The Fostering Foundation

The Fostering Foundation Inspection report for independent fostering agency

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Unique reference number SC394479 Inspection date 15 March 2016 Inspector Heather Chaplin Type of inspection Full

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Setting address 5 West Street, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8AD

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Telephone number 01822 618068 Email southwest@fosteringfoundation.co.uk Registered person The Fostering Foundation (South West) Limited Registered manager Mrs Tracy Norman Responsible individual Mr Geoffrey Lewis Date of last inspection 31 May 2012 Website: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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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 Foundation (South West) is an independent fostering agency providing planned long-term or permanent care, bridging to adoption, emergency placements, parent and child placements and placements under staying-put arrangements for young people who have reached the age of 18 years. The service also provides respite care to provide breaks for its own foster carers. The service is part of the Fostering Foundation, which has regional offices in London, Bristol and Tiverton. This branch of the service is based in Tavistock and provides foster carers in Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall. The agency currently has 24 children and young people in placement and 14 sets of approved foster carers. The apparent reduction in numbers since the previous inspection is due to the South West service dividing, and registering a new office, with its own regional manager, in Tiverton.

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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 that 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 safeguarded

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

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 fostering agency provides good-quality care for children and young people. The agency’s small size ensures a personal, individually tailored service which is appreciated by children and young people, foster carers and external professionals, all of whom gave very positive feedback. Professionals’ comments include:  ‘Excellent service.’  ‘I find them, as an agency, very efficient, proactive, reliable and trustworthy.’  ‘My experience of Fostering Foundation is that they always communicate with me and always respond quickly to any telephone/email requests.’

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Overall effectiveness

The agency recruits new foster carers effectively, and conducts robust, safe assessments. This process is well supported by an experienced fostering panel, which includes a young adult who was previously a child looked after. Decisions are made based on detailed, evaluative reports, and the panel provides appropriate challenge and scrutiny of the agency’s functions. Children are matched carefully, and the very small number of placement disruptions is testament to the effectiveness of this process. Children and young people achieve very positive outcomes while living with fostering families. They benefit from the agency’s comprehensive foster carer training programme, which includes specialist courses on therapeutic parenting. As a result, children make good progress in all areas of their lives. Children and foster carers are consulted about the quality of the service provided, and participate in decisions about the agency’s future developments. For example,

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Overall effectiveness

there was a consultation exercise in 2015 about the agency’s plans to open a new office in the northern part of the region. Foster carers were pleased about the plans to set up a new office, because they were aware that the Tavistock region was growing and wanted to preserve the positive dynamics of a small, friendly service. Children and young people are kept safe by good policies and procedures, combined with well-structured, individually tailored social work practice. Care planning is effective, and the service’s productive links with other agencies ensure that children’s needs are prioritised at all times. The service is generally well managed by experienced professionals, whose overriding priority is to provide high-quality, child-centred foster care. There are strong financial and administrative arrangements in place to support the work with young people. Commissioners particularly value these measures. They say that the

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Overall effectiveness

agency is a pleasure to deal with and that they would welcome more placements. Three requirements have been made. One of these, in relation to the lack of supervision and appraisal of a senior manager, reflects shortfalls within the wider company, which are outside the control of this office’s registered manager. The second requirement concerns the need for additional detail in the safeguarding policy about provision to protect children in the household where there is a parent and child placement. The third requirement relates to the need to notify all concerning events to Ofsted. Recommendations have been made to improve practice in staff recruitment, including checks and records, and to provide training for foster carers in physical intervention at an earlier stage in their professional development. These shortfalls have not had a direct impact on the young people’s welfare and safety.

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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, Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards (NMS). The registered person must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

12: Arrangements for the protection of children

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Requirement Due date

(2) The fostering service provider must prepare and implement a written policy, which must include a statement of measures to be taken to safeguard any child before making parent and child arrangements with that foster parent (Regulation 12(2)). 20/05/2016

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Requirement Due date

(4)(a) The fostering service provider must ensure that all persons employed by them receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. In particular, ensure that the agency decision maker receives regular supervision and appraisals (Regulation 21(4)(a)). 20/05/2016

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Requirement Due date

(1) If any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 7 take place in relation to a fostering agency, the registered person must without delay notify the persons or bodies indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. In particular, ensure that all incidents that fall within the terms of Schedule 7 are notified to Ofsted (Regulation 36(1) and Schedule 7). 20/05/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all foster carers receive training in positive care and control of children, including training in de-escalating problems and disputes. The fostering service has a clear written policy on managing behaviour, which includes supporting positive behaviour, de-escalation of conflicts and discipline. The fostering service's policy is made clear to the responsible authority/placing authority, child and parent/s or carers before the placement begins or, in an emergency placement, at the time of the placement. In particular, clarify in the policy the method of intervention used, the frequency of training and how children and foster carers will be supported following an intervention. Ensure that foster carers receive such training before they have a child, who requires physical intervention, placed with them (NMS 3.8).  Ensure that all people working in or for the fostering service, and the central

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Recommendations

list of persons considered suitable to be members of a fostering panel, are interviewed as part of the selection process, and have references checked to assess suitability before taking on responsibilities. Telephone enquiries are made to each referee to verify the written references. In particular, ensure that there is a robust, transparent, equal opportunities recruitment process, that interviews are recorded consistently and thoroughly, and that telephone verification of references is completed and recorded in detail (NMS 19.1).  Ensure that the fostering service has a record of the recruitment and suitability checks, including identity checks and an explanation of any gaps in employment history, which have been carried out for foster carers and those working (including as volunteers) for the fostering service (NMS 19.3).

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and young people

The quality of relationships between children and their foster carers is a major strength of this service. The large majority of children and young people are settled and happy in experienced, stable and caring foster families. Children visited during this inspection were relaxed, laughing, joking and playing games with each other and with their foster carers. The vast majority of children and young people are making exceptionally good progress since their arrival in placement. They receive considerable support to help them stabilise and find the confidence to start to develop secure attachments. Foster carers provide imaginative, fulfilling activities and pastimes to help the young people to find interests in life and to develop a positive identity. This is well supported by professional life-story work, some of which has required dedicated research into the diverse cultures of children from minority ethnic backgrounds.

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and young people

Children who responded to the Ofsted survey were very positive about the agency. Their comments include, ‘We go on great holidays, and we always have nice food and family fun. They love me and I love them xx.’ Another young person said, ‘We live on a farm with lots of cows and tractors, which is really cool. I’ve got a big bedroom and games room with a pool table and dart board. My foster mum and dad are really nice to me and my little sister, and we love it here.’ The agency actively promotes good-quality contact to help children and young people to remain in touch with their birth families. Young people can, subject to their wishes and feelings and the local authority’s plan, remain with their foster families beyond the age of 18 under staying-put arrangements. Children and young people are encouraged and supported to express their individual views. Although no children have recently felt the need to complain about the

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and young people

agency’s practice, they have the necessary information to do so. When children and young people experience discrimination, their foster carers and agency staff are appropriately assertive in championing their rights. Children and young people receive clear, readable and reassuring information before they move in with their new foster carers. The service has a children’s guide which is available in different formats to suit individual needs. The guides contain all the necessary contact information to help young people to access external help and advice if they need it. The service consults young people, and often combines consultation exercises with a challenging, fun group activity to encourage the children to participate. The service’s activity programme helps to support children by enabling them to meet other young people who are living away from their birth families. Children also have the opportunity to meet other foster carers through shared

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and young people

activities. This makes it easier for the children to adjust when they receive respite care, because they already know the carers with whom they are going to stay. Many children and foster carers said how much they value this friendly contact and the fact that they know all the staff in the Tavistock office. Children and young people are cared for by foster carers who are experienced parents with very clear boundaries, so that they understand what is expected of them at all times. Consequently, children increasingly develop personal responsibility for their behaviour. The agency currently looks after very few children and young people who go missing, or otherwise engage in risky behaviour in the community. In the past, when children and young people have been at risk, the agency has taken prompt action to bring together other professionals to support the young person and to develop a collective plan to keep them safe.

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and young people

Children and young people interviewed during the inspection are proud of their achievements and lead healthy lifestyles. The children who participated in the inspection were very keen to say how much they enjoy their food, including fruit and vegetables, which shows that foster carers promote a healthy diet. Children and young people benefit from a wide range of family activities, according to their interests and needs. They are offered effective emotional, physical, psychological and therapeutic help. Services for disabled children and young people are provided when they are needed, and children with disabilities have made tremendous progress since the start of their placements. All the children and young people who took part in the inspection are attending school and doing well. External professionals working in education are very positive about the agency. One fostering couple described themselves as ‘pushy parents’,

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and young people

having fought hard for their foster child to receive the education to which she is entitled. The agency and external professionals regard their intervention as highly positive, and respect them as strong advocates who act appropriately to ensure that their foster child’s needs can be met. As a result of attending a school where there was good pastoral care, the child concerned is now much more confident and positive about her education.

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Quality of service

The agency is committed to increasing diversity among its fostering families, and has tried hard to attract applicants from minority ethnic and other diverse backgrounds. Despite these efforts, the approved foster carers are currently from White British backgrounds, which reflects the demographics of the locality. There are a small number of children of dual heritage in placement, and their needs are very well met within their foster families. Discussion took place with the registered manager about different strategies for increasing the profile of the service among the minority communities in the area. The manager has worked hard to achieve this, but so far with limited results. Foster carers are extremely positive about the service. They found their assessing social workers to be reliable and fully supportive throughout the assessment process. One commented, ‘I have fostered with other agencies, but the Fostering Foundation

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Quality of service

are wonderful.’ Another foster carer described the service as ‘warm and friendly, and you feel that you can ring them with any queries or concerns. Excellent supervising social worker. Support groups are now smaller, which is much better.’ Foster carers explained how they had developed professionally as a result of the assessment and training. They particularly enjoyed training in therapeutic parenting. Foster carers found this to be a very child-focused approach, and said that this added a new dimension to parenting skills. They find the service adaptable and flexible. ‘They are always there for both us and the children, and very often step in to help when social services are unavailable for important meetings with doctors or school…even just when you need a chat when times are a bit tough. They also make sure there are lots of courses to attend, and ask us what we think we need...they have regular trips and outings for the children, which are greatly appreciated by both

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Quality of service

children and carers. They arrange trips for each school holidays.’ The agency has an effective care-planning system, and records contain all the information required by regulation. The service works closely with placing authorities to ensure that foster carers have access to as much information as possible before a placement is considered. The agency’s social workers produce detailed, comprehensive and safe assessments. Form F reports are informative, evaluative and written to a high standard. Foster carers’ homes, including their pets, are carefully risk assessed. Discussion took place during the inspection about extending the scope of pet risk assessments to include a wider range of animals. Children and young people are very much part of the fostering families’ lives. One fostered child was not at all confident on arrival, and is now having friends around to tea. Other children who previously struggled with peer relationships are now able to

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Quality of service

enjoy overnight stays with friends. All foster carers have an entitlement to 14 days’ respite care, as part of their contract with the agency. Foster carers are often keen to take children on holiday with them, although some children’s emotional needs and practical considerations can make this very difficult. When respite care is needed, children receive this from families whom they already know. Foster carers enjoy very supportive relationships with the agency and are treated as professionals around the child. All of those interviewed were exceptionally positive about the impact that these relationships have on their ability to care for the children. Some foster carers praised the level of support offered to their birth children, who might otherwise have struggled with a difficult placement. The agency works with foster carers to identity children’s changing needs and liaises with local authority social workers to ensure that their care planning is responsive to

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Quality of service

these developments. When necessary, the agency challenges local authority plans to promote the young people’s best interests. The fostering panel, led by an experienced and skilled chair, works very effectively. Foster carers commented positively on the panel process. Unusually, the agency has a young people’s panel. Young people who participate are carefully prepared for this responsible role. Foster carers were impressed with the young people’s questions and said that this development really made them think about the value of consultation. This engagement with young people helps to promote effective panel recommendations and agency decisions. The fostering panel has an important role in quality assurance of assessments and reviews, and provides effective scrutiny of the agency as a whole. It has shown that it is able to take difficult decisions, for example to recommend de-registration. The agency decision maker provides an additional crucial layer of challenge. He said

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Quality of service

that, on occasion, he has decided not to accept the panel’s recommendations, and has asked for additional information before making a decision. The panel is informed of important developments with specific children and young people. This demonstrates that the panel is functioning well and providing an additional safeguard for children. Foster carers confirmed that the agency provides good quality information about children seeking a placement. The service insists on comprehensive information from the placing authority before a placement is offered. This helps to ensure effective matching. Consequently, the service has had very few placement disruptions. The fostering service works very effectively with local authorities, including independent reviewing officers, to ensure that children’s reviews are timely and tailored to their changing needs. Foster carers did not report any delays in this process.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Children and young people are very well supported to enjoy life to the full, which includes taking age-appropriate risks. The fostering service provides training in safeguarding, including e-safety, for foster carers, staff and young people. The agency’s social workers have arranged intensive support and education in e-safety for vulnerable young people. This has been effective. For example, during the inspection, a foster carer identified an e-safety issue and reported it immediately to her supervising social worker. The service maintains clear and detailed placement plans to help staff and foster carers to deliver tailored individual care. Plans take into account the children’s specific vulnerabilities. Very few children and young people have gone missing since the previous inspection, and there have been no instances so far this year. The agency has a good understanding of the risks that children face when missing, and works closely with

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Safeguarding children and young people

the relevant agencies. On the rare occasions in the past when young people have gone missing, the supervising social workers have been very determined in their efforts to locate them. For example, one social worker went to see a young person who was staying in a squat, in order to try to keep him safe. Foster carers spoken to had a very good understanding of the impact of abuse on children’s lives. A number of children have made disclosures about alleged abuse in previous family circumstances. These disclosures have been responded to appropriately. The service has very positive relationships with external professionals, who report good communication and say that the service is ‘a pleasure to work with’. Examples were seen of impressive joint work between agency staff and placing social workers to help and support children. Staff say that the agency is a very positive, open-door employer and that they feel

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Safeguarding children and young people

very well supported to raise any concerns, or to promote improvement. There are very few allegations or suspicions of harm, but when they occur the staff and manager are clear about the action required to protect children. For example, the service has a positive relationship with local authority designated officers who cover the local authority areas where the foster carers live. One local authority designated officer said that they value the service’s contribution to strategy meetings and their commitment to ensuring that full and proper investigation takes place. During the inspection, discussion took place about the need to submit the agency’s safeguarding policy to the local authority designated officers in the region. Although this has been done as part of the commissioning process, the policies have not always reached the local authority designated officers. The service has a safeguarding policy that is generally effective, but it does not

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Safeguarding children and young people

include provision for checks on adult members of the households where parents and children are placed. This has not placed young people at risk, but the policy requires greater clarity to ensure that other children in placement are kept safe. A requirement has been made. The agency has safe procedures to establish the suitability of potential staff and panel members in place. The staff files are well organised and audited thoroughly. When there are queries raised about suitability, the registered manager ensures that a robust assessment of risk is undertaken prior to appointment, although this has not always been formally recorded on the file. The company outsources its human resources functions to an external organisation, and, as a result, is not in direct control over the information that is retained on file. Consequently, no identity information has been kept for any member of staff or the panel, although it has been obtained because the Disclosure and Barring Service

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Safeguarding children and young people

(DBS) check could not be done without it. In addition, a small number of instances of gaps in employment history were found, although these were all resolved during the inspection. One person had been appointed without a formal interview process, and in other cases interview forms had not been fully completed. Two written references have been obtained in every case, although some are from the same organisation. References have not, to date, been verified by telephone to confirm that the information is correct. The registered manager has completed safe-recruitment training, but this was some time ago. It is good practice to repeat this training periodically, because regulatory requirements and good-practice change. Management oversight of centralised human resources activities has not identified these weaknesses. Although there is no breach of regulation, the agency’s recruitment system does not provide sufficient rigour in assessing suitability. These

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Safeguarding children and young people

shortfalls have not put children at risk, but they have the potential to do so. Two recommendations have been made.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of this service requires improvement because there are shortfalls in centralised functions. For example, the company’s human resources practice is weak, as described above, and further work is required on the safeguarding and physical intervention policies. There has been insufficient formal supervision, and no recorded appraisal, of one of the company’s senior leaders. Although he is well supported informally by his line manager, the agency decision maker’s formal supervision sessions have been irregular and infrequent, with only two on file since 2011. This person holds a key role within the agency. It is crucial that he is effectively supervised and that he has the same opportunities for professional development as all other employees. A requirement has been made. In May 2015, the agency was sending a large number of notifications to Ofsted, not all of which were necessary. The inspector discussed this with the registered

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Leadership and management

manager. Since then, the number of notifications has dropped significantly and those which were inappropriate have ceased altogether. This is positive, but on close examination, it was noted that a small number of significant events that should have been reported to Ofsted have been missed. One example is a road traffic accident involving a young person. This led to him being extracted from the vehicle by the fire and rescue service and taken to hospital for x-rays. A requirement has been made to ensure that notifications are made in line with Schedule 7 of the Fostering Services (England) Regulations. The agency’s physical intervention policy requires clarification because it suggests that the service does not support the use of restraint. This reflects the registered manager’s concern that de-escalation techniques must be tried before any physical intervention takes place. Although a policy of ‘no restraint’ is a laudable ideal, it is not realistic to assume that

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Leadership and management

there will never be a need to intervene in this way in certain extreme circumstances. The policy currently does not reflect that sometimes holding children may be appropriate. It does not specify the level and frequency of training that foster carers must receive in order to do this safely, or that carers who have not been trained must not restrain children. The policy also does not state how foster carers and children will be supported following a physical intervention. Foster carers usually receive training in physical intervention when a need is identified, but this does not always happen. Several examples were found of foster carers who had not received appropriate training, and who had to intervene physically to prevent harm. In some of these cases, the agency had offered training. In one instance, this had been declined by the carer. In another example, the training could not be undertaken because the placement was due to end on the

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Leadership and management

same day. The solution is to provide training before it is needed. Although these deficits have had an impact on the judgement for leadership and management of the service, the management arrangements in the South West office are strong. South West office staff appraisals are informed by consultation with foster carers, colleagues at all levels and young people. This is very good practice. The service also consults children, foster carers and staff regularly on a range of subjects. They encourage all stakeholders to complete the annual Ofsted surveys and to submit their own data reports in a timely manner. The registered manager took up her role following her predecessor’s promotion, in January 2015. Prior to that, she was the deputy manager for this service. The registered manager qualified as a social worker in 1997 and also holds a qualification which is equivalent to a national vocational qualification at Level 4 in Leadership &

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Leadership and management

Management. The registered manager provides clear and effective leadership to her team, which feels very well supported and valued. She works within the team and knows every child well, so that she can tailor the service to meet their needs. Management monitoring is robust, and is well supported by the electronic records system. The service commissions an independent person to prepare six-monthly reports to the fostering panel. These provide clear analysis to support sustainable service development. The responsible individual exercises clear and creative leadership. He has considerable vision for the service, and envisages a steady, sustainable growth over the next few years, without losing sight of the children and young people at the centre of the service. The previous inspection resulted in two requirements being made. The first requirement was that full and satisfactory staff recruitment checks needed to be in

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Leadership and management

place. The service has made improvements, and staff recruitment now meets regulatory requirements. This helps to ensure that young people are safe, but not all of the national minimum standards are met, as described above. The second requirement related to the placing of children over numbers, without an exemption in place. This has been fully met, because the fostering service does not have any families with children placed over numbers. Four recommendations were made at the previous inspection, all of which have now been met. The first was to ensure that foster carers are given a copy of the child’s placement plan. The deputy manager explained that the agency always insists that this document is supplied prior to placement. The second recommendation was to ensure that any overdue reviews are pursued. The agency now has a monitoring system for every aspect of the children’s care, including review dates.

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Leadership and management

Effective audits are carried out regularly to ensure that all records are kept correctly. This was a shortfall at the previous inspection and the subject of a further recommendation. Staff confirmed that the registered manager has access to these records electronically so that she can ensure compliance with agency policy. The fourth recommendation was to ensure that the agency decision maker is a senior person within the fostering service. This has been fully met.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to inform 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 and 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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