Child Action North West

Child Action North West Inspection report for independent fostering agency

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Unique reference number SC036972 Inspection date 30/06/2015 Inspectors Lynn O'Driscoll and Jackie Line Type of inspection Full Provision subtype

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Setting address DIXON HOUSE, WHALLEY ROAD, WILPSHIRE, BLACKBURN, LANCASHIRE, BB1 9LL Telephone number 01254 244700 Email nwaddilove@canw.org.uk Registered person Child Action North West Registered manager Ms Nicola Waddilove Responsible individual Ms Susan Cotton Date of last inspection 23/03/2012 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

This independent fostering agency is part of a wider charitable organisation. Its’ main functions are to recruit, assess, approve, train and support foster carers.

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Brief description of the service

At the time of this inspection there were 61 fostering households offering 84 placements to meet the diverse needs of children and young people of both genders and aged between 0 and 19 years. The range includes: permanent and long term placements; short-term; emergency; remand; and, parent and child placements.

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Brief description of the service

All the main functions operate from the head office in Blackburn. There is another office in Bolton.

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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

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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 agency demonstrates a strong commitment to developing children and young people’s individual potential. A high proportion benefit from long term, stable placements with their siblings. They are an integral part of the fostering family and have formed particularly strong, trusting attachments.

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Overall effectiveness

Consequently, they are all very happy, safe and secure and their experiences, outcomes and progress are at least good.

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Overall effectiveness

Children and young people's wishes and feelings are central to their day-to-day care and their individual needs are very well met. Ongoing consultation opportunities and participation events are a key strength of this service. Many also influence strategic planning and service development. This has been recognised by successfully achieving a national investors in children award, but they still do not contribute to the annual appraisals of supervising social workers.

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Overall effectiveness

This agency ensures a diverse range of highly experienced carers who receive excellent support to help them to best meet the unique and complex needs and personal preferences of the children and young people. However, five carers have not completed the Training, Support and Development Standards within 12 months of approval. Moreover, a number have not completed mandatory courses in a timely manner.

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Overall effectiveness

Most carers feel valued as a fundamental part of the professional team working with each child. Effective partnership working with relevant agencies is firmly established to safeguard and protect the children and young people living in foster placements. Although delegated responsibilities are clear, carers are not always equipped with all the information about the children and young people prior to placement to ensure they are providing appropriate care at all times in line with up-to-date care plans.

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Overall effectiveness

A significant organisational restructure since the last inspection has resulted in a reduction of one manager post responsible for the day-to-day control of one of the two offices. The Registered Manager is also new to this key position. Moreover, the monitoring systems in place are not sufficiently robust to support all their legal responsibilities and to ensure all records are well maintained. Consequently, there are a number of regulatory shortfalls arising from this inspection. They relate to the lack of, or out-of-date or the variable quality of documentation. The agencies policies and foster carer agreements are also not regularly reviewed and revised.

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Overall effectiveness

While shortfalls are identified these are not widespread and have not, to date, had a significant negative impact upon the welfare of children and young people. Moreover, this is a particularly open and transparent agency who have acknowledged the shortfalls and have already put an appropriate improvement plan in place to immediately address them.

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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

ensure, in relation to every child placed with a foster carer, the carer is given such information, which is kept up to date, as to enable them to provide appropriate care for the child; and, carers are provided with such training and timely renewals as is necessary, in the interests of the children placed with them and in particular: specialist parent and child and remand placements; mandatory de-escalation, record keeping, e-safety and managing allegations courses; and, ensure the timely successful completion of the Training, Support and Development standards for all carers (Regulation 17) 30/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

revise the safeguarding policy to include parent and child placements and the postal and email address and telephone number of Ofsted (Regulation 12) 31/07/2015

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the welfare of children placed or to be placed with foster carers is safeguarded and promoted at all times and specifically in relation to demonstrating robust matching considerations and the regular review of risk assessments (Regulation 11) 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

maintain an effective system for monitoring all the matters set out in Schedule 6 at appropriate intervals. Provide a written report to Ofsted in respect of any review on the quality of care provided. The system must provide for consultation with foster parents, children placed with foster parents and their placing authority (Regulation 35) 31/07/2015

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Requirement Due date

revise the complaints procedure to include the postal and email address and telephone number of Ofsted (Regulation 18) 31/07/2015

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Requirement Due date

supply a copy of the amended statement of purpose and children’s guide to each approved carer and to each child in placement (Regulation 4) 31/07/2015 regularly review each Foster Care Agreement to ensure it remains relevant to the particular fostering household and the specific needs of the children in placement. (Regulation 27, Schedule 5) 30/09/2015

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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 children with emotional and mental health needs have prompt access to specialist services (NMS 6.4)

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Recommendations

ensure there is written guidance for foster carers and staff, which makes clear how they will be independently supported during an investigation into an allegation, including clarity about payments to foster carers while investigations are ongoing (NMS 22.11)

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Recommendations

ensure written records are kept detailing the circumstances of a child's return from being missing, including their appearance and demeanour (NMS 5.10)

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Recommendations

ensure that staff appraisals include the views of children and young people they are working with (NMS 24.6)

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Recommendations

demonstrate that efficient and robust IT systems are in place and in particular; ensure a consistent storage of key documentation. (NMS 27.1)

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and young people

Children and young people are very happy and settled in their current long term stable placements; within the context of numerous previous disruptions and a particularly high percentage living with their siblings. Most notably one fostering household has enabled a sibling group of five, all with very different and highly complex needs, to stay together in a nurturing environment where they are all thriving. One of them said, ‘My life is wonderful now. We are one big happy family and we do lots of things altogether. Their daughter is like my big sister. I am going to school every day and have lots of friends. I have my own en-suite bedroom and I am no longer responsible for the care of my brothers and sisters. My carers are really good cooks. I am going on guide camp this weekend and I am very excited. I have got some new shoes for the disco.’

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and young people

There are 50% lower unplanned endings in this agency compared to other independent fostering agencies. Many children have successfully returned home or have the security of a special guardianship order or have been adopted by their carer. One young person has chosen to change his surname to that of his carers because his sense of belonging is so strong. Others have made a positive decision to remain in placement beyond their 18th birthday until they feel ready to move on to independence. Comments from children and young people include, ‘I have lived here for three years and I love it. I feel accepted as part of the family’, ‘They treat me like part of the family and they don’t treat me any different to everybody else’ and, ‘My carers are awesome. I feel so welcome. It doesn’t feel like I am in care. It is exactly as it should be. I am supported to follow my religious beliefs and have just joined a

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and young people

They all benefit from highly individualised care which bests meets their unique needs and personal preferences. This enables them to reach their full potential. Their wishes and feelings directly influence their day-to-day care. They know how to complain should the need arise and a few have exercised this right. They were taken seriously and positive action taken. This reinforces the fact that their opinions matter and are valued, which in turn increases their self-esteem and confidence.

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and young people

Children and young people exercise a genuine choice about contact arrangements with their birth families in line with any legal directions, which is actively promoted and facilitated by their foster carers. This helps children and young people to understand their backgrounds and maintain their sense of identity. One young person said, ‘I have told my IRO that I want it to be a long term placement and I now see my grandma and speak to my mum on my own terms.’ Some carers provide children and young people with a welcome brochure about the foster family prior to admission. This helps them prepare for their move and gain an understanding of their future placement, so they settle quickly. However, the quality of these do vary. For example, one was written in child friendly language and introduced by the young person in placement. In another, the photograph of the young person’s bedroom looked bare and unwelcoming. Moving forward, applicants

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and young people

will be expected to produce one for scrutiny at panel to ensure consistently good quality documents.

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and young people

With one exception, all the children and young people accessing this service are receiving appropriate education that best meets their assessed needs. Consequently, they are making good progress from their individual starting points. Their overall academic results are higher than the national average for all children looked after.

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and young people

One young person was thrilled to receive a watch for coming fourth in his examinations at the Mosque. This is an individual who previously rarely went to school. Now he is up and ready and waiting for his transport and has 100% attendance. One young person’s reading has demonstrably improved and another has successfully completed a junior university programme. One young person proudly announced, ‘I was pupil of the year.’ Increased confidence and self-esteem has resulted in many children and young people, who previously were not in school or had disengaged, actively studying hard at University to achieve their future career choices. Examples include, mechanics and social work. One young person is focussed on gaining the qualifications to get into the travel and tourism industry.

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and young people

Children and young people really enjoy taking part in a wide range of stimulating, challenging and meaningful activities. They are fully involved in all of the fostering family events and holidays and in a wide variety of clubs within the local community. This gives them a strong sense of belonging. Comments from children and young people include, ‘I’ve lost weight because I now get good food and I go dancing. I have won a dancing competition’, ’I like playing rugby and going to the gym’ and, ‘I like abseiling, rock climbing and mountain biking. We go swimming every week and I’m going on a plane for the first time ever soon’.

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and young people

Individual interests and talents are actively encouraged and supported which serves to further increase their competencies and confidence. One carer has made a running track in the field to support the young person’s interest. Other examples include singing, boxing, golf, football and martial arts. One young person recently won a national writing competition. Other young people, previously with no self- esteem, have gained the confidence and loved taking part in a public fashion show organised by the agency.

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and young people

A young leaders group choose, plan and organise events for other young people and say, ‘We feel listened to by the agency and all reasonable requests get done. We thought the logo was dull and they have now rebranded into bright colours. We are now designing our own hoodies.’ They are currently organising a talent show. They are also actively involved in interviewing staff and were pleased with their recent appointment of the new head of service. They said, ‘We had two days training and then met together to agree some questions like their relevant training and past experiences.’

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and young people

One social worker said, ‘The carer is doing a wonderful job and highly obsessive behaviours and self- harm have ceased in this placement.’ With the benefit of homemade nutritious meals and regular physical activities a number of children and young people have lost or gained appropriate weight which has boosted their self- esteem. One young person is now drug free and others have stopped offending and going missing. This is despite some particularly complex histories. Significant challenging behaviours have demonstrably improved.

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and young people

All the children and young people benefit from opportunities to develop age and ability appropriate life skills to prepare them for successful independent living. Many have improved their social skills and gained the confidence to embrace community activities. They are also actively encouraged to be sensitive to the needs of others by taking part in charitable events. Some extremist views have dissipated. One young person said, ‘I like food shopping, cooking and baking. I now eat healthily and love exercise. I grow vegetables and am interested in a career in horticulture or sport’.

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and young people

This agency offers ‘Towards independence groups’. Sessions include, budgeting, further education and career options and gaining qualifications such as first aid and food hygiene.

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Quality of service

This service has a good retention rate, so children and young people benefit from being very well cared for by particularly experienced and competent carers. This means the carers have also developed the confidence to be strong and effective advocates for the children and young people. This has resulted, for example, in: them moving to schools of their choice; and, re-establishing and supporting contact arrangements that are in the best interests of the children and young people.

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Quality of service

Some carers sensitively support young people with extremely complex health needs. This meant that one couple moved out of their family home and into a bungalow for two years. The young person lived beyond his life expectancy. Another carer had their house converted to meet the child’s particular needs. Feedback from social workers and other stakeholders on the quality of care provided is very positive. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘I am impressed with this agency. The support is really good for the child and the carers which has resulted in significant progress. The child’s best interests are clearly at the heart of all they do.’

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Quality of service

Comments from commissioners include, ‘Placement stability is good. It is a resilient agency. They are never quick to serve notice’, ‘They have good values and good outcomes for young people. They have strong carers who always go the extra mile’ and, ‘This agency come to the table with a can do attitude and in the main it is a good quality provision.’

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Quality of service

One Local Authority Designated Officer said, ‘The carers are clearly very well supported and this agency considers hard the existing placements and doesn’t overload carers compared to other agencies. The standard of care provided is impressive and the length of time carers stay with this agency is a strong indicator.’

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Quality of service

This service ensures a sufficient number and diversity of carers to meet the unique needs of the children and young people requiring foster placements. Supervising social workers know their foster carers really well including their strengths and skills and therefore make some good matches, based on sound judgements. However, this good practice is not reflected in the documentation nor is there evidence that the matching consideration forms are consistently revised prior to a change of placement.

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Quality of service

This agency supports it’s carers to a high standard. This has resulted in very good stability rates. There has been 14 unplanned endings since the last inspection. This is an average of 4% of total placements compared to 8% for other Independent Fostering Agencies. Carers benefit from: monthly supervisory visits from qualified social workers; access to specialist support from the wider organisation to respond to more specific and complex needs and behaviours; and, a dedicated education team who are especially successfully in supporting smooth transitions to new schools. They have also produced a useful guidance to carers about the legalities of exclusions aimed at empowering carers to challenge.

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Quality of service

The emotional well-being groups have proved to be particularly popular and beneficial in strengthening carer’s resilience. Comments from carers include, ‘The support is first class. You can rely on the supervising social workers’, ‘This agency appropriately match the skills of the support worker to the needs of the young person’, ‘The out of hours service is excellent. It is quite a small company so those on duty know all the children well’, ‘We had a major bereavement and got total back- up from the agency’ and, ‘When my wife was ill they picked the children up to take them to school.’

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Quality of service

However, despite a good range of training opportunities on offer, child friendly courses, options of online, evening and weekends and a significant increase in the last six months, there are still carers who have not completed all their mandatory courses in a timely manner. Five have not completed the Training, Support and Development Standards within 12 months of approval, although this is still better than the national average.

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Quality of service

Some carers have requested more specialist training to ensure they provide safe and effective care, in particular to meet the increasing demand for parent and child and remand placements. Some do not feel confident acting as an appropriate adult to ensure young people’s legal rights are upheld. One parent was very positive about her placement saying, ‘I have been shown a stable normal life and different ways of looking at things. I now understand the importance of looking after myself so I can keep my baby. She is very straight with me and supportive, which has worked wonders for me.’

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Quality of service

Participation with children and young people remains an outstanding feature of this service and has now been nationally recognised by being awarded investors in children. They are actively involved in the development of the service. They are also supported to positively contribute to their statutory reviews. An agency newsletter is sent out twice a year to keep young people up-to-date with opportunities they can get involved in. For example, one young person has successfully completed a nationally recognised course on children’s rights. Feedback from birth children is consistently complimentary about the enrichment activities on offer to them.

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Quality of service

Most carers feel highly valued as an integral part of the professional team working with the child and are actively involved in care planning. They also confirm good clarity about delegated responsibilities.

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Quality of service

However, they do not always receive all the required information about the child prior to placement to ensure they can provide appropriate care. One placement plan seen was two years out of date and referred to the previous placement. One carer said, ‘In all the ten years I have been fostering, I have never had all the information’. Another couple who took two siblings in an emergency said, ‘They are with us long term now yet we are still fighting for information.’ One carer received information that was five years out of date, so medication the young person required and her significant risk taking behaviours were inaccurate. The outcome of this was a disruption and an allegation.

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Quality of service

New applicants confirm an efficient response to their initial enquiry and described their first contact with the agency as welcoming and supportive. They found the assessment process to be well organised and comprehensive. They particularly welcomed the fact that they met the panel chair at the skills to foster training.

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Quality of service

A key strength of this service is the robust panel with a good skills mix. It is extremely well chaired by an independent and highly experienced individual who ensures all members fully contribute. They benefit from a very efficient panel administrator who ensures all required timescales are strictly adhered to and access to good medical and legal advice. Panel papers are sent out in good time to ensure all members are fully prepared. Regular, good quality training and team building has also given individuals the confidence to robustly scrutinise and appropriately challenge the reports presented. They have particularly noticed a significant improvement in the monitoring of children’s health. However, this inspection has identified some children with emotional and mental health needs who are not receiving specialist support.

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Quality of service

The head of service provides an organisational update prior to panel business so they are kept abreast of all new developments and challenges. One member wrote, ‘This agency is extremely child focussed and provide good quality placements that are creatively well supported but carer training has been a real issue.’

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Quality of service

They describe the quality of reports presented as, ‘variable but increasingly more analytical’. One was described as, ‘Excellent giving us a real picture of family life’ whereas another report was, ‘Very disjointed and showed little insight into how the carer would manage.’ This suggests they are not being thoroughly scrutinised prior to panel. In contrast, there is good evidence that the panel are stringently exercising their quality assurance functions and are vigilant in ensuring any health and safety concerns are efficiently addressed.

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Quality of service

Some young people choose to attend panel to tell them about their experiences. For example, ‘I really enjoy living with these carers. I love the dog, the food and playing football. I go to the local youth club and have my friends over for tea. My carers help me with my writing. ‘

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Safeguarding children and young people

All the children and young people who contributed to this inspection confirmed that they feel very safe, happy and settled in their current placement and the local community. Comments include, ‘I feel like one of the family’, ‘I can have a proper childhood now’, ‘I feel loved, supported and cared for’, ‘My carers understand me and help me with my problems’, ‘ I am happy here and can stay until I’m old if I want to. We do nice things altogether and they take me on holiday’ and, ‘I’m really enjoying myself at my foster home and I want to stay forever. I really do like it here.’

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Safeguarding children and young people

Many are enjoying the safety and security of long term, stable placements with their siblings. Moreover, they all have at least one adult they feel comfortable talking openly to if they did have any worries. Some are simply enjoying being a child again rather than a young carer.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Consequently, there are relatively few incidents of children and young people going missing and effective protocols are in place with the local police and other relevant safeguarding agencies to protect the few who do. Indeed, there is a reduction of overall episodes compared to the previous year. One probation officer said, ‘This remand placement has been fantastic. He has not re-offended, is drug free, engaging in activities with his carer and learning independence skills.’ A judge had high praise for the work of another carer with a high profile offender. His health and education significantly improved.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Many children and young people respond extremely well to the consistent boundaries and routines in place. This has resulted in a significant decrease in challenging behaviours. The use of restraint is rare and lower than national comparators. Some young people have learned, and feel safe enough, to express their feelings of frustration and anger rather than acting them out through aggression or criminal damage. However, individual risk assessments are not regularly updated so new concerns and significant progress are not accurately reflected. This demonstrates that the monitoring of records is not sufficiently robust. Moreover, six fostering households have not completed de-escalation training.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Foster carers say they fully understand their role in securing young people's safety and protection and the vast majority, but not all, have completed the required safeguarding training in a timely manner. However, the safeguarding policy does not include the specific arrangements for parent and child placements and the postal and email address and telephone number of Ofsted.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Ten carers have not completed the mandatory managing allegations course and a significant number are not trained in e-safety. A Local Authority Designated Officer confirmed good partnership working with this agency. She said, ‘They follow the correct procedures and there is lots of communication throughout. They are a very open and honest agency.’ However, there is a lack of clarity for carers subject to an allegation about the independent support and payments available to them while they are on hold. Also, the complaints procedure does not include the postal and email address and telephone number of Ofsted.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people have benefitted from targeted individual and group work with dedicated support workers to raise their awareness of risks and to explore appropriate strategies to keep themselves safe when enjoying independence in the community and online. To their credit: one young person has helped to produce a leaflet on internet safety for the benefit of peers; and, another young person has successfully trained to raise the awareness of others about sex in a digital age.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Carers have the competence and confidence to enable children and young people to take age-appropriate risks as part of their natural development into adulthood. As an example, one young person is now enjoying going on public transport with friends to large shopping centres. Comments from children and young people include, ‘I can now go and play out in the street on my scooter with my friends but I know I have to stay within the two lamp posts’ and, ‘I am happy in this placement because I am listened to, get everything I need and have more freedom, so I want to stay here until I am 21.’

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Safeguarding children and young people

Robust recruitment and selection processes ensure a safe and competent workforce.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Panel deal extremely well with some very complex cases and are very good at constructively challenging any practice issues. Safeguarding is recognised as a central function of their business and any issues are immediately raised with the agency. They confirm that their views are always listened to and acted upon. Panel members confirm regular, good quality relevant training. Comments include, ‘The recent safeguarding training has enabled me to better critically review the reports presented’, ‘The safeguarding training has raised my awareness and given me the confidence to raise questions’ and, ‘The training on effective assessments enabled me to better consider issues which may impact on the care of children.’

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Leadership and management

This service remains financially viable. It benefits from qualified, experienced and very enthusiastic staff with an excellent diversity of backgrounds. Supervising social workers and support workers confirm high satisfaction with the range and quality of the training provided to continue to develop their individual skills and competencies. Examples include education and autism. One worker said, 'I attended an external course with a carer about brain injuries which is helping us to respond better to the complex needs of the child placed.’

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Leadership and management

Staff also confirm regular, good quality supervision and ongoing support and confirm that senior managers are very accessible and approachable.

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Leadership and management

However, there has been a significant organisational restructure since the last inspection which is not, as yet, firmly embedded. This includes the recent appointment of a new registered manager who is suitably experienced and near completed of the required management qualification. The statement of purpose accurately describes the aims and services provided by this agency. However, it has not been updated to reflect the recent staff changes.

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Leadership and management

The monitoring and auditing systems in place do not demonstrate robust attention to detail which has resulted in regulatory shortfalls. For example, legal documentation is missing or out of date on a number of files, including care plans, risk assessments and safer caring plans. Foster carer agreements are not regularly reviewed to ensure they remain relevant to that particular fostering household and the specific needs of the children currently in placement.

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Leadership and management

There is also a lack of consistency in uploading key documents onto the IT system. This negatively affects the ability to robustly monitor.

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Leadership and management

Moreover, the quality of recordings is variable in respect to assessments, unannounced visits and matching consideration forms. Some entries in carer’s diaries are brief with no evaluation of progress and challenges, yet they could be relied on as evidence in court. Some young people’s bedrooms are highly personalised, while others are functional, yet these stark differences are not reflected in the records of supervisory visits. The agency has already acknowledged the need to provide record keeping training to all carers and staff and it is now on the training programme as a mandatory course.

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Leadership and management

The internal annual review report on the quality of service provision is clear and evaluative but it has not been forwarded to Ofsted in a timely manner. Moreover, it does not include the views of children in placement, their carers’ and stakeholders.

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Leadership and management

There has been a positive response to the three recommendations made at the last full inspection on 23 March 2012 but they have not been fully addressed. Consequently, a new version of the children’s guide is now available in a DVD format which means key information is now accessible to those children and young people who find reading difficult. However, the inspectors identified that the written version did not include the address of Ofsted and the new children’s commissioner. This was immediately addressed, but the amended versions have yet to be forwarded to all fostering households.

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Leadership and management

The service has also improved the timeliness of independent interviews with young people and formal discussions are held to try to prevent a re-occurrence. However, there is still no effective system in place for recording the appearance and demeanour of young people on their immediate return from going missing to inform their risk assessments.

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Leadership and management

A more robust annual appraisal process has been developed since the last inspection. Children and young people have contributed to the appraisals of their support workers, but not to the appraisals of supervising social workers. Comments include, ‘She got me back into school, which I am enjoying, I have new friends and am learning things’, ‘He gave me the confidence to go back to school and until I did he provided lessons that were fun, interesting and challenging’.

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Leadership and management

Notifiable events are forwarded to Ofsted in a timely manner. The details of these have improved recently to demonstrate that appropriate action has been taken to safeguard and protect the welfare of children and young people in full collaboration with other relevant agencies.

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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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