlands.
NETWORK HUB
Using a network structure across a number of children's services cross-cutting themes, seek to identify and develop best practice and share learning to improve the lives of children, young people and families in the West Midlands.