Chrysalis Consortium Ltd

Chrysalis Consortium Ltd Inspection report for independent fostering agency

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Unique reference number SC456174 Inspection date 14/11/2013 Inspector Valerie Shephard Type of inspection Full Provision subtype

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Setting address 48 Wolstenholm Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield, S7 1LL

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Telephone number 0114 2509455 Email admin@chrysalisconsortium.co.uk Registered person Chrysalis Consortium Ltd Registered manager Margaret Mary Davies Responsible individual Sarah Louise Allkins Date of last inspection 27/11/2012 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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Brief description of the service

The fostering service is part of Chrysalis which already operates an Adoption Support Agency (Chrysalis Associates). The service provides therapeutic foster placements for children who have experienced trauma and abuse and may have attachment difficulties. Currently there are two children in placement and four fostering households. The agency was registered in November 2012 and this is the first inspection.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : An agency demonstrating and exceeding the characteristics of a good judgement where children and young people are making significantly better progress and achieving more than was expected in all areas of their lives. Good : An agency where children and young people, including those with the most complex needs, have their individual needs met and their welfare safeguarded and promoted. They make good progress and receive effective services so they achieve as well as they can in all areas of their lives. Requires improvement : An agency that may be compliant with regulations and observing the national minimum standards but is not yet demonstrating the characteristics of a good judgement. It therefore requires improvement to be good. There may be failures to meet all regulations or national minimum standards but these are not widespread or serious; all children’s and young people’s welfare is

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

safeguarded and promoted. Inadequate : An agency where there are widespread or serious failures which result in children and young people not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Overall effectiveness

This is the first inspection of this agency since its registration in November 2012. The agency is still in development. The first review of the agency has taken place and demonstrates that the service is on track to meet targets set in relation to the number of carers approved. Since registration the agency has recruited six fostering households; four are subject to approval and two are in assessment. Two children are in placement in separate households. Local authorities are showing an interest in the agency and there is prompt matching of approved foster carers indicating a level of confidence among local commissioners.

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Overall effectiveness

The agency provides therapeutic placements for children with complex needs which have arisen as a result of trauma in early childhood. Foster carers undergo high quality training in therapeutic parenting to enable them to support the work of the therapy team. Consequently, children have the best possible chance to emotionally heal.

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Overall effectiveness

Foster carer assessments are of high quality and are completed and presented to panel well within the required timescales. Assessment reports focus on carers’ emotional resilience and their ability to offer safe care to children. Analysis of life events demonstrates how these affect their capacity to effectively parent children who have suffered early trauma.

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Overall effectiveness

Foster carers are highly valued and regard themselves as important members of the team around the child. They proactively advocate for children and work effectively with services such as education and health. As a result, children have excellent opportunities to progress and enjoy favourable outcomes. A prospective foster carer said, ‘the agency has been really good from the first point of contact. We felt the staff were interested in us and what we had to offer a child. We really enjoyed the training which raised awareness of a range of issues.’

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Overall effectiveness

As a result of this inspection, there is one recommendation made which relates to widening diversity among panel membership.

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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

 ensure the fostering panel members include people who reflect the diversity of the local community. (volume 4 (5.8))

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Experiences and progress of, and outcomes for, children and young people

Children make good progress commensurate with the period they have spent with their foster carers. There is evidence of good matching with carers who are able to meet children’s needs in accordance with their care plans. Introduction plans are tailor made for each child and conducted at a pace which meets their individual needs. Careful preparation by the social worker and the agency enables them to move successfully to their new foster family. This practice ensures that children’s placements get off to a good start.

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Experiences and progress of, and outcomes for, children and young people

Children are fully included in their foster carers’ families and daily life. As a result they benefit from involvement in everyday events such as shopping, eating out and attending family functions. Children feel comfortable and safe within their foster placements. A social worker said of a child, ‘he is very lucky to have his carers and Chrysalis. I wish I could have the same for all the children on my caseload.’ Children benefit from excellent attendance at school and overall are making good progress in their learning in accordance with their abilities. Some children are still settling into their new school environment and so evidence of progress is limited. Others are doing well and making pleasing progress. One social worker said, ‘I am very happy with the placement and the progress the child is making. He is like a different child in school.’

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Experiences and progress of, and outcomes for, children and young people

Foster carers fully promote children’s physical, emotional and psychological needs and as a result children enjoy good holistic health. The provision of therapy assists them to emotionally heal and begin to develop positive attachments to their foster carers. As a result they begin to make progress in all areas of their development. Examples include acquiring basic skills such as cleaning teeth, tying shoe laces and using a knife and fork. These achievements serve to boost children’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth.

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Experiences and progress of, and outcomes for, children and young people

Children benefit from on-going contact with family and others of significance to them. Foster carers are well trained and supported to ensure they meet children’s contact plans and that these continue to provide a positive experience for them. For example, recently a foster carer had an influential role in reviewing the contact arrangements between a child and his parents. As a result the plan fully meets the needs of the child alongside those of the parents.

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Quality of service

The central focus of this agency is the provision of specialist foster carers for children with complex emotional needs.

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Quality of service

The process of recruitment, training, preparation and assessment centres wholly on the holistic needs of children. The agency uses the ‘skills to foster’ training programme which has a strong emphasis on child development and attachment. As a result, foster carers have a very good understanding of the individual needs of looked after children. In addition, foster carers receive specialist training in the therapeutic model as used by the agency. This enables them to mirror the therapy provided to children and effectively support them in placement. A prospective foster carer said, ‘the training is fantastic, the emphasis is completely child centred.’

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Quality of service

Assessments are of high quality, are detailed and give an excellent account of prospective foster carers’ strengths and areas for development. There is comprehensive analysis of information gathered and its relevance to the fostering role. The agency uses the attachment style interview tool which assesses risks and resiliencies relating to family life and parenting. This information helps to inform the matching process and determine the focus of support. Thorough and careful matching takes place to ensure that the foster carers can meet the child’s identified needs. The agency is highly active in seeking all relevant information from the placing agency about the child to assist with placement planning. Fosters carers create family albums which help to prepare a child who is coming to live with them. This ensures children have sufficient information to ease their transition and enable them to settle in placement.

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Quality of service

The fostering panel functions exceedingly well and promotes thorough assessments of foster carers. This results in excellent placements which meet the needs of the children for whom the service is intended. The panel carries out a rigorous quality assurance function which informs the agency of strengths and weaknesses in the assessment process. Panel members possess a diverse range of experience relevant to looked after children, including fostering and experience of care in childhood. Consequently panel members have a significant knowledge base which underpins their discussions and recommendations in relation to prospective foster carers. However, there is a lack of diversity pertaining to ethnicity and disability among panel members. While the agency has made active attempts to recruit from a range of backgrounds this has so far not been successful. As the agency grows and becomes better known there may be more opportunities to recruit a wider range of

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Quality of service

panel members. The agency should make a further concerted effort to achieve this for the benefit of children. This is a minor shortfall and does not adversely impact on the progress or welfare of children.

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Quality of service

The agency promotes extremely good relationships with its foster carers who feel exceptionally well supported and consequently appreciated. In addition to regular supervisory visits, the agency provides reflective group meetings for carers to share their experiences and learning. This is in recognition that children place excessive demands on their carers who in turn require a high level of support. The agency’s 24 hour help-line provides a valuable safety net for foster carers. One foster carer said, ‘the agency feels like a family, we feel fully supported so that we are able to fully support the child.’ Another carer said, ‘we feel highly valued by the agency and would most definitely recommend this service to other people.’

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Quality of service

Foster carers are central in the ‘team around the child’ and empowered to participate in planning and decision making for children. Delegated authority enables carers to make important day-to-day decisions in relation to the child they are caring for. This assists children to feel part of the family and to develop trusting relationships with their foster carers. Excellent working relationships exist between the agency and placing social workers. This ensures that relevant information is made available to enable foster carers can care effectively for children.

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Quality of service

Foster carers support contact plans for children and there is evidence of fruitful interactions developing between foster carers and parents. This assists children to maintain significant relationships and helps with the development of their identity.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Children are safe in their foster placements and understand how to complain if they are unhappy or do not feel safe. The agency’s children’s guide is helpful and child friendly. It includes information to assist children about who they can contact if they wish to speak independently to an adult. This is in a format which can be readily amended to meet diverse needs such as those associated with disability or language. There have been no allegations or complaints made by children about their care.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Risk assessments are in place for children and clearly identify the impact of abuse and neglect and actions needed to protect them. These assist foster carers to effectively reduce risk to children in their care. Recently there have been two short- lived missing from home events. These are subject to close monitoring by the agency in an attempt to understand the reasons for these. Clear guidance to foster carers ensures they know what to do if a child in their care goes missing. There is evidence that foster carers competently follow these procedures when a child has gone missing. These recent incidents resulted in the child returning to their placement safely and promptly.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Foster carers undergo mandatory training in safeguarding, child protection and safer caring. Consequently they have a good understanding of safeguarding and what to do in the event of any concerns relating to children’s safety. Training also covers the procedures to follow in the event of allegations against foster carers. Plans are in place for supervising social workers to undertake unannounced visits to foster homes on at least an annual basis. These practices support safe caring and help to safeguard children in placement.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Thorough and robust vetting of staff, foster carers and panel members ensures the suitability of all people who work for the agency. Verification of documents and references supports good and safe practice.

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Leadership and management

There is strong leadership in the agency and evidence of the manager establishing good working relationships with local placing authorities. One local authority commissioner said, ‘my experience with the agency has been very good. They followed an excellent introductory period and worked well with the child and hopefully will work well with the parents.’

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager monitors the service and progress of children. Three monthly monitoring of children’s progress evidences outcomes, and action to address any identified lack of progress is targeted. There is competent overview of trends and patterns in the recruitment of carers. This ensures that the agency is on track in meeting the targets set out in the business plan.

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Leadership and management

Staffing in the agency is met in accordance with the Statement of Purpose. Plans are in place to employ further staff once the number of approved carers has met the end of year target. This is in line with the expected progress for a newly established service. Staff are highly professional, motivated and enthusiastic. They are well qualified and benefit from an excellent training programme which contributes to the continuing development of the service. Supervision of staff is effective and consequently supervising social workers are able to positively support foster carers to carry out their role efficiently. As a result, foster carers feel confident and competent to sustain their role with looked after children.

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Leadership and management

Panel members are suitably qualified and experienced and benefit from joint training with social workers wherever possible. An example of this is in relation to awareness training for panel members in the therapeutic model used by the agency. This provides panel with a good overview of the therapy delivered to children and the support provided by the foster carers. Due to the length of time that panel has been operational; panel appraisals have not yet been undertaken. However plans are in place to conduct these appraisals on an annual basis.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose is clear about the aims and objectives of the agency. The agency has adopted the Foster Carers’ Charter which sets out the obligations of the service and fosters carers. There have been no complaints or concerns made against the agency to date.

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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 to assess the effectiveness of the service, to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards and to support services to improve.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of independent fostering agencies.

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