Cambian Foster Care

Cambian Foster Care Inspection report for independent fostering agency

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Unique reference number SC058759 Inspection date 05/10/2015 Inspector Stella Lovie and Sarah Oldham Type of inspection Full Provision subtype

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Setting address Pinnacle House, 2 Oakwood Square, Cheadle Royal Business Park, CHEADLE, Cheshire, SK8 3SB Telephone number 0161 430 0200 Email Nicola.tunbridge@cambiangroup.com Registered person Mrs Nicola Tunbridge Registered manager Mrs Sally Byrd Responsible individual Mrs Nicola Tunbridge Date of last inspection 23/02/2012

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Brief description of the service

Cambian Foster Care is an independent fostering agency. It is part of a larger organisation, Cambian Childcare Limited, which owns and manages a number of children’s homes and schools. The registered office of Cambian Foster Care is based in Cheshire within the North West region. It has additional offices in the Midlands and in West Yorkshire, and a small group of carers based in the South West who are managed by the Midlands office.

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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 safeguarded and promoted.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

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

The independent fostering agency has gone through massive change and growth since the last inspection in February 2012 when it was judged to be outstanding. This includes significant organisational change in the last few months. The agency has acquired another independent fostering agency, though they remain separate legal entities but share some integrated management functions based in Kent. A new senior management structure has been brought in that is only just beginning to get to grips with a number of shortfalls, though demonstrates a convincing intention to make the necessary improvements, and has started to do so. It is clear that trust and understanding of new processes are developing but are not yet embedded. During this inspection, all the senior managers have been very transparent about where the failings are and what they are doing about them. The journey of change is at an early stage, though is welcomed by

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Overall effectiveness

most staff and carers. As one member of staff commented: ‘It all feels so much safer now.’ At the point of this inspection, the service has 149 fostering households with 170 children and young people in placement. They are supported and supervised by three regions in the North West, Yorkshire and the Midlands, with a small group of carers in the Bristol area who are overseen by the Midlands region. This is geographically a very large area which is perhaps reflective of the challenges there have been in ensuring consistent and appropriate managerial control. Leadership and management arrangements have been weak and this has had a consequent adverse effect on aspects of the quality of service provision and safeguarding. The Registered Manager has failed to provide the necessary oversight and scrutiny across the breadth of the service, and in the discharge of her manager role in one of the regions. The previous Registered Individual left abruptly during the transition

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Overall effectiveness

to the new management arrangements earlier this year. The circumstances of her departure also raised some concerns about the efficacy of the previous management of the agency. It is clear that both the management legacy and the significant level of change in the last year have contributed to the development of weaknesses in various aspects of the service. Despite those weaknesses, children and young people on the whole have their individual needs met and their welfare safeguarded and promoted. They live in mostly stable and secure placements where they are helped to have good experiences and make positive progress. Foster carers report that they feel well supported by the agency and by their supervising social workers in particular. As a consequence of the overarching previous management failings, this inspection identifies a substantial improvement plan of six requirements and eleven recommendations. It is acknowledged new senior managers have taken immediate steps

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Overall effectiveness

to begin to rectify the weaknesses. They have put in new, robust interim management arrangements to strengthen whole service scrutiny and oversight while they review how best to proceed with the future implementation of the Registered Manager role. Their transparency and openness about the extent of the failings, and their prompt remedial action, is commendable and has demonstrated a firm commitment to turn things around. The shortfalls have not caused actual harm to the welfare or safety of children and young people.

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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 person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must, having regard to the size of the fostering agency, its statement of purpose, and the numbers and needs of the children placed by the fostering agency, and the need to 14/12/2015 safeguard and promote the welfare of the children placed by the fostering agency, carry on or manage the fostering agency with sufficient care, competence and skill (Regulation 8 (1) (a) (b)) The registered person must ensure that the welfare of children placed or to be placed with foster parents is safeguarded and promoted at all times; with specific regard to creating a safe and professional culture within the staff teams as a whole; and referral of potential breaches of professional conduct to the appropriate organisation (Regulation 11 (a)) 09/12/2015

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Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must ensure that, in relation to any child placed to be placed with a foster parent, the foster parent is given such information, which is kept up to date, as to enable him to provide appropriate care for the child, and in particular that each foster parent is provided with a copy of the most recent version of the child’s care plan provided to the fostering service provider under regulation 6(3) (d) of the Care Planning Regulations (Regulation 17 (3)) 09/12/2015

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Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must ensure that all persons employed by them receive supervision and appraisal (Regulation 21 (4) (a)) 09/12/2015

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Requirement Due date

The fostering service must review the approval of each foster parent in accordance with this regulation. A review must take place not more than a year after approval (Regulation 28 (1) (2)) 09/12/2105

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Requirement Due date

If any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 7 takes 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. (Regulation 36 (1)) 09/12/2105

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

Ensure that where a child goes missing and there is concern for their welfare, or at the request of a child who has been missing, the fostering service arranges a meeting in private between the child and the responsible authority to consider the reasons for their going missing; with specific regard to ensuring that independent return interviews take place and information from these are included in the child’s risk assessment (NMS 5.9)

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Recommendations

Ensure that children have prompt access to doctors and other health professionals, including specialist services, when they need these services (NMS 6.4)

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Recommendations

Ensure that the written report on a person’s suitability to be approved as a foster carer sets out clearly all the information that the fostering panel and decision maker needs in order to make an objective approval decision (NMS 13.7)

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Recommendations

Ensure all necessary information is provided to panel members at least five working days in advance of the panel meeting to enable full and proper consideration (NMS 14.3)

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Recommendations

Ensure that the fostering service only suggests foster carers to local authorities as a potential match for a child if the foster carer can reasonably be expected to meet the child’s assessed needs (NMS 15.1)

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Recommendations

Ensure that the fostering service follows up with the responsible authority any gaps in the information provided to them on the child or the child’s family, which may hinder the foster carer in providing a safe caring environment that meets the child’s needs and enables them to keep the child, other children in the fostering household and the foster carer him/herself safe (NMS 15.2)

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Recommendations

Ensure that support and training is made available to foster carers, including hard to reach carers, to assist them in meeting the specific needs of the children they are caring for or are expected to care for (NMS 20.8)

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Recommendations

Ensure that meetings with the foster carer have a clear purpose and provide the opportunity to supervise the foster carer’s work, ensure the foster carer is meeting the child’s needs and offer support and a framework to assess the carer’s performance and develop their competencies and skills; with specific regard to ensuring the right balance between support and challenge (NMS 21.8)

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Recommendations

Ensure staff are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff; with specific regard to ensuring that managers who supervise staff have had relevant training to undertake this (NMS 24.4)

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Recommendations

Ensure that a written record is kept by the fostering service detailing the time, date and length of each supervision held for each member of staff. The record is signed by the supervisor and the member of staff at the end of supervision (NMS 24.5)

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Recommendations

Ensure that all staff have their performance individually and formally appraised at least annually and, where they are working with children, this appraisal takes into account any views of children the service is providing for. (NMS 24.6)

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and young people

Children and young people are provided with easily accessible and helpful information which helps them to settle into their foster home. The agency keeps brothers and sisters together wherever possible and facilitates good quality contact as needed. This helps to maintain essential attachments and promotes children and young people’s positive sense of well-being. Most go on to develop secure attachments with their foster families which are, where appropriate, recognised in permanency arrangements including special guardianship orders and adoption. Many children and young people benefit from long term placements where they enjoy warm and positive relationships with their foster carers. As one placing social worker said: ‘They have provided the girls with love and emotional warmth and both children are very much welcomed members of their family. The carers have overcome a range of difficulties associated with the children’s family history. The children

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and young people

continue to benefit from the carers’ supportive environment which provides them with the love and care that they deserve as well as being able to meet their emotional development and social needs.’ That said, there have been 40 placement disruptions in the last year which suggests that matching has not always been robust enough and that training needs of foster carers have not been met in terms of managing challenging behaviour. Feedback indicates that children and young people feel fully included in their foster families. They benefit from carers who actively promote their education, health and heritage; facilitate contact with their birth families (when that is an agreed aspect of their care plan); and who help them in kindly, effective ways to manage and change troubled behaviour that can develop as a consequence of their histories, inhibiting their social, educational and health development. As one placing social worker

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and young people

enthused: ‘She is an outstanding carer. She goes above and beyond what is required of a foster carer as she has welcomed my young person’s siblings into her home and always goes out of her way to ensure contact. My young person is seen as part of the family and always remains the main focus. The carer understands her emotional and physical needs. She is very settled and happy in the placement. I could not ask for a better carer for her. She is encouraged to be the best person she can be and achieve new heights.’ Children and young people have many social, educational, recreational and spiritual opportunities which help them enjoy their interests, develop self-confidence and maintain good health. Many children and young people attend a variety of clubs and use community resources well; some engage in charity and fund raising work. There is good evidence of positive achievements by the children and young people and of

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and young people

them taking part in different activities such as football, kick boxing, swimming, playing in the school band, making a school documentary, attending air cadets and being voted to be class counsellor. This all helps them to develop into fully rounded human beings. The agency also provides good recreational opportunities for children and young people to get together and have fun at events such as Christmas parties, summer BBQs and Eid celebrations. This encourages them to develop networks and practice social skills. Carers ensure good promotion of children and young people’s spiritual and cultural needs. For example, in one sibling placement the carers support the children attend their Koranic classes and have taken them on holiday to Pakistan to raise their understanding about their cultural heritage. There is a strong commitment to develop the participation work with children and young people so that they have a meaningful impact on service development.

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and young people

Currently their voice is heard through good relationships with supervising social workers and agency-organised children’s activities such as craft work for the agency Christmas card and the New Year calendar. As one child said: ‘I feel happy because they are listening to me and asking me my opinion and ideas.’ Independent reviewing officer feedback indicates that children and young people feel able to participate in their care and future planning. One placing social worker praised the advocacy in place for children and young people: ‘Things continue to go well for him and it is clear he remains your priority and it is lovely to see such committed and supportive carers who advocate his wishes so well.’ Also one panel member noted: ‘We recently held a youth participation workshop in the Midlands region where we asked young people to decorate salt dough foster carers (to indicate) what they think makes a good foster carer - qualities a good foster carer would have - questions that

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and young people

they would like us to ask new carers at Panel. The event was attended by over 20 young people and we have taken their feedback forward to inform recruitment and Panel. I have also seen them hold other consultation groups around how we support young people.’ This reassures children and young people that their views are important and make a difference. Children and young people are provided with a range of support, both from within the agency and from external specialists, to help them to keep themselves safe and to deal with difficult feelings. The agency takes action in partnership with relevant agencies to manage, and where possible reduce, risk to children and young people. They are encouraged to lead healthy lifestyles. Most are offered appropriate emotional and psychological support as needed. However, the agency acknowledges that in one recent situation, that support has not been consistently available and is

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and young people

taking steps to address this. All the children and young people have school or other education placements. There is evidence that they make good progress from their starting points. For example, some attained GCSEs in the last year and some are undertaking apprenticeships. One young person has recently gone to do a scholarship with a major football club. Where children have attendance issues, carers work closely with education professionals to help them to manage full attendance. All panel member respondents to the regulator’s point in time survey in 2015 agreed that the service makes a positive difference to children and young people’s lives in terms of their positive education outcomes, well-being, positive achievements outside of school and their emotional health. As one panel member commented: ‘I am in the fortunate position where I share the good news and success stories of our carers and young people

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and young people

who constantly surprise me and impress me with the difference we have seen in them since placements started.’

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Quality of service

The agency has recruited a diverse range of carers to meet the cultural needs of the children and young people in the regions it serves. However, the agency strategy for recruitment has been unclear in terms of targeting to meet specific needs. For example, one region has a significant number (24 out of 65 carers) of single carers who are working, which places some limitations on their ability to meet children and young people’s complex and challenging behaviours. As a consequence, the agency has a significant number of empty beds. Families have been waiting a long time; one recently has been waiting four years for a second child. Many of the families in one region are interested primarily in younger children and sibling groups. Supervising social workers reported that some carers have been holding out for younger, non- challenging children. There are also concerns about some of the carers which has

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Quality of service

meant they have been put on hold. In some respects, it appears as though recruitment has been about numbers rather than quality. New managers acknowledge this and can demonstrate that their aim is to recruit more realistically in the future to meet actual demand. For example, they have read all the Form Fs, have spoken to every family with a vacancy and have checked the quality of assessments. They have found at least four families in one region where concerns are strong enough to hold placing any children while an investigation is done into their suitability to foster. The only conclusion is that historically there has been pressure to put families through as a priority with not enough attention paid to quality and ability to meet the needs of children and young people. There are also some concerns about the previous quality of the preparation and assessment of prospective carers. The panel chair commented that quality of

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Quality of service

assessments of prospective carers has been varied. In general, analysis has not been strong enough and there is too much reliance on self-reported information. For example, during the inspection four assessments about to be presented to panel needed to be withdrawn as they were not considered to be adequate. This suggests that quality assurance of these processes has hitherto not been robust enough. Quality assurance managers have had such a broad and varied role that it limited their ability to do the quality assurance function robustly. They did not solely do quality assurance of assessments and did not really have authority. They had a whole raft of jobs which inhibited their ability to do one job well. As a consequence, there has been a churn of quality assurance managers in the last year. One of the problems was that the momentum got lost and hard decisions did not get made in a prompt and transparent way. It is clear though that the new senior managers are

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Quality of service

aware of this and have started to address it with more robust oversight throughout the assessment process. For example, they have reviewed all the families in the assessment process and have moved quickly to take out those who are unsuitable. This amounts to at least six families since July 2015. They are still actively considering if a number of other assessments will meet the threshold of ‘good enough’. New senior managers consider that the benchmark for quality shifted in the agency in the past in the interests of achieving target figures. New more robust processes will mean they cancel out more families as they will have undertaken some quality assurance processes even before the independent assessor meets the family. Senior managers were convincing in their commitment to improve the quality and relevance of the families they recruit in the future. They were clear that they would rather be showing significant numbers where they have turned people down than put

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Quality of service

questionable people through. However, the agency is in a change process and new policies and procedures have yet to embedded, though the large majority of existing staff report that they feel positively motivated by the changes. First annual reviews of foster carers have not been consistently held within timescale. One regional manager admitted it had all been ‘a bit of a mess, with mixed messages and confusion’. Improvements have been made recently and plans are in place to address this with the imminent introduction of new information technology that has been tried and tested in the sister agency. This will help with ensuring reviews are held on time. New senior managers also express confidence that this system will contribute to more robust quality assurance in general by delivering strong oversight data. For example, it is said to be able to show and plot differences across the regions in key areas such as missing episodes for each child and young person. This

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Quality of service

will help to keep everyone very aware of what is going on and can be used in supervision to ensure specific actions are being taken in individual cases. Clearly though the system is not yet in place and will no doubt require a period of time before it is used confidently and appropriately across all the regions. Many carers demonstrate that they can help children and young people feel part of their family, and support them effectively with contact with family and significant others. This promotes their well-being. As one young person wrote: ‘Every morning I get up feeling more happy and confident knowing they are there for me by my side and I am so proud of myself of how far I have come and everyone else is proud of me. The person I need to say thanks to is mostly my lovely, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, awesome No 1 carer.’ The agency provides respite in the interests of placement stability. However, on occasion, handover of information to respite carers

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Quality of service

about children and young people’s needs has been insufficiently robust. This does not promote stable placements. In addition, some carers do not have clear delegated authority and are missing key documentation about the child placed with them. This inhibits carers’ understanding of the needs of children and young people and may be a factor in the placement disruptions. Similarly, documentation for a significant number of children and young people is also missing from the agency files. This includes care plans, delegated authority and medical consents. While there is evidence that staff have tried to obtain this information, in many cases they have not been successful to date. Again this does not enable staff to have a full, up-to-date picture of children and young people’s needs and places unnecessary barriers in the way of their day to day care. The vast majority of foster carer feedback confirms that they feel very well supported

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Quality of service

by their supervising social workers and they consider the agency to be a positive and good one to work for. They are very clear that they feel part of the professional network around the children and young people and that their views are valued and listened to. As one carer commented: ‘My supervising social worker is fantastic; he's always there when I need him, or just if I need to chat about something. He's really helpful and he's so calm and relaxed and friendly, he never makes me feel inadequate.’ One group of foster carers reported that supervision gives them a chance to off-load, discuss things, get advice and improve their confidence; and that it is sometimes useful to be able to shift blame to the supervising social worker for difficult decisions. They report that their supervising social workers also make sure their birth children are supported. The agency provides specific support to male

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Quality of service

foster carers via a regular, well-attended group with the clear objective to promote their confidence in all aspects of supporting children and young people. This helps them to recognise that they can act as positive male role models with whom children and young people can establish secure attachments. Supervision records are structured and provide a good focus on all aspects of the carers’ role. However, they are not always returned to the carer in a timely manner and this potentially undermines the impact of those discussions. There is a mixed picture as to whether the right balance between support and challenge to foster carers is always achieved, particularly where there are underlying concerns. Lots of carers report that their supervision includes constructive challenge. As one carer commented: ‘We have a really good working relationship. They feel able to tell you what you’ve done wrong and we feel able to take it.’ However, in one case that was

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Quality of service

examined, supervision records failed to demonstrate robust and effective challenge of the carer in respect of some quite serious concerns about health and safety, and behaviour management. Consequently, in discussion with the inspector, that carer had no insight as to why she had been eventually encouraged to resign. In another case examined, carers had failed to attend any training, and supervision records did not identify that this was an important issue. This would seem to suggest a pattern of leaving such carers without placements and thus tacitly encouraging them to resign. On a number of occasions foster carers referred to their supervising social workers as like ‘friends’. One staff member commented in the point in time survey that they have not always been supported by managers in mounting appropriate challenge: ‘Currently the agency is subject to so much change, and the last two years in my opinion have been hard work to ensure existing staff and carers are

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Quality of service

bought in line with best practice guidelines. And as a result carers have needed to be challenged in regard to the care they offer. I have done this, but when carers have complained about me, they have been pacified by an offer of another supervising social worker.’ This view is echoed by the panel chair who believes that the agency has a group of low-level, non-compliant carers. She feels that reviews do not reflect how the agency is challenging this. She gave an example of when the Registered Manager signed off a review of one person as a ‘really committed foster carer’ when they clearly were not. She believes that supervision of carers does not always show robust challenge of the known weaknesses. This practice is likely to be a factor in the placement disruptions and the high number of vacancies. It begs questions about the adequacy of supervision, support and challenge of the supervising social workers by

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Quality of service

their managers. Matching has not always taken into account the views of supervising social workers who have good knowledge of the skills and capacity of their carers. Matching criteria has not been consistently robust. In some cases, the agency has not obtained enough paperwork and information in relation to children and young people to enable carers to have a full oversight of their individual needs. For example, less than half of the carer respondents to the Ofsted 2015 survey felt they received useful information about the child before they fostered them. One carer commented: ‘We have never been given the full background of any child placed with us and have never had introductions. Children's social workers aren't very forthcoming - they seem available to speak to before a child is placed, but as soon as that child is through your front door it’s like they no longer exist (out of sight out of mind) - they

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Quality of service

then only get involved if the placement gets to breaking point.’ This has increased the risk of placement disruption for children and young people with a subsequent adverse impact on their continuity of care. The agency’s annual data set submitted this year confirms that unplanned endings of placements in 2014-15 is much higher (31) than the previous year when there were only seven. The figure presented during the inspection was even higher with 40 placement disruptions across the service since October 2014. However, supervising social workers and foster carers report that the new system of referrals management is working well. Carers now get to know about every referral coming through. They feel the Referrals Manager has credibility both as a qualified social worker and because she is a foster carer. In- house referral management had previously been less clear. The new manager is getting to know the supervising social workers and foster carers and she has taken

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Quality of service

considered time to do this. This makes for more relevant calls to carers about possible placements. The Yorkshire supervising social workers commented that matching feels improved and consequently a lot smoother. The agency annual data set submitted at the end of March 2015 identified that the percentage of carers who had completed their required training to National Minimum Standards within timescales was only 38% in 2012-13. For the year 2014-15 (up until 31/3/15) it was still below half at 46%. This is 12% lower than the national comparator of 58%. However, new managers have worked hard to rectify this and they are now almost all within timescale. This was a recommendation from the last inspection which has very recently been achieved. Most carers report that training and support is excellent. However, a small number feel strongly that access to training is sometimes difficult for location and availability

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Quality of service

reasons. This impacts on their ability to update their understanding of the needs of children and young people. Some carers fed back to Ofsted that training post- approval has not always helped them to meet the specific needs of the children and young people in their care. This is further confirmed by some recent panel minutes which commented that foster carers’ professional development is hindered by lack of places on some courses. New managers fully acknowledge that this has been an issue and have current plans in place to address it. This includes recent provision of on-line training and training at weekends. The new training programme from September 2015 includes a wide range of courses such as first aid, health and safety, safeguarding, domestic violence, how to stop foster children pushing your buttons, safe handling and de-escalation, child sexual exploitation, child development, eating disorders, parent and child placements, managing allegations,

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Quality of service

attachment, and equality and diversity. In recognition of the previous tendency for course to get booked up quickly, the new head of training and development will be putting the course on twice. She has also confirmed that training for foster carers will be held in local venues so that carers can get to them easily. Evidence indicates that panels in each of the regions have struggled with some of the quality of assessments and carer reviews presented to them. In addition, papers have not always been provided to them in a timely way. Panels mount significant constructive challenge to the agency in terms of this. The chair does not shy from raising issues and is thorough in her neutrality. New managers acknowledge that they are going to have to work hard to win back the confidence of the panels. Panel members have appropriate knowledge and expertise to make effective decisions but they are not recruited from a range of diverse backgrounds to reflect the regions that

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Quality of service

they serve. This is a minor shortfall with no evident adverse effect.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The agency provides helpful direct work with children and young people to raise their understanding about how to keep themselves safe and to better comprehend risk. For example, a group of teenage girls with similar vulnerabilities in the North West are supported to meet on a regular basis. They all have issues in relation to low self- esteem, identity and poor social skills. The group gives them a chance to meet other young people and choose activities such as going to a dance studio event. This has helped some particularly introverted young people develop their confidence and trust. Those sessions plan to include an awareness-raising about e-safety and sexual exploitation so that the young people are better informed about making safer choices. The agency works closely with relevant safeguarding agencies to monitor and where possible reduce risk when children and young people go missing or are considered to

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Safeguarding children and young people

be at risk of sexual exploitation or other risky activities. Risk assessments support and protect the children and young people and are monitored and reviewed regularly to promote safety. In general, foster carers show a good understanding of what to do if they have a safeguarding concern. They recognise the impact of any abuse or neglect on the behaviour of children and young people and take appropriate action to protect and support them. Carers have had access to relevant training and are supported to understand how best to care for children and young people displaying risk-taking behaviour. For example, child sexual exploitation training has covered the different models of sexual exploitation, including peer, boyfriend, opportunistic, online grooming, organised/networking and internal trafficking. Hand-outs have included the indicators and the response of police services to tacking child sexual exploitation. As a result,

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Safeguarding children and young people

carers demonstrate that this training has been effective in helping them to recognise the signs and symptoms and to know what action to take to protect the children and young people. All panel member respondents to the regulator confirmed this as well: ‘This is improving with relevant and purposeful training and use of support groups to enforce key learning and messages. Supervising social workers are better equipped with information and training to inform their practice.’ This demonstrates that carers, social workers, the agency and police are working in partnership to promote the needs of children and young people well and to safeguard them. That said, children and young people who have been missing do not always have independent return interviews to ascertain the push-pull factors and plan around these accordingly. In general, the agency effectively promotes safe care. Supervising social workers

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Safeguarding children and young people

make two annual unannounced visits to foster carers. Carers report that these visits include careful checks of health and safety matters, and that children and young people are seen without their foster carers being present. However, as already identified, there have been some shortfalls in the consistency of assessment, supervision and training of a few foster carers, and this has potentially impacted in the recent past on their ability to be sufficiently robust in safeguarding. For example, in some cases there have been long-standing unresolved health and safety matters, real concerns about safe transportation and carers who are just not sufficiently aware of their limitations and therefore able to address them. It is at least positive that new managers have been fully transparent about these shortfalls and are able to demonstrate that they are actively addressing them. The human resources manager acknowledges that there have been some concerns a

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Safeguarding children and young people

year ago about poor linking between the previous human resources manager and the previous Responsible Individual. This led to a lack of clear guidelines and under- resourcing to promote robust safer recruitment of staff. The new manager is confident that systems and processes are now much clearer. Inspectors sampled a random selection of new staff recruitment files during the inspection and found them to be suitably robust and thorough. This helps to deter unsuitable individuals from having access to vulnerable children and young people. However, the agency under the previous management regime did not refer a relatively recent safeguarding concern about an independent social worker they contracted to do an assessment. This does not promote a strong safeguarding culture. Again, new managers are clear that this is not acceptable and indicated every intention to refer the matter to the appropriate professional council. In addition, although the management of

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Safeguarding children and young people

allegations against foster carers and staff has been consistent with safeguarding procedures, they have not always been notified to Ofsted in line with regulation. This inhibits the regulator from ensuring robust scrutiny of action taken. Staff in one region have not felt able in the recent past to report concerns about poor management or bullying in the workplace. They report that they did not feel able or safe enough to speak out as they did not think they would be listened to. This has not encouraged an open and transparent culture. That said, during the inspection, new managers have been open, honest and proactive in relation to this and other matters of concern. They have inspired confidence that they will follow through on taking effective remedial action. As a result, staff confirm that they feel safer, listened to and more confident.

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Leadership and management

With the acquisition of another independent fostering service earlier this year, Cambian Foster Care has developed a more robust management structure which comprises a head of safeguarding, a head of quality assurance and compliance, and a centralised human resource team based in Kent. Referrals, recruitment and assessment of prospective foster carers are likewise managed by a team based in Kent. The aim of this structure is to enable the three regional offices to concentrate on their work with children, young people and families. New senior managers have brought a strong sense of clear vision and ambition for the service and the children and young people who are fostered. Carers and supervising social workers report that the new senior managers have really made an effort to communicate about the changes and to listen to their concerns. They have demonstrated a genuine personal touch. They have been very

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Leadership and management

visible and have allayed worries about a potential large, corporate, distanced organisation. Staff and carers gave the example of how new senior managers had attended the recent Eid meal with children and carers. Overall, the agency is well- staffed, resourced and financially viable. Each region has a fostering regional manager who currently reports directly to the head of safeguarding in the current absence of the Registered Manager. However, those managers have not all had training in the supervision and appraisal of staff. Supervising social workers have caseloads of approximately 12 families, though new staff are given protected smaller caseloads during their induction process. Caseloads reflect the geographic demands of the regions to promote accessibility and value for money. The Registered Manager chose to base herself in the Midlands region of the service. She appears to have had minimal involvement with the two other regions. As a

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Leadership and management

result, she has not fulfilled her role to have the oversight, accountability and scrutiny of the whole service for which she is legally responsible. This role should have a high level view and understanding of how things are in the whole agency. It is a role that requires that person to be macro in their view and to know each office thoroughly and demonstrate equal responsibility for them. However, in effect she has been acting as a regional manager with responsibility primarily only for the Midlands part of the service. This means that she has not been able to see the whole picture of her service. It has led to a lack of consistency and communication across the three key offices to ensure clarity of purpose and to promote transparency and inclusion. It has not enabled the sharing of good practice or the ability to compare performance across the service. As one panel member commented in feedback to the regulator: ‘I

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Leadership and management

feel that there are some excellent staff, carers and outcomes for the young people receiving a service. However, I believe that there needs to be a more consistent approach from the leadership to promote consistently high quality care provision.’ This has been a very significant shortfall. The new Responsible Individual described the process of uncovering this ‘significant dysfunction’ in the last few months as ‘like ripping a plaster off a wound’ but said it had to be done so they could get on with putting things right. Much evidence has been seen during the inspection to confirm that the new management of the agency is actively considering how best to prevent this happening again, and how to secure robust management in line with regulation across the large geographic area in which the agency operates. In addition, the Registered Manager has failed to address significant concerns in the region in which she has been based. She has failed to ensure that all staff in the

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Leadership and management

agency are provided with induction, regular supervision and appraisal. Some staff in the Midlands region report that they have not had formal supervision from the Registered Manager for over two years. This has impacted adversely on their confidence, performance management and professional development. As some staff commented in the Ofsted 2015 survey: ‘Supervision is rare. I have brought up issues that relate to well-being of staff in the office but nothing has been done about this. This is an area that needs to be improved upon and regular supervision put into place for support workers. Managers leave administration staff in the office without duty (cover) and are sometimes not contactable… I feel frustrated at times working within an agency that is unorganised and where managers leave staff vulnerable as they do not take responsibility.’ This has led to staff feeling unsettled and insecure as they feel that up until recently, lines of accountability have been obscure. It is likely

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Leadership and management

to have contributed to the high turnover of staff in the last year. However, new managers have very recently identified this as a key shortfall and have moved swiftly to begin to remedy the situation. All staff have now had supervision and report that they feel the team in the Midlands region is working together better, and that the service as a whole is moving forward. Staff in the other two regions report that they have had regular and useful formal supervision to support them in their role. However, managers providing supervision of staff need to be suitably trained to do this so that those interventions are effective and of a good enough quality. In addition, supervision records need to be signed by both parties and note the length of each session. Where staff have had appraisals, they need to take into account the views of children and young people so that managers address performance management in relation to this important source of information.

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Leadership and management

Foster carers and most staff report that the recent changes to the organisation and influx of new management have been experienced as a relatively smooth process. It has been helped by the fact that they have been kept well-informed. On the whole, they feel the changes have improved things. For example, carers prefer the more transparent payment structure and that they now have many more referrals to consider. They say that the new senior managers laid their cards on the table and answered all their questions: ‘They said it and they did it.’ This is promoting more cohesive working and better clarity about job role and accountability. Feedback from stakeholders has been consistently positive about effective working relationships with the agency. New managers are planning to be more proactive in reviewing and acting upon the trends and patterns in the recruitment of foster carers so that they better reflect the needs of the commissioning local authorities.

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Leadership and management

Regional managers regularly monitor, review and track the progress of individual children and young people. However, their systems for this are individual to each office and do not easily provide good, whole service data. The new management is about to improve on this with the introduction of tried and tested information technology from the sister agency. This will enable better oversight of safeguarding and data that will show up any weaknesses in regional branches. It will enable managers to compare different branches’ performance and take proactive action to address any further concerns.

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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. inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of independent fostering agencies.

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