Fostering Solutions

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 1 Fostering Solutions Fostering Solutions Bridge House, Fishergate, Norwich NR3 1UF Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Fostering Solutions (Eastern) is based in Norfolk. It is part of Fostering Solutions, a privately owned, independent fostering agency with offices in England, Scotland and Wales. Fostering Solutions provides long-term, short-term, permanent, respite and parent and child placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The independent fostering agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 14 October 2013

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This independent fostering agency is good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children form good relationships with their carers.  Carers help children to make good progress while they live with them.  Children make good progress in their education and, when necessary, carers will advocate for children to ensure that they receive the education services that they need.  Children’s health needs are met.  Many children experience long and stable placements with their carers.  Children have their views and opinions listened to and are able to influence their plans.  Children can develop interests and hobbies, take part in after-school activities and have positive, family-based experiences.  Carers help children to prepare for their future independence.  Carers help children to prepare to move on from the carers’ home.  The agency has a strong focus on keeping children safe.  The agency has provided a robust response to protect children who are at risk of child sexual exploitation. This includes using research into the subject.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The agency works effectively with others, including in relation to safeguarding children.  The registered manager takes allegations of concerns about carers seriously and works effectively with the local authority designated safeguarding officer.  Effective behaviour management helps children to understand and manage their behaviour.  The fostering panel has a strong focus on safeguarding.  The registered manager provides clear leadership and management.  Carers value the support which they get from the agency.  Agency staff are knowledgeable, and are appropriately trained and supervised to help them to do their jobs well.

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Key findings from this inspection

The independent fostering agency's areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Not all notifications are sent in to Ofsted.  There is a lack of clarity about how children can read their records.  Not all review recommendations are completed to ensure that all health and safety checks and unannounced visits take place within appropriate timescales. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 3  Risk assessments do not always include all known risks.  There is a lack of clarity over reviews of carers who have been subject to an allegation. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must without delay notify the persons or bodies indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of Schedule 7 of the regulations if any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 7 takes place in relation to a fostering agency. (Regulation 36(1)) 30/06/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are actively encouraged to read their files, other than necessarily confidential or third party information, and to correct errors and add personal statements. (National Minimum Standards 26.6)  The service implements a proportionate approach to any risk assessment. In particular, this relates to ensuring that all identified areas of risk are included in the child's risk assessment and that health and safety checks of carers’ homes are carried out regularly. (National Minimum Standards 3.5)  Ensure that each approved foster carer has at least one unannounced visit a year. (National Minimum Standards 21.8)  Approval of all foster carers must be reviewed within a year of approval, and thereafter whenever felt necessary. In particular, this relates to ensuring that any recommendations of the review are acted upon and that there is clarity over the content of reviews following allegations against carers. ('The Children Act 1989

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Recommendations

Guidance and Regulations Volume 4: Fostering Services', page 50, paragraph 5.60) Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children who are placed with this agency build good relationships with their foster carers and are treated as ‘one of the family’. Overall, they make good, and in some cases, very good progress. For some children, the progress has slowed or there has been some regression. However, this is due to children’s previous experiences or outside influences, and carers and agency staff work to overcome these. Many children have long and stable placements because of the commitment of their carers to see them through challenging times, and due to the support that the carers receive from the agency staff. The children are important to carers. One carer said of the children, ‘We love them to bits.’ The children have good relationships with the carers’ supervising social workers and the fostering support worker. Consequently, if at times the children find it hard to speak to their carers, they still have someone who they know and can talk to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children placed with the agency are in education. Some are making very good progress and catching up in areas that they have missed prior to their placements. The carers support children in their education by providing them with family-type experiences that will support their education. In one case, the carers took the child to see plays that the child was studying at school. The carers encourage the children to take part in additional study to help them to catch up and, at times, advocate to ensure that they receive the educational services that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency and carers support children to ensure that their health needs, including emotional health, are met. The carers register the children with routine health services such as the dentist, optician and doctor. They are attentive to the children so that additional health needs can be identified and healthy eating and lifestyles encouraged. The agency and carers make referrals for children to receive specialist health services such as mental health and counselling. If these services are delayed, the carers and supervising social workers will chase them to ensure that the children’s health needs are not ignored.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency seeks children’s views through discussions with supervising social workers and by sending out surveys. The children are also encouraged to give their views as part of annual foster care reviews and at their own child looked after reviews. When looking at foster carer reviews, the fostering panel takes particular notice of any comments made by children and ensures that they are explored. The children are able to express their views on contact, and these are listened to by professionals. Some children have chosen to reduce or increase their contact at different times. By ensuring that the children’s views are listened to, the agency empowers children and helps to ensure that the care it provides and the plans for children are effective and child-centred.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have opportunities to develop interests and hobbies including swimming, cheerleading and learning to play an instrument. They can take part in Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 6 after-school activities and regular activities put on by the agency. The latter have included roller skating, a Halloween party and a trip to a local restaurant, when children heard about healthy eating and helped to cook the meal. These agency activities are organised by the family support worker who also does individual work with children to support them and help them to sustain their foster placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The carers help children to learn the skills that they will need for their future, including practical skills such as washing their clothes, and setting up bank accounts, understanding money and budgeting. One child who is approaching 18 has been with his carers for several years and is getting ready to move to a more independent placement. This is sooner than initially planned, due to some behaviour issues. However, he is feeling positive about the move because of the work that his carers have done with him. He said that he thought that he had messed things up, but having spoken with his carers he realises that he has not and that he ‘loves them and knows that they love him’. He will be keeping in touch with the carers and returning for things like Sunday lunch. This approach by the carers means that although the placement is ending, the child can feel positive about it and move on knowing that someone cares about him and is still there if he needs support. One

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

carer, in speaking about preparing a child in her care for independence, said, ‘I know the plan. I am the one that has been there for her and I have had to know what the plan is.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children are placed a considerable distance from their home authority for very good reasons. Their foster carers and the supervising social workers keep in close contact with the placing social worker and are ready to challenge any delays in services which result from this. In an email to the agency, the placing social worker for a child who was previously placed a long way from their home authority said:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘We have been so impressed with [the carers] and how hard they have worked with [the child]. He has come so far and we believe that they have invested so much time and attention in [him], which has supported him to feel safe and secure. We were really worried about how he was going to settle but [the carers] have worked hard and accepted him and his family into their home. We are so pleased to see the positive change in him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prospective foster carers are given realistic information on the fostering task and undergo an appropriate assessment. One carer said, ‘All through the process [the agency] were talking to us about what the impact would be for all of us and the impact on our family. I felt that the assessment phase was extremely thorough.’ Preparing carers realistically for the task of fostering helps to ensure that they are prepared for any difficulties and that there is less likelihood of placement breakdowns for children.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There is a strong response from carers and staff in the agency to protect children and help them become increasingly safe. Some children who are placed are at risk of child sexual exploitation. As a way of responding to this, the agency has identified Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 7 one member of staff to take the lead in this area. She has formed links with a lecturer at a local university who has spoken to staff about her research into child sexual exploitation, and this has informed the agency’s practice. The member of staff and the registered manager are part of a local ‘managing child sexual exploitation’ group led by the police. In addition, the agency has set up a working group of its own which includes some carers who have experience in this area. The group has developed an action plan to help them to provide better safeguards for children. Training on child sexual exploitation is available for both the staff and

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

carers. The agency has organised workshops for children to help them to keep themselves safer from child sexual exploitation and to understand the risks of using the internet inappropriately. This very robust approach helps children to become safer.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The agency works effectively with other professionals to help protect children. In one case, the carers and supervising social worker have worked very closely and effectively with the police, school and placing social worker to protect children from specific and significant risks. The carers take appropriate action to safeguard children if they go missing from care. This includes trying to find them and reporting them as missing. The carers and supervising social workers ensure that placing social workers speak to children on their return from missing to help professionals to understand the reasons that the child went missing. The registered manager works with others, such as the designated officer, to make sure that any concerns or allegations are responded to appropriately. The designated officer said that the agency has acted very appropriately in dealing with allegations and that staff take allegations very seriously while also supporting their carers; the staff remain

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

objective. This helps to ensure that the children are well protected.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The agency uses risk assessments for children to help supervising social workers and carers to identify and reduce risks. These risk assessments are reviewed when circumstances change, to ensure that they remain effective. However, in one case a significant risk had not been included in the risk assessment. The supervising social worker and carer had discussed the risk, and steps had been taken to reduce it, so the impact of not including it was minimised. Despite this, not including the risk in the written risk assessment prevents it from being reviewed and, if required, amended when the risk assessment is updated. The carers help the children to take age-appropriate risks so that they can develop their independence and learn how to keep themselves safe. This has included helping children to travel safely from home to school or college, with a high level of support to begin with.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Supervising social workers make regular visits to foster carers, including unannounced visits. The agency aims to complete two of these visits a year, but in one case a carer had gone well over a year without an unannounced visit. To begin with this was for understandable reasons as the carer did not have any placements, was working long hours and had not been at home when the supervising social worker tried to visit. However, after a child was placed at the home the foster carer’s annual review recommended that the unannounced visit be completed within a set timescale. This was missed by nearly two months. While annual unannounced visits do usually take place and so provide an important check and safeguard for children, this step is limited in the cases when they do not take place. There is a good system Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 8 for assessing the risks in carers’ homes through health and safety checks. However,

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

again, in one case this check had not been completed within the normal 12 months. This is despite it being a recommendation of the annual foster care review that one should be completed. There is inconsistency in the way that foster carers’ ongoing suitability is reviewed following allegations against them. The reviews are always presented to the fostering panel, but there is a lack of clarity over whether the review just looks at the allegation or at all areas of the carers’ suitability. While foster care reviews are generally carried out to a good standard, lack of clarity and failing to address the recommendations of reviews can limit their effectiveness in ensuring that children live in safe and suitable placements.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The carers have training to help them to manage the children’s behaviour effectively. One carer said that the behaviour management course had ‘set some new light on how to manage things in a different way’. In addition to this, supervising social workers discuss behaviour management with carers to help them to find effective ways of working with children and to help them to manage their behaviour. One child’s behaviour was so challenging that his carers needed to restrain him at times. They had training on how to do this safely and worked with the child to help him to understand and express his emotions. Because of this, his behaviour has improved and he no longer needs to be restrained.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The recruitment of agency staff includes appropriate employment checks, and the process of recruiting and assessing carers has a focus on safeguarding which includes a detailed assessment and suitable checks. The foster panel has a clear focus on safeguarding. Panel members will not make a recommendation that carers are suitable unless they are satisfied with assessments, reviews or carers’ responses to questions put by the panel. In some cases, they have asked for further information and for cases to return to panel before they have made a recommendation. These processes for recruitment and assessment help to ensure that children are looked after by people who do not pose a risk to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency has a registered manager who is appropriately qualified and experienced. She provides clear leadership for the agency. She has been in post for a year and is in the process of completing the Level 5 diploma in leadership and management. The registered manager has a good understanding of the agency’s strengths and weaknesses, and she knows the carers and children well. This allows her to prioritise and focus on the needs of the children. This focus is shared by agency staff who are enthusiastic about their work. Carers speak very highly of the registered manager and the agency staff. They made comments that included:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

 ‘The support from the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top is very good. There is professionalism and a very friendly approach.’  ‘The personal relationships make a massive difference. They [staff] know all of us so well and they know what is going on with the children.’  ‘All of the team know my situation very well and I can always ring any worker in the team.’  ‘I think that they do a great job.’ Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 9 Placing social workers said that supervising social workers ‘know their stuff’ and are good at keeping in touch with them. The support that agency staff provide for carers and the effective working with placing social workers help to ensure that children can make progress in their placements and that these placements can, in many cases, be stable, long lasting and beneficial for the children. Although the working relationships between agency staff and placing social workers are positive, this does

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

not prevent the agency from challenging placing authorities if they feel that children are not receiving the services that they need, or that plans are not in the children’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has regular supervision with staff which centres on the children. Staff described the registered manager as very supportive and said that through their supervision there is a focus on their personal development. Staff get the training that they need to allow them to do their jobs well. This has included areas such as safeguarding, female genital mutilation, radicalisation, attachment and child sexual exploitation. This all creates an environment in which staff feel valued and pass their enthusiasm on to carers. Supervising social workers in turn provide regular, effective monthly supervision for carers. Carers can see records of their supervision, which also has a clear focus on children, on the agency’s database. Supervising social workers use their supervision of carers to help them to reflect on how they are working with children, and when necessary they will challenge carers’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have access to information about being fostered through children’s guides which are available in two versions, depending on children’s age and reading ability. The version for older children informs children that they can read their records which the agency keeps, but the version for younger children does not. In addition to this, some supervising social workers are not aware of the process for children to read their records. The lack of information for all children and supervising social workers’ lack of awareness of the process could prevent some children from being able to read the records which the agency keeps about them. The children’s guides inform children of how to make a complaint. There have not been any complaints by children in the previous three years, but there have been some made by carers. These have been investigated and, when appropriate, the outcome of complaints has been used to learn lessons and improve future practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the shortfalls identified in the previous inspection have been met. There are auditing systems in place so that the registered manager and other senior managers are aware of how children are progressing and how well the agency is meeting its stated aims and objectives. These include reports which can be run on the agency’s database, three-monthly reports to senior managers, and senior management meetings. Most carers have attained their Training, Support and Development Standards within 12 months of approval. In one case in which this has not been achieved, the carer has been on hold and is considering their future in fostering with this agency. Despite this, the need to complete training has stayed on the agenda in discussions with the carer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most notifications of significant events are sent in to the people identified in the Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 10 regulations, including Ofsted. But in one case, Ofsted was not notified of an allegation against a carer. The registered manager did ensure that there was an appropriate response to the allegation, including working with the designated officer. However, lack of notification of such incidents limits Ofsted’s ability as a regulator to monitor incidents and the agency’s responses to them.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the independent fostering agency knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the 'Social care common inspection framework', this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 11

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Fostering Solutions

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: Fostering Solutions Ltd, 1 Merchants Place, Bolton BL2 1BX

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: john.keane@fosteringsolutions.com

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Inspector(s)

Clive Lucas, social care inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fostering Solutions 12 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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