Phoenix Fostering

Phoenix Fostering Inspection report for independent fostering agency

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Unique reference number SC357652 Inspection date 10/10/2011 Inspector Suzanne Young Type of inspection Social Care Inspection

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Setting address 6 Chapel Walk, Burgess Street, LEOMINSTER, Herefordshire, HR6 8DE

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Telephone number 01568 620666 Email info@phoenixfostering.co.uk Registered person Phoenix Fostering Registered manager POST VACANT Responsible individual Elizabeth Vine Date of last inspection 14/10/2009 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

Phoenix Fostering is an independent fostering agency located in the market town of Leominster in Herefordshire. The agency has developed a model of therapeutic parenting for young people who have experienced trauma, abuse, loss and separation and who exhibit a range of behaviours such as offending behaviours, aggression, sexualised behaviours and inability to trust. The service employs a psychologist and has a team of family support workers who work on a one-to-one basis with children and young people.

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Summary

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

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Summary

The agency promotes the health, safety and well-being of children with good and outstanding outcomes for children and young people being achieved. Children and young people are supported to maintain healthy lifestyles and to have their healthcare needs met. Education is actively supported and promoted by family support workers and by foster carers. The agency has a team of family support workers who provide excellent support to carers and work with children and young people to promote and develop positive behaviour and self-resilience. The fostering agency ensures that the wishes and feelings of children and young people can be heard. Children and young people are happy in their foster homes. They feel that foster carers take time to listen to them and are supportive.

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Summary

The fostering agency is managed by those who are suitable to work with children and young people and delivers a good service which meets the needs of its users. The agency undertakes effective matching of children and young people with carers, which helps to ensure placement stability. The recruitment and assessment of foster carers is robust. The fostering panel and agency decision-maker make timely and thorough decisions about the approval and reviewing of foster carers. Foster carers receive good support and feel highly valued.

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Summary

There are regulatory shortfalls in respect of updating policies and procedures, clarifying arrangements for child and parent placements and ensuring all checks are received before panel members sit on panel. Other shortfalls leading to recommendations are in respect of training in the administration of medication, development of risk assessments and in ensuring qualified staff undertake the social work functions of the agency.

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Improvements since the last inspection

All requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been addressed. Procedures have been developed to consider complaints and to monitor the functions of the agency. The fostering panel consists of people with a good mix of skills, experience and background. Records are kept of checks and references for those working for the agency, although a shortfall exists with regard to panel members and will be made subject to a requirement.

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Helping children to be healthy

The agency ensures that the health care needs of the children and young people are effectively identified, supported and met. Staff and foster carers are proactive in promoting healthy living, and children and young people have good access to health care resources including any specialist services that are required to meet their health needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

The agency provides therapeutic family placements to children and young people who have suffered developmental trauma and associated attachment difficulties. They employ a psychologist, who as well as overseeing the therapeutic care plans for children and young people, provides direct work and support for young people, foster carers and staff.

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Helping children to be healthy

Foster carers receive training in paediatric first aid and regular up-to-date training in health matters such as drug and alcohol awareness and attachment and trauma. Specialised training is actively sought for staff and foster carers to support them to promote the individual health and development needs of the children and young people being cared for. Foster carers, however, are not routinely trained in administering medication.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children live in foster homes that provide a healthy environment and have the space they need. The agency has to date provided only single occupancy placements with the exception of parent and child placements and sibling groups. Foster carers encourage children to live healthy lifestyles. Children and young people have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities fully promoted by the agency.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children and young people's safety and welfare are actively promoted by the agency. Children say they feel safe in their foster homes. Systems are in place which ensure the protection and safety of children and young people. The agency has a written child protection policy. This, however, does not accurately set out the procedures to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect. It also does not include a statement of measures to be undertaken to safeguard any child before making parent and child arrangements.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Foster carers receive safeguarding training to ensure they are aware of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and young people. Their welfare is further promoted through direct work undertaken by a team of family support workers.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Fostering households have safe care policies that are specific to their families. Foster carers are aware of the individual risks and requirements of each child placed although risk assessments and safe caring plans specific to individual children are not always being completed. Foster carers, supervising social workers and family support workers meet regularly with children's social workers in therapeutic care planning meetings to discuss behaviour strategies and support plans.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children and young people do sometimes go missing. When this occurs foster carers work closely with other agencies to ensure they return as quickly as possible and respond positively to them on their return. There is a policy and procedure in place if young people go missing from care. Foster carers are aware of the procedure to follow and report that they are confident in following it in the event of this happening.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children and young people enjoy strong relationships with their foster families and interact positively with them. Foster carers and staff promote and support positive behaviour and encourage children and young people to take responsibility for their behaviour in a way that is appropriate to their age and ability.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The agency is proactive in ensuring foster carers are supported in managing their feelings and responses arising from caring for children and young people who display challenging behaviour. The agency adopts a wrap-around team approach, with foster carers gaining excellent support from supervising social workers, family support workers and the agency psychologist.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children and young people are happy within their foster families and interact with their foster carers in a positive way. One young person commented that her foster carers are 'very supportive and always listen to what I have to say'. Another young person said: 'I am in the best family in my whole life, I love them much and want to stay with them.'

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children are able to enjoy their interests, develop confidence in their skills and are supported and encouraged to engage in leisure activities. The agency supports this by paying an allowance for each child and young person towards activities and leisure pursuits. Young people are encouraged both by carers and staff to engage in a variety of activities, from horse riding to hot air ballooning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The agency has a strong focus on the promotion of education. This is promoted by the agency both within school and in the foster home. Family support workers accompany children when required in school and offer support within the classroom and at home. The agency offers training to teachers to help understand young people's behaviour and provides home tuition to children and young people when needed. This level of support promotes the educational attainment of children and young people, improves communication with schools and provides immediate support to children and carers with difficult education issues. One headteacher commented that 'the input and support the young person received is second to none and I know that she would not have made the progress without that brilliant supportive network around her'.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children and young people's social and emotional needs are actively promoted by foster carers and staff to enable them to develop resilience, self-control and improved social skills. They are receiving excellent personalised care from carers that is meeting their needs. Foster carers are supported by family support workers and a psychologist through planned family support sessions and through six-weekly therapeutic care plan review meetings.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The agency has an enthusiastic team of family support workers who work directly with children and young people to help them develop a sense of belonging in their placements. All children and young people placed with the agency are allocated a family support worker. They offer focused work with children and young people in a variety of different ways, completing life story work, promoting positive identity, safety, developing independence skills and providing education support. This helps children and young people to develop in confidence and self-esteem which leads to greater stability in placement.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

This level of support is recognised by other professionals who have commented that the agency has 'provided valuable background information and input into the assessment and care planning process', and that staff are 'insightful and show a high level of commitment to providing the very best input and support'.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The agency ensures children's wishes and feelings are taken into account in all aspects of their care. Foster carers, supervising social workers and family support workers strongly advocate for young people ensuring their views and wishes are heard. This has resulted in children and young people having improved contact arrangements and greater placement stability. Children and young people say that they are listened to and their views are sought.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children and young people know how to complain. This information is provided in a number of age-appropriate formats to ensure that this is accessible to children and young people of all ages.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Foster carers support children and young people to have constructive contact with family and friends in accordance with their care plans. Family support workers facilitate and supervise contact between children and members of their families. This helps to ensure that children are appropriately supported and the foster carer’s position is not compromised.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Children and young people are carefully matched to their foster placements. They are welcomed into the foster home and leave the foster home, where possible, in a planned and sensitive manner. Introductions are conducted prior to placement and they are given information and photographs of their prospective carers and their families. Children and young people are also given pictures and information about their family support worker. At the start of each placement children and young people are given bags with gifts to enable them to record memories of their time within the placement. This enables the young person from the beginning to have a sense of belonging and acceptance.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The agency makes sure that children are prepared for, and supported into adulthood so that they can reach their potential and achieve economic well-being. Staff and foster carers support young people to develop age-appropriate independence skills. Young people have been supported through college, work experience and apprenticeships.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The agency has developed its own pathway plan and self-care skills evaluation checklist. Foster carers and family support workers work directly with young people to complete these, alongside the local authority pathway plan.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. The agency works closely with children, young people and foster carers to ensure that individual needs are identified clearly and met. The religious and cultural needs of children and young people are considered during the matching process. Additional allowances are paid to foster carers to provide the best possible care to children and young people who have diverse needs. All staff and foster carers are given information and training with regard to equality and diversity.

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Organisation

The fostering agency is managed by those who are suitable and qualified to work with children and young people. The agency has been in a period of transition and without a Registered Manager for a period of time. Management structures, however, have been in place which ensure the agency has been delivering an effective service which meets the needs of its users. The manager is currently undergoing the registration process.

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Organisation

Systems for managing serious incidents, allegations and complaints are in place and the manager is monitoring these in line with regulatory requirements. Recruitment procedures for staff ensure that all appropriate checks and references are undertaken and appropriately ratified. There are, however, shortfalls with regard to the recruitment of panel members who had been allowed to sit on panel before all checks had been completed.

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Organisation

Records are well maintained and clear, and contribute to a child's understanding of their life. Placement plans, however, are not always in place which clarify the roles and responsibilities for delegated authority at the start of parent and child placements. This has the potential to lead to confusion within the placement.

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Organisation

The Statement of Purpose provides a clear outline of the aims and objectives of the agency. The agency has devised a child-friendly children's guide which can be personalised and available in age and gender-appropriate formats. This will enable children and young people to have a clear understanding of the service provided to them.

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Organisation

Prospective foster carers are recruited and assessed to ensure they meet the needs of children and young people. Assessments are detailed and analytical and identify the competencies and strengths they have or need to develop. All new foster carers receive a first review after six months and thereafter on an annual basis.

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Organisation

The agency provides extensive support and advice to foster carers. Six-weekly therapeutic care planning review meetings give a specific focus to considering the individual needs and progression of each child and young person. This is supported and reinforced by regular and planned family support sessions. Foster carers state that they feel well supported. The agency, however, employs social work students to carry out some social work functions and not all foster carers are receiving formal supervision by a named, appropriately qualified social worker.

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Organisation

Foster carers receive the training and development they need to carry out their role effectively. There is a comprehensive training programme available to foster carers to assist them in meeting the specific needs of children and young people.

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Organisation

The agency undertakes effective matching of children and young people with carers which helps to ensure placement stability. The fostering panel consists of a core group of members who make timely and thorough decisions about the approval and reviewing of foster carers. They prioritise first reviews and those where there are concerns. The fostering panel is made up of people from a central list who have a good mix of skills, knowledge and experience.

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Organisation

Foster carers feel highly valued within the agency. Carers have commented: 'Our experience with the agency has been outstanding. We stay with them because they support us, provide what we need as carers, make us feel valuable, capable and engender a can-do attitude.'

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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 (England) Regulations 2011 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg Statutory Requirement Due date

12 (2011) prepare and implement a written policy which sets out the procedures to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect and must include a statement of measures to be undertaken to safeguard any child before making parent and child arrangements (Regulation 12) 30/11/2011

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Reg Statutory Requirement Due date

1989 ensure that respective roles and arrangements for delegated authority are clarified when arrangements for child and parent placements are made (Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 4: Fostering Services 2.14) 31/10/2011

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Reg Statutory Requirement Due date

20 (2011) ensure all information required under Schedule 1 is obtained in respect of people working for the agency before they commence work. This refers to checks conducted in respect of panel members. (Regulation 20) 31/10/2011

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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 foster carers are trained in the management and administration of medication (NMS 6.10)  ensure the agency implements a proportionate approach to any risk assessment. This refers to ensuring safe care plans and risk assessments are developed which reflect the individual needs of children and young people (NMS 4.5)  ensure each approved foster carer is supervised by a named, appropriately qualified social worker (NMS 21.8)  ensure unqualified staff carry out social work functions under the direct supervision of experienced social workers, who are accountable for their work. (NMS 23.7)

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