Chrysalis Consortium Ltd

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 1 Chrysalis Consortium Limited Chrysalis Consortium Limited 48 Wolstenholm Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield S7 1LL Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

This small fostering agency is privately owned and was registered in November 2012. It currently supports 18 children in 18 fostering households, with 26 approved foster carers. The agency also has seven approved respite foster carers in five households. The service provides therapeutic foster placements for children who have experienced trauma and/or abuse and may have attachment difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 14 November 2013

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This independent fostering agency is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Management monitoring, review and quality assurance systems are ineffective.  The fostering panel does not provide robust challenge at all times in relation to the fostering service.  The fostering service does not consistently or robustly make sufficient enquiries to inform reviews about foster carers.  The fostering service has failed to ensure that notifications are completed and sent to Ofsted for all relevant incidents.  Managers and staff do not follow safeguarding procedures or legislation, and this leads to poor practice. This includes consideration of physical restraints used on children, allegations against foster carers and the placement of a child in an unregulated setting.  Foster carer training records do not accurately show that foster carers have the necessary skills to use physical intervention techniques on children.  Records for both children and foster carers present as unclear and confusing.

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Key findings from this inspection

Management audit and oversight of such records are ineffective.  Information (in the form of a register) for both the children placed and for foster carers is not clear or accurate. This includes incorrect information about approval terms, for one foster carer.  Foster carers have not been provided with independent support during investigations into allegations against them.

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Key findings from this inspection

The independent fostering agency’s strengths:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Foster carers speak positively about the support that they receive from the supervising social workers and manager.  Placing authorities report very positive progress in relation to children placed with foster carers. Children receive good support from their foster carers and from agency staff so that they can understand their pasts.  The educational needs of children placed are well considered and are met by positive partnership working by agency staff and other agencies.  Foster carers receive training in therapeutic approaches and display real skill in considering and meeting the very complex needs of children who have experienced trauma and/or abuse. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 3

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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 (NMS). The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the statement of purpose and children’s guide is kept under review and, where appropriate, revise and send a copy to Ofsted within 28 days. (Regulation 4(a)(b)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the welfare of children placed or to be placed with foster parents is safeguarded and promoted at all times. (Regulation 11(a)) * 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that no child placed with a foster parent is subject to any measures of control, restraint or discipline which is excessive or unreasonable, and restraint is only used on a child where it is necessary to prevent injury to the child or other persons, or serious damage to property. (Regulation 13(2)(b)(c)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Maintain and keep up to date the records specified in Schedule 2. This includes address of the foster parents, child’s address prior to placement, on leaving placement, the child’s placing authority and the statutory provision under which the child is placed. (Regulation 22(1)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the fostering panel recommends whether or not a person remains suitable to be a foster parent, and whether or not the terms of their approval remain appropriate on the occasion of any review, if requested to do so by the fostering service provider. (Regulation 25(1)(c)(ii)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure when undertaking a review, to make such enquiries or obtain such information as the fostering service provider considers necessary in order to review whether the foster parent continues to be suitable to be a foster parent and the foster parent’s household continues to be suitable, and seek and take into account the views of the foster parent, any child placed and any placing authority which has, within the preceding year, placed a child with the foster parent. (Regulation 28(3)(a)(b)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the fostering service provider maintains a register and enters in the current terms of approval. (Regulation 31(c)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person maintains a system for 28/02/2018 Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 4 monitoring matters set out in Schedule 6 at appropriate intervals and improving the quality of foster care provided by the fostering agency. (Regulation 35(1)(a)(b)) * Ensure that if any of the events in column 1 of the table in Schedule 7 takes place in relation to a fostering agency, the registered person without delay notifies the persons or bodies indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 36(1)) * 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

Ensure, having regard to the size of the fostering agency, its statement of purpose and the numbers and need of the children placed and the need to 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)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are carefully matched with a foster placement. Foster carers have full information about the child. (NMS 11.2)  Ensure that during an investigation the fostering service makes support, which is independent of the fostering service, available to the person subject to the allegation and, where this is a foster carer, to their household. This is in order to provide information and advice about the process, emotional support and if needed, mediation. (NMS 22.12)  Ensure that clear arrangements are in place to identify the person in charge when the registered manager is absent. (NMS 25.5)  Ensure that foster carers know what authority they have to make decisions about everyday matters involving the child. This is with specific reference to religious practices and baptisms of children placed. (Volume 4, paragraph 3.13)  Ensure that consent to a placement is given by any other responsible authority

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Recommendations

with a child already placed with the foster carer. This will require consultation with the social worker of any other child placed in the foster home. (Volume 4, paragraph 3.2) Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 5

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inadequate

Widespread failures in the way in which children are helped and protected, and in the effectiveness of leadership and management, mean that children’s welfare is not promoted.

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inadequate

The agency has failed to ensure that consent is sought and given by the responsible authority for children already in placement when a new placement is being considered. Given the very complex needs of children placed with this agency, it is imperative that placing social workers are fully involved in decisions to make new placements. This has resulted in some placements breaking down, and it does not show strong or positive matching of children’s needs.

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inadequate

The manager agreed to one approved foster carer taking a third child in an emergency when their approval terms were for two children only. This did not take the foster carer over the usual fostering limit, but the placement ended within two days. Such poor matching considerations and decisions do not promote a positive experience for children or enable them to form positive attachments with their carers. One child, whose placement ended, was then moved to live with a member of staff from the agency. This was agreed by the responsible authority as an emergency measure, yet no checks or visits were made to the member of staff’s home. The child did not have a previous connection to this adult. The member of staff is not an approved foster carer for this or any other agency. Again, this does not promote positive experiences for children and does not enable them to be actively involved in decisions about the care that they receive.

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inadequate

The monitoring and support provided to children in relation to their health needs are not robust or effective. The manager has introduced a central system for recording routine health appointments and statutory annual health assessments for all children. This has not been reviewed or updated. The agency has failed to ensure that reports on annual statutory health assessments have been received from the placing authorities of all children. This undermines the ability of foster carers and agency staff to consider and address any relevant actions.

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inadequate

The agency employs an education consultant to consider the educational needs of children placed. Out of 18 children placed, only two do not currently have educational provision in place, and these have only recently been placed with agency carers. The education consultant works closely with education providers and the virtual school headteachers to ensure that children have suitable provision in place. She visits educational provisions to provide plans and advice to staff on how best to support children and their complex emotional needs.

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inadequate

The placing social workers for two children spoke very positively about the care and support provided to children. One social worker said: ‘The changes in him have been massive. He is a different child.’ Another placing social worker praised a foster carer Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 6 and agency staff for the excellent transition from another agency foster carer to this agency. An independent reviewing officer for one child also commended the agency’s carers and staff on the care and support that they provide to one young person. They referred to this being the most stable and settled that the child had been in care for some considerable time.

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inadequate

One agency staff member has also undertaken training in life-story work recently, and has carried out work with a number of children. This provides children with a clear sense of their backgrounds and histories. Alongside the therapeutic support provided to children by agency staff, it further helps them to overcome past trauma and make sense of their pasts.

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inadequate

Children take part in annual achievement awards events with agency staff and their foster carers. They have access to an independent advocate employed by the agency. They also have access to an independent person to take part in activities each month. Carers support children to take part in a range of social activities, which increases their sense of self-worth and engagement in their local communities.

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inadequate

Individual children’s positive experiences and progress are largely due to the characteristics of their foster carers, rather than the systems and structures of the agency. The lack of consistent management oversight in relation to the wider service and safeguarding issues undermines the ability of all children placed to make positive progress consistently.

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

Managers and staff do not follow safeguarding procedures routinely. Poor safeguarding practice leaves children at risk of harm.

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

Risk assessments for children have not been updated to reflect changes in concerning or risky behaviours. Following one serious incident in a foster carer’s home, involving the police, no changes were made to the risk assessment for the child. When a child was moved as a result of that serious incident, the records did not show the decision-making processes in relation to their move to another carer. This does not promote children’s welfare and safety, nor that of foster carers.

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

Risk assessments and questionnaires in relation to foster carers’ pets are not completed adequately and they are not updated. One carer’s completed pet questionnaire does not state the breed of dog that they own or the potential risks to children. A supervising social worker report for a fostering panel states that it was updated two years after the initial completion, yet the updated version cannot be located on the foster carer’s file. As this carer has had several children placed with them, this does not provide a robust assessment of the potential risks posed to children from foster carers’ pets.

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

Foster carers receive training in the use of physical restraint. Records of such interventions are not placed on the child’s file. The manager does not review such records to consider the appropriateness or effectiveness of the use of physical interventions. Some foster carers’ training records state that they have not Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 7 undertaken the mandatory annual refresher training in restraint for over three years. Records do not clearly describe the antecedents to the use of restraint by a foster carer on a child, or the holds used. This does not promote children’s welfare and safety.

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

Investigations into allegations or suspicions of harm are not undertaken robustly or consistently. Agency staff have provided emotional and practical support to foster carers during the investigation process. They have not offered or provided independent support to carers. On one occasion, information was shared with a foster carer about an allegation, and this could have prejudiced the investigation. Also, the manager failed to comply with a requirement from an allegations strategy meeting to share relevant information with the local authority about a child. Carers are not provided with clear details of the outcome of investigations into allegations. This leaves children at risk of harm.

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

The fostering panel has not robustly challenged the agency when allegations against foster carers are brought back to panel for consideration of continued approval. This includes failing to question information in the supervising social worker’s reports and making recommendations without full information being provided to panel members. The agency decision maker has then taken the decision to continue the approval of foster carers without requesting clarification or further information. This does not promote safe, independent oversight by the fostering panel and shows a lack of robust quality assurance and decision-making by the agency.

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

One foster carer’s approval terms were changed to enable them to take on a third child (in an emergency), when their initial approval was for two children. This was not considered by the agency decision maker at any time, according to the records seen by the inspector. The placement ended within two days and the child was moved. The supervising social worker for the foster carer recorded their view that the child should not have been placed with the carer, given the known information about that child. Such concerning practices and decision-making place children at serious risk of harm.

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

A decision was made by the manager to place a child, whose placement with an approved foster carer had broken down, with a supervising social worker from the agency. This person is not an approved foster carer for this or any other agency. The manager did not undertake any checks, visits or risk assessments prior to the child being placed with this staff member for a two-night period. The placing authority for the child agreed to this placement, yet neither did it undertake any checks or visits. Such decision-making by the manager places both children and agency staff at significant risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This agency is not being managed effectively. The registered manager is also one of the four directors who set up the agency in 2012. She has the relevant qualifications, skills and experience for the role, but does not provide robust or safe management oversight. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 8 A key area of concern is the lack of active or robust monitoring of the quality of care provided. This relates to agency staff, foster carers and children placed. A summary of the concerns in relation to monitoring is as follows:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

 The business plan and other strategic documents were not reviewed or updated following their implementation in 2015/16.  Quarterly reports from the manager are descriptive, but not analytical or evaluative in content.  Failure to implement the agency’s own audit policy in relation to foster carers’ and children’s records. Failure to identify or take action when serious concerns are recorded about foster carers.  Failure to provide a robust quality assurance role in relation to applicant assessment reports by supervising social workers.  Failure to submit notifications of significant events to Ofsted. This includes a failure to send in outcome notifications of significant events.  Failure to ensure that clear supervision records are held for agency staff.  Failure to ensure that clear arrangements are in place when the registered manager is absent.  Failure to ensure that any actual or potential conflicts of interest for people

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

employed by the agency are known and assessed.  Failure to ensure that the register of children placed and approved foster carers contains all required information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

One approved respite foster carer for the agency is also employed as an agency staff member. The manager has failed to consider what actual or potential conflicts of interest this could present for the agency or the staff member. This could lead to challenge or complaints from other foster carers and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

It is of concern that several significant events have not been notified to Ofsted. This prevents the regulator from being able to consider, monitor or track how the agency responds to such events and concerns. Several concerning incidents should have been notified to Ofsted in the past 12 months alone. This shows a manager who does not have clear management oversight of significant events and incidents. It further shows a manager who is not aware of, or following, their statutory and legal responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Supervision records for both foster carers and agency staff are unclear and lack focus. One supervising social worker had four consecutive supervision meetings with the manager in a two-month period this year. The records for each supervision meeting were duplicated from the first. The format for the records of supervision is not being followed. The manager is not considering the records of foster carers to ensure that they are complete and clear. She was unaware of concerning information, held on a foster carer’s file, which the inspector found during this inspection. No shortfalls identified by foster carer case file audits are followed up by the Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 9 manager. Audits carried out in 2015 for one foster carer consistently referred to the lack of physical restraint training certificates on their file, yet this carer’s file still

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

refers to them last undertaking this training in 2014. This indicates that the manager has a lack of awareness regarding what training and support foster carers have received. Children could be placed at risk if being physically restrained by carers who have not received the relevant training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The fostering panel is failing to rigorously quality assure the work being presented for consideration and recommendation. Recommendations have been made where key information is missing from assessment reports. The panel chair has asked that this missing information is provided within a set timeframe, yet does not then consider at a later date if the recommendations were completed by agency staff. The views of foster carers, children and responsible authorities are not routinely sought or recorded to inform reviews. This does not provide a clear or safe quality assurance mechanism and could lead to unsuitable people being recommended for approval as carers. Also, the agency decision maker has failed to consider and challenge, and has made decisions without full and clear information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is failing to ensure that there are clear and robust quality assurance systems in place for reports that are taken to the fostering panel. One recent report was deferred for consideration by the panel due to its very poor quality. It is a positive that the panel chair took this decision, yet it is of concern that the manager had failed to ensure that the necessary changes to the report were made before it was submitted. This causes undue distress for applicants coming to panel and does not present the agency or manager as having positive or robust oversight of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The arrangements for cover when the registered manager is absent are unclear and not being followed. A serious incident involving a child and foster carer took place last year out of office hours. The manager was on annual leave and out of the country, yet was fully involved in the decision-making and discussions over a two- day period. This does not reflect clear and effective management arrangements for either agency staff or foster carers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose for the agency has been reviewed and changes made, but a copy has not been sent to Ofsted. Neither has a copy of the revised version been placed on the agency’s website. This further impacts negatively on the ability of the regulator to have oversight of the agency and its compliance with regulatory requirements between inspections.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

One recommendation was made at the last inspection in 2013. The fostering panel now includes members who reflect the diversity of the local community. A number of panel members also undertake other roles for the agency. There is a need for the manager to ensure that this does not present a conflict of interest. This could lead to challenge or complaints from applicants or approved foster carers and children. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 10

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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 whom 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: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 11

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Chrysalis Consortium Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 48 Wostenholm Road, Sheffield S7 1LL

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: admin@chrysalisconsortium.co.uk

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Inspector

Tracy Murty, social care inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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