Voice Fostering Ltd

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 1 Voice Fostering Ltd

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Voice Fostering Limited 481 Streetsbrook Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 1LA Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

This is an independent fostering agency operated by a limited company. The two directors own and run the service. They offer long-term placements for children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The independent fostering agency provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the independent fostering agency contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2014

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

This independent fostering agency is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children are celebrated as individuals. They feel a strong sense of belonging.  Children receive highly personalised care.  Children make fantastic progress in their own unique ways.  Staff and carers keep children very safe.  Children, families and other professionals are very positive about the agency and Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 2 the support that children receive.  Children’s views influence all aspects of the agency.  Managers, staff and carers celebrate diversity in its widest sense.  Support continues for the foster families and children after adoption.  Foster carers know children exceptionally well. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children thrive in this agency. They make exceptional progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children benefit from nurturing, therapeutic parenting that is tailored to their individual needs and personalities. Children are encouraged to be children and to enjoy their lives. They are supported and helped to recover from the trauma that they have experienced. A placing social worker stated: ‘She [the child] has transformed in this placement, she is allowed to be a child, and the house is clearly her home. They [the carers] are in it for the long haul. They are well supported, assessed well, and they are trying to be the best they can. It is her forever home. They are very protective over her, they act as her family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Foster carers and staff are exceptionally proud of all the children that they care for, and have high aspirations for them. A placing social worker stated, ‘Voice offer a high level of support to their carers and the children. I find it to be above and beyond the norm.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All children have exceptional school attendance and are doing superbly well. Staff and carers encourage children to excel and this is reinforced by the responsible individual, who is a qualified teacher. He attends all of the children’s education meetings. He inspires children to want to learn and to be the best that they can be. When children are struggling or would like additional support with their education, they are provided with individual tuition or additional work that foster carers help them with. ‘Booster groups’ are organised for children who will be sitting examinations. Managers are dedicated to making sure that children have every opportunity to thrive in school. For example, the responsible individual supported a child in school every morning to prevent an exclusion. The child now has a teaching assistant and is progressing well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Foster carers support children to develop their life skills. Each child has a ‘life skills book’ which is completed with the foster carers over the duration of the placement. As a result, children are fully prepared for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff and carers meet children’s health and well-being needs fully. All foster carers, their adult children and staff are trained in therapeutic techniques. This ensures that children are therapeutically parented, which helps them to make excellent progress in all areas of their lives. Foster carers provide love and nurture that helps children to flourish. Children attend weekly therapeutic horse-riding sessions, and participate in support groups and training opportunities. For example, training has included first aid and a dental workshop. Children who are interested in cycling are taken out and encouraged by the responsible individual, who is also a keen cyclist. A medical report states, ‘[The child] has a strong, loving bond with her foster carer.’ The emotional and psychological support that children receive helps them to build excellent relationships with their carers, and ensures that placements are stable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 4 A significant strength of the agency is that children’s views, wishes and feelings are highly valued by carers, managers and staff. Children have their own panel for assessing potential foster carers prior to the applicants’ attendance at the fostering panel. The children’s panel consists of children looked after and birth children. After applicants have been seen by the children’s panel, the children’s views are considered by the fostering panel and shared with the applicants. A foster carer said: ‘The agency is all inclusive… For example, when children are at horse riding they seek children’s views… The agency act on these views and try and meet the needs of the children. [Another foster carer] likes the fact that their son is involved as much as he wants to and has the option to go on the children’s panel.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are engaged in a wide range of activities and are unreservedly part of their foster families. For example, some children were flower girls at their foster carers’ wedding, and many children live with their carers past the age of 18. A child said, ‘Foster children are all treated the same, which is good.’ Children enjoy having friends visit for tea and attend their friend’s birthday parties. Children enjoy groups including gymnastics, rainbows and a swimming club.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Foster carers form strong, positive relationships with children’s parents and other family members. When children’s relatives live a considerable distance away, foster carers will take the children to visit them and turn it into a holiday, which the children enjoy. One foster carer also takes the child’s grandfather on an annual family holiday with them. This gives children a sense of belonging and helps them to understand their identity and family background. As a result, children form strong attachments and their self-esteem and confidence increase. An independent reviewing officer reported: ‘The care of the children is excellent… The supervising social worker advocates strongly to ensure good outcomes for the children… The carers are committed to providing the children with long-term care well beyond their 18th birthday which is what has impressed me most.’

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

Children are safe and feel safe. Risk assessments are exceptionally detailed and highly effective. Foster carers and staff proficiently identify the risks that each child may face, and expertly identify strategies for minimising them. Foster carers provide children with excellent, consistent support that helps the children to feel secure.

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

The safety and well-being of children is a priority for staff and foster carers. They support the children and do everything they can to keep them safe. As a result, children trust foster carers and staff.

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

Children actively engage in training that helps them to develop the skills that they need to keep themselves safe. For example, children undertake courses about radicalisation, democracy, internet safety, drug awareness and bullying. Children attend their own support groups, which cover topics such as child sexual exploitation in a subtle, sensitive manner. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 5 The registered manager is proactive, and ensures that all children are exceptionally safe when they are out in the community. For example, she has undertaken safeguarding training with the riding instructors to reinforce the importance of this.

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

Children do not go missing. There are no concerns regarding radicalisation or exploitation. Despite this, staff and foster carers are highly alert to these issues and adept at identifying any changes in the behaviour of the children that they care for.

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

Up-to-date research keeps staff and foster carers well-informed about current issues. Foster carers and staff also receive regular, high-quality safeguarding training that covers key areas. They use the knowledge that they gain to safeguard children. A child said, ‘They listen to your views and what you don’t like; any worries, tell them and they understand.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This is a small agency. Managers are extremely ambitious and aspirational for all the children that they support. Managers lead by example and pay meticulous attention to the individual characteristics of children, ensuring matching with foster carers is excellent. They include children in all aspects of their care, ensuring that they feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Equality and diversity are central to practice. Children are matched with foster carers who can meet their diverse needs. This includes the smallest nuances of each child’s identity, including their religious beliefs. A placing social worker reported: ‘Since [the children’s] time with their foster carers, they have received the highest quality of care. The carers are able to support their daily needs in terms of their overall development, cultural needs, and educational needs and they provide quality leisure time.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Foster carers are exceptionally positive about the support that they receive from the agency. A foster carer stated, ‘I feel the level of individual care and support provided by Voice is outstanding.’ Working relationships with partnership agencies are extremely positive. A placing social worker reported, ‘I feel that the carers and I have experienced a high level of professionalism and ongoing support.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is proactive, ambitious and creative, and is always pioneering new ideas to develop the agency, for example using therapy dogs with children. She is aware of the agency’s strengths and the areas where development is required, so that children’s lives can be continually improved. She learns from disruptions, although they are rare, and actively seeks multi-agency meetings to learn what can be improved so that she can ensure that the child’s next placement will meet all of their needs. She challenges other professionals whenever necessary, and makes sure that children receive all the services that they need to grow and develop. Children continue to benefit from support from staff past the age of 18. Foster carers with children who are placed on permanent orders also continue to benefit from the support available, including therapeutic horse riding. Children commented that the registered manager

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

and responsible individual are, ‘Really good, they listen and help you.’ Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 6 A strong, rigorous and independent panel is in place. The panel chair is highly experienced in safeguarding. Panel members have rigorous oversight of the assessments of potential foster carers, and carers’ reviews. The panel members feel that they are able to challenge the agency should they feel that assessments are not good enough, or when they have concerns. However, they have not had to do this due to the excellent, comprehensive assessments presented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and responsible individual receive good support and formal supervision from suitable and appropriately qualified external professionals. This additional layer of scrutiny ensures that children are exceptionally safe, and that managers continue to be challenged to improve.

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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 differences 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: Voice Fostering Ltd 7

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Voice Fostering Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 481 Streetsbrook Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 1LA

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: voicefostering@virginmedia.com

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Inspector

Sandra King, social care inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Voice Fostering Ltd 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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