Team Fostering

Team Fostering Inspection report for Independent Fostering Agency

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Unique reference number SC060698 Inspection date 08/10/2010 Inspector Jacqueline Malcolm Type of inspection Key

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Setting address Clifton Court, 19-23 Clifton Street, SHEFFIELD, S9 2DQ

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Telephone number 0114 261 7762 Email rosy@teamfostering.co.uk Registered person Team Fostering Registered manager Stephen Anthony Hargrave / Rosemarie Holden Responsible individual John Buxton Payne Date of last inspection 09/07/2007 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 Crispins, 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.

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About this inspection

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 outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for the service.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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Brief description of the service

Team Fostering is an independent, non-profit, fostering agency. Its aim is to provide specialist foster care for children and young people placed by local authorities.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

This was an announced full inspection which examined all the key national minimum standards for fostering services. The main focus was to find out how well the service meets the needs of children and young people and to report on the progress made in addressing the actions and recommendations made at the last inspection in 2007.

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Summary

Team Fostering offers a good service that promotes positive outcomes for children and young people. The service is well managed and there is a strong commitment to developing the service. The service suffered the sudden loss of two directors who died last year. This impacted on individuals and delayed some of the service developmental plans. Since this time, the then Registered Manager has been appointed to the role of director of strategic management. There is also a suitable Registered Manager in post. Further appointments have been made with respect to a second team manager, additional fostering social workers, a social work assistant and one placements officer. This means that there is increased stability and a strong capacity to improve.

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Summary

The service is committed to safeguarding children and young people and supporting them to develop and prosper. Good matches and low disruption levels ensure that children's and young people's life chances are enhanced by carers who can meet their needs and can help them to thrive and access services as identified in their care plans. Educational support is excellent and consultation and participation are integral to the care provided to children and young people. Children and young people are supported to have contact with family and friends and they are encouraged to seek activities and get involved in events arranged by the service. An independence workbook developed by a carer in consultation with young people is an excellent example of how the service includes carers in service delivery and supports young people to develop skills and knowledge when making leaving care preparations. Carers are well supported and the training and support they receive is delivered to a

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Summary

high standard. A number of carers hold relevant qualifications that effectively contribute to the care provision to children and young people.

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Summary

However, the monitoring of the daily operation of the service has not identified some of the shortfalls noted at this inspection and does not include a clear evaluation that demonstrates how the service is performing so that targets are set and areas for improvement are prioritised. This includes, for example, clearly recorded matching considerations, formal pathway planning processes, care planning information, and a clear evaluation of the number and outcomes of all allegations of neglect or abuse of a child. There is no recruitment strategy, so it is not clear how and on what basis carers are targeted and recruited. Staff and carers from minority ethnic communities are underrepresented in the service and the plans to address this have not yet been met. The system to store and record information is antiquated and does not adequately support the service.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection, the provider was asked to address two actions that related to restraint. Not all carers who restrained children and young people were trained and there were safety concerns. The behaviour management policy was not accurate and had not been properly implemented. These issues have been fully addressed. This means that children and young people are protected by practices designed to keep them safe from harm.

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Helping children to be healthy

The arrangements for the development, health and well-being of children and young people are promoted to a good standard. There is a well managed and consistent process that ensures that children's and young people's health needs are identified, met and services are provided, which supports foster carers. Carers receive training on health and hygiene issues and first aid, and support these areas with children and young people in practice. Other training in relation to emotional health and healthy eating is delivered to a good standard. Carers with children and young people with disabilities and complex health needs are provided with bespoke training to ensure they receive the best possible care and treatment.

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Helping children to be healthy

Carers are provided with information about children's and young people's known health needs. However, some health needs assessments are not in place or are not up to date, therefore it is not clear what their health needs are and how or who will address them. There are no health records that can be updated and move with the child or young person. The absence of this information may compromise the promotion of meeting children and young people's changing health needs. Children and young people are registered with the appropriate health services, including the doctor, dentist, optician and specialist services, such as child and adolescent mental health services. Carers accompany children and young people to health appointments and may advocate on their behalf to ensure they receive the services they need. Consent for medical treatment is obtained and is made available to foster carers when placements are made. Carers are clearly aware about their responsibilities to

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Helping children to be healthy

record health information and know what they are expected to record. These are suitably supervised by the service. Carers are fully involved in supplying information for the purpose of children's and young people's statutory reviews. Carers speak highly about the support and training they receive to promote healthy lifestyles. Children and young people consulted say that they are helped to be healthy. Comments include: 'Team Fostering promotes five a day and my foster carer tries hard to apply this to my daily life'; 'we eat healthy'; and 'me(sic) have healthy meals all the time and in my lunchbox'.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The service places a high priority on safeguarding children and young people. Organisational policies, practices and systems underpin this concept and are understood by everyone who works for the service. The fostering manager and staff are all suitably qualified, experienced, skilled and competent professionals who promote good safeguarding practices. Recruitment and selection procedures are robust and ensure that all staff, including panel members, are appropriately checked and are safe to work with children and young people. This includes satisfactory enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks. There is consistent practice relating to telephone verification of references and verification of why previous positions staff have worked in have ended.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's and young people's physical, mental and emotional welfare is actively promoted because the service makes available carers who can provide safe, healthy and nurturing environments. Carers provide a good standard of care to children and young people and a homely environment where they can prosper. Accommodation provided for children and young people reflects their individual needs and privacy, including children and young people with a disability. Carers' homes are maintained to a good standard. They are checked during the assessment process and regularly after approval to ensure an appropriate and suitable environment. This includes a health and safety assessment of the home and pet risk assessments for carers who have pets. Typical comments from children and young people about their care include: 'They look after us very well, they are very kind and helpful, they take us on holiday, they feed us and make sure we are happy'; 'I want to stay here; 'they hug

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

me when I am upset'; and 'they care about me and that’s all that matters'. Foster carers' preparation training fully covers health and safety issues. Carers demonstrate a clear commitment and understanding about keeping children and young people safe.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Matching of children and young people with carers is well managed by the placements team who have a key role. This is in addition to the level of knowledge and discussions about carers in the team. This helps to inform their decisions about the most suitable and safe matches. The success rate of placement outcomes and stability of the placements are testament to good quality matching. However, matching considerations and gaps in the matches are not clearly recorded to ensure a clear audit of the matching process and effective monitoring. Carers speak positively about the matching process, although they comment that placement information is sometimes limited and they do not always get placements because a number of referrals are turned down by the agency. This demonstrates the importance of careful matching. Carers are aware about their own strengths and limitations and they do not feel forced into taking placements that may not be

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Carers for children and young people in transracial and transcommunity placements make every effort to ensure they are meeting children's and young people's racial and cultural needs. This is also well noted in the matching of carers for children and young people with disabilities who have the experience and skills to meet their needs. Specific training is provided to carers, together with support, information and additional resources to ensure the best possible care is delivered.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Carers receive information, training and support to ensure they care for children safely. This includes pre-approval training in safeguarding, safe care and behaviour management practices. Each fostering household has a safe caring policy for children placed with them and in some instances, risk assessments. These are updated and reviewed as appropriate. Carers are aware about the action to take when children go missing from home without authority. Carers are provided with behaviour management training that includes physical intervention. They are aware that corporal punishment is not acceptable. Carers manage the behaviour of children and young people well and demonstrate a good level of resilience when managing challenging behaviour. Physical interventions carried out by carers are recorded and monitored by the service. Supervising social workers visit carers' homes fortnightly and unannounced visits also take place. These measures ensure the protection of

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

each child from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and deprivation. The service complies with multidisciplinary meetings when concerns and allegations are raised about carers' conduct. This ensures that action taken by the service protects children and young people placed with carers. The number and outcomes of all allegations of neglect or abuse of a child are monitored, however, they are not evaluated to inform practice.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The fostering panel is chaired by a suitably qualified and experienced professional. Panel members are diverse with respect to race, age and gender and have expertise in their own areas, such as health, social care, education, and there is representation from a member who was placed with foster carers. This ensures good independent scrutiny of foster care assessments, annual reviews and overall provides a robust quality assurance function. Panel members have a good understanding of their responsibilities with regard to assessments and ask questions to satisfy themselves about the suitability of carers. All panel members have a say and they are not afraid to challenge, defer or turn down prospective carers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The services that children receive ensure that they are cared for by people who value their diverse needs and promote equality. This is in relation to their gender, religion, ethnic origin, language, culture and disability. Not all foster carers and fostering staff are fully aware of the issues relating to race, ethnicity and identity of children who originate from diverse backgrounds. However, they work effectively, and with training, raising awareness and active research, promote good childcare practices that meet children's and young people's individual needs. The service acutely recognises the need to recruit carers from diverse backgrounds to meet the demand for children and young people from different cultures and also reflect the demographics of the city, but the strategy to implement their priorities has not yet been implemented. Notwithstanding this, it is positive to note that a number of transracial and transcultural placements have led to positive

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

outcomes for children and young people. This has led to good learning experiences for carers and the service. Some carers have demonstrated high levels of proactive responses to caring for children and young people. They ensure that they educate themselves about cultural issues and obtain materials, such as the Koran, show respect for religious observations and practices, obtain recipes and develop cookery skills, and make contacts with community groups and legal professionals to ensure the children and young people in their care are not disadvantaged. This is particularly commendable with respect to carers supporting children and young people who are seeking asylum. Carers commented positively about the way that the service addresses issues of equality and diversity; a number say that this is done to an 'outstanding' standard with some 'good' and 'satisfactory' responses. Comments from carers include: 'Training again is provided and everyone, whatever culture, ethnicity,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

disability, religion, sex is treated equally'; and 'through training we are encouraged to accept through understanding, all diversities'.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children and young people with disabilities are provided with good care that promotes their complex health and physical needs and offers a range of experiences that are socially inclusive and accessible to them. Carers have shown great levels of creativity and motivation and are very keen to ensure that children and young people can develop their interests and live full lives. Carers are supported to ensure children and young people with disabilities have access to appropriate equipment and adaptations.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Educational support to help children and young people reach their potential and help them to prosper is outstanding. The service is supported by two dedicated qualified, child-centred teachers who work directly with children and young people and provide support to carers, often advocating on their behalf with schools. They attend and actively contribute to looked after children reviews, reviews of educational statements and personal education plans. The support provided by the teachers goes the extra mile and they have high expectations for all children and young people. Children, young people and carers benefit from their interventions. The feedback from children and carers about the service they receive is excellent and some children and young people have developed positive and respectful relationships with the teachers.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children and young people's educational attainment levels are monitored. The service works closely with education authorities to ensure that all children and young people, irrespective of their needs have access to an educational placement. A number of children and young people are achieving good grades. Some are making excellent progress and others have accessed higher education. Children and young people are actively encouraged to reach their potential and aim high. Children's and young people's achievements are celebrated; for example, tokens, cards, certificates, and letters are sent to children and young people. A recent edition of a child-friendly magazine was dedicated to children's and young people's individual achievements. All young people, children and carers were invited to contribute to this document. Carers take children's education seriously and effectively support children and young

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

people. Training for carers in education is delivered to ensure they have a good awareness and can provide support.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Over the summer holidays, all children and young people were offered an opportunity to have individual tuition with the teachers from the service. This provided children and young people with an opportunity to catch up with any subjects. The service continues to search for creative and proactive ways to engage with children and young people and offer services to help them to enjoy and achieve.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children and young people can access a range of leisure and recreational activities that they enjoy independently or as a group. A support worker has been recruited to coordinate activities and support carers and consult with carers, children and young people. Shared activities and holidays are arranged and financed by the service, which are enjoyed by most carers, children and young people.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The fostering service has no provision with regards to providing parents with short breaks. Short-break carers provide support to existing carers in the service.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The support provided to children and young people to enable them to have contact with family, friends and significant others is good. Contact arrangements are agreed at placement planning meetings and restrictions on contact are known to carers, children and young people. This ensures the promotion of children and young people's safety and welfare. Carers are clear about arrangements and will facilitate these as appropriate.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children and young people's views are obtained in a variety of ways. For example, children and young people are invited to be involved in or receive a range of child- friendly publications, newsletters, projects and clubs. Children and young people have been involved in artwork projects that enable them to give their views. They say that their carers listen to them and take notice of their opinions. Comments include: 'You let me talk when we are sad and worried' and 'they listen to my opinions about getting another placement'. These practices encourage children's and young people's consultation and participation and help them to feel valued. Children's and young people's views are sought for their statutory reviews and carers' annual reviews. Most children and young people know how to complain and they are appropriately supported. They know who they can talk to if they are not happy. Carers provide appropriate responses to children and young people and have

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Helping children make a positive contribution

confidence in speaking to the service if they need advice and support. Carers for children and young people with disabilities are good at advocating on their behalf and solicit their views in a format that they can understand.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Young people confirm that they are helped by their carers to think about their future plans and independent living preparations. In some cases, young people express a wish to stay with their carers. An excellent independence workbook has been developed by a carer, in consultation with young people and has been introduced to carer' households. This is a professional, interactive and informative document that is an invaluable resource for young people making leaving care preparations. The impact of this document is yet to be assessed, so the outcomes for young people are not clear.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Young people who are reaching the age of independence do not have a pathway plan. It is therefore not clear what the formal plans are for young people when these plans are not in place. This undermines the positive work that carers do with young people to ensure they have the skills, confidence and knowledge to live independent lives.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. Children and young people receive a good service that meets their individual needs and promotes their self-esteem and development. Children and young people placed transracially with carers are well supported. Children and young people with disabilities are well served and the matches with carers are good. Carer assessments, initial and post-approval training incorporate equality and diversity issues and carers are encouraged to develop their awareness to ensure they can deliver anti-oppressive and inclusive care to children and young people.

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Organisation

The Statement of Purpose was updated in September 2010. It clearly sets out the services that children and young people can expect to receive from the fostering service. The children's guide is child friendly and informs children and young people about the service, how to complain and contact Ofsted, and how to access their file.

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Organisation

The management team has a clear commitment to developing and improving the service. Managers and social workers are highly committed, skilled, experienced and highly passionate about their work. Morale and retention are very good and staff move into the team as opposed to leaving it. Staff are sufficient in number to meet the needs of the service. The last year witnessed some significant turbulence for the organisation due to the death of two directors coupled with staff shortages that impacted on the development of the service. Managers were undertaking operational roles as opposed to managing and driving the service forward. The impact on children and young people was minimal and the focus on safeguarding remained the paramount priority. New management and staff appointments have since been made, which have increased the service's capacity to improve.

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Organisation

The management team is highly approachable and practice within clear professional boundaries. The roles and accountability are clearly defined and understood by all staff. The Registered Manager has the qualifications, experience, skills and knowledge to effectively manage and lead the service. They are well supervised and supported by the director of strategic management. Support is also provided by two experienced and motivated managers who are clear about their roles, are well supported and know how they want to improve the service and embed good practice in all areas. Fostering social workers are appropriately qualified, competent and experienced to undertake their role. They come from a range of disciplines and demonstrate a high level of commitment and valuable contributions to service development. Fostering social workers receive excellent training opportunities and are well supervised, supported and appraised to a very good standard. Workload

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Organisation

management systems are in place to ensure they can do their jobs effectively. There are clear levels of management delegation with respect to workloads to ensure these are manageable. The systems currently in place ensure assessments, approvals and annual reviews are suitably implemented. Foster carer assessments are completed by independent assessors who are supervised and monitored. Overall, these are of a good standard and are also closely scrutinised by the panel process. Good administrative resources support the workload. It is very efficient and well organised with staff having clear roles and responsibilities.

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Organisation

There is good management overview of the functions of the fostering service. However, the system does not include a clear evaluation of the areas looked at that would demonstrate how the service is performing, and target and prioritise areas for improvement. For example, more robust monitoring of the service would have identified some of the shortfalls identified at inspection, such as lack of pathway plans, a clear evaluation of the number and outcomes of all allegations of neglect or abuse of a child, clear matching considerations for all children and young people, updated health records and the quality of some care planning information.

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Organisation

There is a clear strategy for working with carers that is documented, understood and practiced. Carers are committed to their roles and a number have made a positive impact on children and young people's lives. Carers are well supported and the majority speak very highly of the support they receive and comment on the positive relationship with the service. Most say they feel valued and appreciated and in some instances the interventions of the team have prevented a placement breakdown. Support includes fortnightly visits, training and access to the out-of-hours service. Carers have access to foster carer support groups and carers' representatives raise any live issues with the management team. Carers have access to excellent preparation and post-approval training, which is valued highly by them. A high number of carers are working towards or have attained the National Vocational Qualification at levels 3 and 4 and Children's Workforce Development Council

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Organisation

standards for foster carers. The level and quality of training enables carers to continue to effectively care for children and young people.

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Organisation

The service has a recruitment policy, but not a recruitment strategy, to ensure that the service recruits carers from a variety of backgrounds to meet the needs of children and young people. This is evident in there being no visible staff from diverse communities in the team and carer group to meet the needs of children and young people for whom it aims to provide a service. As previously indicated, matches in transracial placements and transcommunity placements have resulted in good outcomes for children and young people. However, this does not ignore the fact that carers from minority ethnic communities are underrepresented and no proactive action has been taken to address this area of development.

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Organisation

Carers', children's and young people's files are well maintained and organised to a very good standard. Administrative records, including restraint records and complaints, allegations and staff employed are also in good order and all files are securely and confidentially maintained. Carers', children's and young people's files are independently audited and areas of development are made clear. However, the computer system to support the work of the service is antiquated and is not fit for purpose.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Fostering Services Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Std. Action Due date

12 ensure that foster carers are provided with appropriate health care information, in particular, copies of health needs assessments (Regulation 17(3)) 30/11/2010

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Std. Action Due date

4 evaluate service performance so that targets can be set and improvements prioritised. (Reg 42(1)(b)) 30/11/2010

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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):

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Recommendations

 provide carers with a written health record for each child placed in their care which is updated during the placement and moves with the child (NMS 12.4)  review the matching records to make clear the decision making and matching criteria used (NMS 8.4)  evaluate the allegations and abuse notifications (NMS 9.5)  continue to pursue and implement pathway plans for young people who need them (NMS 14.5)  devise and promote a recruitment strategy aimed at recruiting a range of carers to meet the needs of children and young people for whom it aims to provide a service (NMS 17.5)  implement robust and efficient IT communication systems to support the functions of the service. (NMS 26.3)

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