The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd

The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd Inspection report for independent fostering agency

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SC036963 Unique reference number 6 June 2008 Inspection date Jacqueline Dunster / Suzanne Young Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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The Foster Care Co-operative Address Penny Hall The Haysfield MALVERN Worcestershire WR14 1GF 01684 892380 Telephone number enquiries@fostercarecooperative.co.uk Email The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd Registered person Anne Mary Bard Registered manager Lawrence Roland Gregory Responsible individual 5 June 2007 Date of last inspection .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children's Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Cripins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcome for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and relevant National Minimum Standards for the establishment.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is strong Good: this aspect of the provision is sound Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Inadequate: 3 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008

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Brief description of the service

The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd (Foster Care Co-operative) is registered as a co-operative under common ownership with Co-operatives UK, the National Clearing House and the Representative body for Co-operatives in the UK. It is registered as a limited company. Foster Care Co-operative was first registered in 2004. It operates from branches within England and Wales. The head office of the English branch is in Malvern, Worcestershire where the administrative headquarters are based. Foster Care Co-operative operates over a wide range of locations in England. The Registered Manager is the director and has management responsibility for the social work staff and the running of the service. The Registered Manager is based in the Malvern office and also travels across the country for the purposes of the service. At the time of the inspection Foster Care Co-operative supports 57 foster families who accommodate 66 children and young people.

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Summary

During this full inspection which was announced all key standards were inspected. The inspection focussed on arrangements to meet children and young people's individual needs, to safeguard children and young people's welfare and to enable children and young people to participate effectively in their day to day care. Additional standards were inspected relating to helping young people to prepare for independent living and the organisation of the service. Foster Care Co-operative is judged as satisfactory overall. The agency has good outcomes in enabling all children and young people to enjoy participating in activities and leisure provision. Outstanding practice in education helps children and young people to achieve more of their potential. High levels of supervision and support for foster carers help to safeguard children and young people. However, the agency's records do not evidence and support matching and safe caring practices.

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Summary

There are weaknesses in recording practices, procedures and staff vetting. As a result the setting does not fully underpin and evidence effective work with the children and young people. The overall quality rating is satisfactory. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Following the last inspection Foster Care Co-operative was required to ensure that foster carers' approval is reviewed annually. This has been achieved. This ensures that foster carers continue to be suitable to care for children and young people placed with them. The agency now returns all children and young people's records to the placing authority at the end of a placement. This ensures children’s records are safe and comprehensive. The agency has introduced a new procedure for exemption certificates to ensure foster carers only care for more than three children in circumstances prescribed by the Children Act 1989. As a result children and young people who are already in a placement and those seeking placement are protected. The child protection policy and assessment practices have been improved to offer additional protection to children and young people. The agency has developed the quality assurance system. However,

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Improvements since the last inspection

it does not yet fully ensure that it influences the quality of care delivered by the agency. The agency has not yet undertaken the recommended measures to ensure children and young people are able to influence the work of the agency. The agency has completed recommendations to improve the matching procedure, risk assessment process, record keeping and training. However they do not fully support and evidence the safe care of children and young people. 4 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 The agency was recommended to improve record keeping. Although some matters have been addressed, there remain significant shortfalls in this area. The record keeping and completion of documentation does not support or evidence the work of the agency. The agency has not put in place a requirement for medication to be kept in a locked place. As a result children and young people’s safety is not yet assured.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Foster Care Co-operative gathers information relating to the health needs of children and young people at the point of referral. This enables it to place children and young people with foster carers who are able to meet their specific health needs. The agency employs a health liaison worker who completes a base line health assessment on children and young people placed. The health liaison worker puts plans in place for children and young people with disability or specialist health provision. This contributes to careful monitoring of their progress. The agency provides training on health matters relating to physical and emotional well-being to foster carers and supervising social workers. Further guidance on health matters is available in the foster carers' handbook. Supervising social workers discuss health matters at every supervision session with foster carers. They seek to guide and give advice on health matters. The health liaison worker

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Helping children to be healthy

provides advice on health issues in the agency newsletter. These practices ensure that staff and foster carers are competent and knowledgeable to meet the health needs of children and young people. Foster carers help children and young people to develop healthy lifestyles to improve their long term health. Children and young people are encouraged to eat healthy food and develop active lifestyles. The agency seeks to meet the emotional needs of children and young people. They provide training on attachment, separation and loss and developing resilience. The health liaison worker ensures referrals to child and adolescent mental health services are vigorously pursued where required. Foster carers register children and young people with primary health care professionals without delay. They ensure children and young people attend appointments and health checks. They advocate effectively for children and young

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Helping children to be healthy

people to have their health needs met. The foster carers maintain a written health record which details all health interventions and medication administered. The arrangements for giving consent to medical treatment are clarified and recorded at the point of placement. The agency maintains an electronic record of all treatments and incidents relating to the health of children and young people. The health liaison worker regularly scrutinises and monitors this information to ensure that proper health care is provided and emerging trends identified. The system in place for recording and monitoring health supports effective management of improved health outcomes for children and young people. The agency does not have a system that highlights any serious health concern clearly in the child or young person's record. As a result serious issues relating to health have the potential to be overlooked. Foster Care Co-operative actively

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Helping children to be healthy

contributes to improved health outcomes for children and young people. It has developed good systems for managing and recording health matters.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. The agency's foster carers generally provide a safe, healthy and nurturing environment. The agency ensures foster homes are suitable for children and young people who are placed there. Supervising social workers visit the homes frequently. A qualified health and safety consultant visits each home and carries out a full assessment of the environment and recommends 5 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 improvements. Health and safety checks are carried out annually. However, the records retained on the foster carers' files are not always the most recent. It is, therefore, difficult to easily establish which remedial works have been undertaken and which still require completion. As a result children and young people are potentially at risk of injury in the home. Foster carers are required to keep medicines locked away or out of reach. However, medicine is not all locked

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

away which places children and young people at risk as they are able to access it without supervision. The agency requires children and young people to have their own bedrooms, unless they share with siblings and the placing social worker has assessed sharing as in a child or young person’s best interest. Foster homes inspected are warm, welcoming and homely. Children and young people feel comfortable and safe there increasing the placement stability. The agency trains foster carers in health and safety. It provides guidance on safe practices in and around the home and in vehicles. This helps to protect children and young people from the risk of harm in the home and its surroundings. The agency gathers adequate information prior to placing children and young people and identifies foster carers able to meet their identified needs. Outcomes for children and young people, their own views and those of the foster carers

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

demonstrate that children and young people are generally matched to foster carers who have the capacity to meet their individual needs. Social workers outline matters they take into account when making placements. However, the agency is not evidencing this in the case record. On occasions matching documents do not clarify the reasons for the placement of a child or young person with a particular foster carer or the measures in place that address any gaps in the match. These shortfalls have the potential to compromise the quality of the matching. This has the potential to result in the placement of a child or young person with a foster carer who is unable to meet their individual needs leading to placement breakdown. The matching process takes greater account of needs relating to ethnicity, culture and religion. Planned introductions are undertaken for most placements. As a result the transition into the foster home is easier.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

These measures increase the likelihood of a successful placement for children and young people. Foster placement agreements, for each individual placement, do not address all the matters required by the Fostering Regulations. This reduces the integrity of the record which describes why a child or young person has been placed with a particular foster carer and the purpose, roles and responsibilities in relation to the placement. This has the potential to conflict with the overall care plan for a child or young person or compromise the standard of care offered. Social workers and foster carers understand the child protection policy. Foster Care Co-operative responds appropriately to child protection matters. The agency trains staff and foster carers in child protection and provides guidance on safeguarding procedures. However the child protection policy does not contain the correct information regarding which local authority to

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

make a referral to. Although foster carers and staff refer allegations appropriately, this omission has the potential to cause confusion and delay compromising a child or young person’s safety. The agency trains foster carers in safe caring practices and every home has a safe caring policy that is written during their assessment. Children and young people feel safe and understand the safe caring rules in the home because foster carers help children and young people to develop skills to protect themselves at home and in the wider world. The agency undertakes a separate assessment of risk when a new child or young person is placed in a foster home. This process is to identify additional risk factors that are managed through safe caring. Social workers describe how risk is assessed and safe caring practices are amended to address it. However, the assessment of risk documents are not always comprehensive because they are of variable quality.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The documents do not adequately demonstrate how safe caring guidelines are reviewed to meet the individual assessments of risk. Foster carers, social workers and children understand the need to manage risk and provide safe caring within the home but records of individual 6 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 assessments of risk do not support this safe practice. The agency's policy on restraint states that it prefers to avoid the use of physical intervention by foster carers. However, in practice there are some children and young people placed who are restrained to protect themselves or others from serious harm. The agency seeks to place such children and young people with foster carers who are trained in physical intervention. However, the agency's policy lacks clarity on the use of physical intervention and it does not represent the practice of the agency. As a result

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

foster carers are potentially confused. Although the agency provides training for carers who are identified as requiring it, the agency is not providing it without delay. As a result children and young people or foster carers are at risk because a restraint is used inappropriately. Foster Care Co-operative employs some administrative staff who have a CRB generated by a previous employer. Although recently undertaken they do not meet the requirement to acquire a CRB for prospective staff in Foster Care Co-operative's name. However these staff do not work directly with children and young people. Staff records have gaps with regard to the reason why they left their previous employment and there are also gaps in their employment history. This undermines the staff vetting process to protect children and young people from those who are unsuitable to work with them. However, staff working at the agency are well-qualified,

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

experienced and knowledgeable about the roles they fulfil. The agency operates a joint fostering panel with its Welsh fostering service. Panel members are subject to the same vetting process as staff who work within the agency. The panel includes members with expertise in child health and education so it has a good blend of expertise, knowledge and experience. Panel members undertake relevant training and are able to access advice from medical and legal officers. As a result they are effective in raising the quality of work presented to them through their quality assurance role. The panel produce an annual report which includes areas of practice for development by the agency. The panel tests the suitability of foster carers to help safeguard children and young people. This ensures it recommends the approval of applicants who have the potential to offer safe and competent care for children and young people. It monitors the

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

continued effectiveness of approved foster carers to ensure they continue to remain suitable to care for children and young people. Consequently Foster Care Co-operative has satisfactory safeguards in place to protect children and young people. However, these measures are not sufficiently supported or evidenced by documents that are used by the agency. This potentially undermines the effectiveness of safeguarding practices.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The agency has developed a matching form that improves the assessment of individual needs of young people and children in relation to ethnicity and culture. It seeks to place children and young people with foster carers who meet their needs. When children and young people are placed with foster carers who do not reflect their cultural or ethnic background, the agency ensures they meet their needs in other ways. The agency provides further training and advice as required. Foster carers ensure that children and young people are given the opportunity to participate in activities which reflect their culture. Foster carers support children and young people to explore and understand their own religion and culture and ensure they are aware of the impact of racism and ways in which to address their personal safety within the wider community. These practices increase the self-esteem and confidence of young people in

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

placement and are particularly effective where foster carers' own backgrounds reflect those of the children and young people placed. The agency makes positive use of the expertise of individual foster carers in relation to areas of race and culture and trains foster carers in diversity. As a result foster carers are encouraged to take an informed approach to issues of race and 7 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 culture to encourage a child or young person to have good self esteem. The agency supports children and young people with disability to participate in activities within their community subsidising costs of travel and participation where required. Foster carers work positively to ensure children and young people enjoy life to the full. Foster carers are effective in enabling children and young people to join in with their peer group within the wider community. In this

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

way they develop the self-esteem and social abilities of the children and young people living in their home. Foster carers ensure that children and young people from minority backgrounds develop a strong sense of their own identity. Children and young people with disability participate successfully in activities within the community. The agency employs an education liaison worker who makes contact with foster carers on approval. This ensures they are aware of their role and responsibility in relation to education and are clear about the worker's role to support them. Foster carers attend training on education and are provided with guidance on the current education system and attainment targets. This enables them to understand the education system in which the children and young people participate. The education liaison worker supports them with advice and guidance when educational issues arise. This enables

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

foster carers to act as effective advocates for children and young people in relation to education. The education liaison worker attends education meetings. The worker builds relationships with key education professionals to influence their understanding of the needs of looked after children and young people. This has a direct impact on the access of children and young people to appropriate provision and to the best schools. It also impacts on the number and length of exclusions which children and young people experience. Standard Attainment Test results indicate, at almost every stage, children and young people who are placed with Foster Care Co-operative achieve higher results than their peer group in the looked after system. By Key Stage 3, tests on 14 year olds show the gap is significantly closed between children and young people in the wider community who are not looked after and young people placed with Foster

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Care Co-operative. All post-16 year olds are continuing in the education system. Foster carers are positive about the benefits of education. They provide study facilities, equipment and assistance with homework to help children and young people to complete their school and college work. They attend parent evenings and build links in communication with teachers to effectively support children and young people. Foster Care Co-operative achieves outstanding outcomes in relation to education because it has a proactive approach to education. It carries out effective monitoring of educational outcomes and ensures foster carers are skilled to support and help children and young people achieve their potential. This provides children and young people with a firm grounding for future education, training and employment. The agency provides short-term breaks for children and young people, effectively supporting the main

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

carer within the child's birth family. There are no policies and procedures to differentiate this varying type of placement from other placements. This does not, therefore, ensure clarity about roles and responsibilities in relation to the care of children and young people receiving short-term breaks. Foster Care Co-operative ensures children and young people participate in leisure activities and hobbies which reflect their interests. They support children and young people from minority backgrounds and those with disability to fully participate in activities and deal with discrimination. The agency provides outstanding support to children and young people in their education. Therefore, the agency ensures that children and young people are able to enjoy and achieve in education and extra-curricular activities.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. 8 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 The agency trains foster carers to manage and support contact arrangements enabling foster carers to help children and young people maintain contact with their families and friends by giving them practical and emotional support. The agency acquires and records information about contact arrangements at the outset of the placement and places children and young people with foster carers able to meet the demands of any contact for the particular child or young person. Foster carers observe and record information on the impact of contact to inform care planning for children and young people and discuss issues relating to contact in regular supervision sessions. This sound practice in supporting contact contributes to the development of emotional stability in children and young people. Children and young people consider their

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Helping children make a positive contribution

views and opinions are listened to by their foster carers as they are able to influence their day to day care. This results in encouragement for them to take part in decision-making within the household. Supervising social workers meet regularly with children and young people to offer them the opportunity to raise issues about their placement or care plans. This relationship is important in establishing communication with children and young people. The agency ensures children and young people are aware of how to make a complaint or share concerns. The agency responds appropriately to complaints from all stakeholders. The agency provides a help line operated by an independent person children and young people independently access by phone. They are active in helping to redesign the leaflets and cards for this service. Foster and birth children contribute their views to the foster carers' annual reviews. These practices ensure that

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Helping children make a positive contribution

children and young people are able to contribute their views and opinions, raise their concerns and shape their everyday care. Children and young people do not have a clear influence on the development of the agency because the agency does not have systems in place to regularly consult directly with children and young people about the quality of care provided by the agency. Foster carers listen and respond to views of children and young people whilst supervising social workers build constructive relationships with children and young people in placement. However, children and young people are not able to influence the development of the service or the quality of care it offers except in a limited or ad hoc way.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The provision is satisfactory. Foster carers actively encourage children and young people to build skills for the future from an early age by helping them to develop practical domestic skills, the ability to manage their money, skills within the community and emotional maturity. Supervising social workers support foster carers in this work. The agency builds links with Connexions and local authority Supported Living Teams. This provides additional help for young people as they face the challenges of living independently. These practices assist young people to make positive transitions to independence. However, the agency does not have comprehensive guidance on preparing young people for leaving care and foster carers do not receive relevant training. This potentially exposes gaps in the knowledge and competence of foster carers in this complex area of practice. Foster carers work well with young people to prepare them for leaving care although this is

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Achieving economic wellbeing

not sufficiently supported by guidance and training

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. Staff and foster carers understand the aims and objectives of the agency through the Statement of Purpose, policies, guidance, training provided and regular supervision. The children’s guides do not help children and young people to understand the agency’s role as they are too complex 9 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 to be easily understood by all children and young people. The Statement of Purpose does not indicate the agency offers short-term break placements. This potentially leads to confusion for placing social workers. The agency continues to develop their monitoring and quality assurance systems and recording and reporting systems in relation to all matters that are monitored are in place. This is supplemented by monitoring that is carried out by the education and health liaison workers. However the agency has not yet developed a method that routinely

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Organisation

links monitoring to improvements in the quality of care that is provided. The management structures within the agency have changed significantly since the last inspection. The agency previously operated with two Registered Manager posts. The agency has taken the opportunity to review the structure and effectiveness of current arrangements following the departure of one of the managers who left in December. This review is being developed. Since the departure of this manager there have been no clear arrangements in place that identify who is in charge when the manager is absent. This compromises the effectiveness of the agency when the registered manager is absent. Annual reviews of approved foster carers' take place to ensure they remain suitable whilst identifying training needs. Foster carers attend core training and are offered a wide range of supplementary training. The agency has introduced the Children's

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Organisation

Workforce Development Council training programme for foster carers. Foster carers are made aware their training is standardised and participation is now compulsory. Social work staff are competent in practice and the agency provides a good range of training to increase their knowledge and competence to do the job. There are adequate numbers of suitably qualified staff to ensure foster carers are well supported. Foster carers receive high levels of good quality face to face supervision and support from supervising social workers enabling them to provide good levels of support to children and young people. They understand the range of support available to them and use it effectively and appropriately. The agency's social workers undertake assessments of applicants to foster. These are completed to a sufficient standard to test the capacity of the prospective foster carers to meet the needs of children and young people placed

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Organisation

in foster care. Any variability in the quality of assessments is addressed by the fostering panel and the manager to make sure the agency is able to maintain sound standards of assessment. Record keeping within the agency does not support the work of the service because records are inconsistent and of variable quality. Relevant paper work is not always kept in children’s, young people's or foster carers' files. The agency does not have a written policy which establishes the purpose, format and content of files to support record management. They are in the process of introducing a good quality electronic recording system. Currently the paper and electronic systems are in operation but the information recorded in the systems is inconsistent. Therefore, the administrative records do not fully underpin or evidence the work the agency undertakes. Training and supervision of staff and foster carers is a particular strength within the organisation

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Organisation

of Foster Care Co-operative. However, there are many weaknesses linked to the management of records which impact on the agency's ability to run an effective and efficient service for children, young people and foster carers.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Fostering Services Regulations 2005 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider must comply with the given timescales.

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Due date Action Standard

10 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 30 June 2008 ensure that the fostering service promotes the health and development of children and young people placed with foster carers, specifically by ensuring the children's records clearly identify serious concerns in relation to health (Regulation 15(1)) 30 June 2008 ensure that foster placement agreements cover all the matters specified in Schedule 6 (Regulation 34(3)) 30 June 2008 ensure that satisfactory information is available in relation to all persons working for the purposes of the fostering service, with particular reference to information detailed in Schedule 1 (Regulation 20(3)) 30 June 2008 ensure that the procedure to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect includes the prompt referral to the area authority of any allegation of abuse or neglect affecting any child placed by the fostering service (Regulation 12(2)(b))

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Due date Action Standard

30 June 2008 ensure the fostering service provides foster carers with such training as appears necessary in the interests of children placed with them, with particular reference to the provision of training in restraint (Regulation 17(1)) 30 June 2008 ensure the Statement of Purpose includes all the services and facilities provided by the fostering service, with particular reference to the provision of short-term breaks (Regulation 3(1)(b)) 30 June 2008 ensure the fostering service enters into a written agreement (the "foster care agreement") with all approved foster carers covering all the matters specified in Schedule 5. (Regulation 28(5)(b))

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that the fostering service evidences the home and immediate environment are free of avoidable hazards that might expose a child to risk of injury or harm, specifically by ensuring that health and safety checks are retained on the foster carers' files (National Minimum Standard 6.6) • ensure the fostering home and immediate environment are free of avoidable hazards that might expose a child to risk of injury or harm in relation to the storage of medicine (National Minimum Standard 6.6) • ensure that the welfare of children placed or to be placed with foster carers is promoted at all times, specifically by ensuring that the fostering service's matching documents demonstrate that the fostering service offers carers only if they represent appropriate matches for the child for whom a local authority is seeking a carer (National Minimum

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Recommendations

Standard 8.1) 11 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008 • ensure that safe caring guidelines reflect the assessment of risk carried out by the fostering service when a child is placed (National Minimum Standard 9.3) • ensure the fostering service protects each child or young person from all forms of abuse, specifically by preparing and implementing a written policy on the use of restraint (National Minimum Standard 9) • ensure the fostering service has policies and procedures, implemented in practice, to meet the particular needs of children receiving short-term breaks (National Minimum Standard 31.1) • ensure there are clear written requirements of what is expected of foster carers in terms of preparing children and young people for independent or semi-independent living (National Minimum Standard 14.2) • ensure foster carers receive training to enable them to provide effective support and

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Recommendations

guidance to a young person preparing to move into independent or semi-independent living (National Minimum Standard 14.3) • ensure the children's guides to the fostering service are suitable for all children fostered through the service, specifically by reviewing the formats in which they are provided to make them more accessible (National Minimum Standard 1(5)) • ensure the fostering service further develops clear procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the fostering servce and ensuring quality performance (National Minimum Standard 4.1) • ensure there are occasional unannounced visits to foster homes, at least once a year (National Minimum Standard 22.6) • ensure there is a written policy on case reording which establishes the purpose, format and content of files, and clarifies what information is kept on the foster carer's file and what information is kept on the child's file (National Minimum Standard 24.2)

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Recommendations

• ensure that an up-to-date, comprehensive case record is maintained for each child or young person in foster care (National Minimum Standard 24.1) • ensure there is a system to monitor the quality and adequacy of records, and remedial action is taken when necessary (National Minimum Standard 25.3) • ensure clear arrangements are in place to identify the person in charge when the manager is absent. (National Minimum Standard 5.4) 12 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service promotes the health and development of children (NMS 12) Ofsted considers 12 the key standard to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• any persons carrying on or managing the service are suitable (NMS 3) • the fostering service provides suitable foster carers (NMS 6) • the service matches children to carers appropriately (NMS 8) • the fostering service protects each child or young person from abuse and neglect (NMS 9) • the people who work in or for the fostering service are suitable to work with children and young people (NMS 15) • fostering panels are organised efficiently and effectively (NMS 30) Ofsted considers 3, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 30 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service values diversity (NMS 7) • the fostering service promotes educational achievement (NMS 13) • when foster care is provided as a short-term break for a child, the arrangements recognise that the parents remain the main carers for the child (NMS 31) Ofsted considers 7, 13 and 31 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service promotes contact arrangements for the child or young person (NMS 10) • the fostering service promotes consultation (NMS 11) Ofsted considers 10 and 11 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service prepares young people for adulthood (NMS 14) • the fostering service pays carers an allowance and agreed expenses as specified (NMS 29) Ofsted considers none of the above to be key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• there is a clear statement of the aims and objectives of the fostering service and the fostering service ensures that they meet those aims and objectives (NMS 1) • the fostering service is managed by those with the appropriate skills and experience (NMS 2) • the fostering service is monitored and controlled as specified (NMS 4) 13 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008

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Annex A

• the fostering service is managed effectively and efficiently (NMS 5) • staff are organised and managed effectively (NMS 16) • the fostering service has an adequate number of sufficiently experienced and qualified staff (NMS 17) • the fostering service is a fair and competent employer (NMS 18) • there is a good quality training programme (NMS 19) • all staff are properly accountable and supported (NMS 20) • the fostering service has a clear strategy for working with and supporting carers (NMS 21) • foster carers are provided with supervision and support (NMS 22) • foster carers are appropriately trained (NMS 23) • case records for children are comprehensive (NMS 24) • the administrative records are maintained as required (NMS 25) • The premises used as offices by the fostering service are suitable for the purpose (NMS 26) • the fostering service is financially viable (NMS 27) • the fostering service has robust financial processes (NMS 28)

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Annex A

• local authority fostering services recognise the contribution made by family and friends as carers (NMS 32) Ofsted considers 1, 16, 17, 21, 24, 25 and 32 the key standards to be inspected. 14 of 14 Inspection Report: The Foster Care Co-operative Ltd, 6 June 2008

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