Plus One Fostering

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 1 Plus One Fostering Plus One Fostering Limited Unit 4, 17 Plumbers Row, London E1 1EQ Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Plus One Fostering is a small independent fostering agency which has been operating since 2003 as a limited organisation. Ownership of Plus One Fostering changed in October 2017 and new management took over the running of the company. It plans to provide a range of fostering services such as short-term, long- term and emergency care. Currently, there is one child accessing the fostering service and six fostering households .

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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: 18 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 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 have good experiences with their foster families and make progress in most areas of their development.  Foster carers feel well supported by the new owners of the fostering agency.  Foster carers receive a good range of training to help them to care for children safely.  Foster carers and staff work in partnership with other agencies when children go missing from home.  The interim fostering panel provides a good level of independent challenge.  Directors and managers are working to a clear plan to develop and expand the agency.

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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

 Staff do not ensure that risk assessments and care plans include dates and timelines to help the reader to have a clear understanding of events and decisions.  Managers do not use their learning from past experiences to develop practice.  Research is not being systematically used to develop practice and improve outcomes. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that entries in records, decisions and reasons for them are legible, clearly expressed, non-stigmatising, distinguish between fact, opinion and third party information and are signed and dated. (Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards, page 52, paragraph 26.5) This specifically relates to ensuring that risk assessments and care plans contain clear dates of events and timelines of decisions.  Ensure that the manager regularly monitors all records kept by the service to ensure compliance with the service’s policies, to identify concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends. Immediate action is taken to address any issues raised by this monitoring. (Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards, page 50, paragraph 25.2)  Ensure that there is a good quality learning and development programme, which includes induction, post qualifying and in-service training, that staff and

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Recommendations

volunteers are supported to undertake. The programme equips them with the skills required to meet the needs of the children, keeps them up-to-date with professional, legal and practice developments and reflects the policies, legal obligations and business needs of the fostering service. (Fostering Services: National Minimum Standards, page 47, paragraph 23.1) This specifically relates to the use of research to inform practice and develop the agency. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency’s new owners have decided not to place children until the agency has been re-inspected by Ofsted. After the last inspection, two children moved on from the agency’s care. One child remains placed. When placements have ended, directors and managers have looked at what lessons could be learned to develop the service, and foster carers practice, moving forward.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child currently placed with the agency has complex high-risk needs. He has made significant progress in the last six months. He has accessed medical professionals and attended regular sessions with a drug and alcohol worker. As a result, he has reduced his drug misuse and also agreed to an operation that will improve his long-term health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has built a positive and stable relationship with his foster carer. The foster carer is a strong advocate for the child and has high aspirations for him. She works closely with other professionals, such as teachers, to ensure that he receives the support that he needs. He has sustained a mainstream education placement, even after presenting very challenging behaviours. Although on a special timetable and requiring considerable encouragement from his foster carer and teachers, he is currently sitting GCSE exams. His social worker views this as a significant achievement, which means that ‘life opportunities remain open to him’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

He has been supported to develop appropriate, responsible independence skills. This has increased his confidence and self-esteem. It has also made him aware of his responsibility to stay in touch with his foster carer and respect that she is concerned about him. His foster carer is currently preparing him for his next steps into adulthood, by supporting him to access and attend college interviews.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The voice of the child is well supported by the agency. The agency is developing ways to obtain children’s views and to seek their involvement in the development of the service once more children are placed. The one child currently placed has direct conversations with his foster carer’s supervising social worker.

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

Foster carers now have all the information that they need to care for children safely. New safeguarding policies and procedures, safer care policies and risk assessments have been implemented and are reviewed and updated regularly. These ensure that risks are identified. Some documents are missing dates of incidents and decisions, as well as clear timelines. As a result, these documents do not always give the reader a clear history and understanding behind decisions.

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

There is a good focus on safeguarding, which is embedded in the foster carers’ new programme of training, discussions in supervisions and regular support groups. Foster carers receive a variety of safeguarding and safer caring training, including Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 5 training around radicalisation, internet safety and child sexual abuse. This helps to ensure that foster carers have the skills and knowledge to keep children safe from harm.

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

Arrangements for safeguarding and child protection are good. Foster carers and staff act swiftly when children go missing. They contact the appropriate safeguarding professionals and work well with them to develop strategies to reduce the level of risk. As a result, one child’s episodes of going missing have significantly decreased.

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

The foster carer of the child currently placed is working closely with youth offending services and the police. They talk highly of her commitment to the child and her effective communication with them as agencies. The child’s offending behaviours have significantly reduced over the last six months and this has had a positive impact on outcomes in other areas of his life.

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

Staff recruitment processes ensure that they are all safe to work with children. Procedures are in place for when the agency decides that it is ready to recruit foster carers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The change of ownership has had a significant impact on the agency, staff and foster carers. The registered manager went on long-term sick leave in January 2018 and remains off work. Appropriate, robust arrangements have been put in place to ensure the day-to-day management of the agency in her absence. The deputy has acted up and is supported by one of the new directors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since October 2017, an audit of the agency has been completed. This has been used to inform an action plan, which includes all the requirements raised by Ofsted at the last inspection. This has been used to produce a business plan for developing the agency. Because of this audit, a decision was made not to place children or recruit foster carers until all areas of the action plan had been met. This is now achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The director and deputy maintain good oversight of the functions of the agency. As a result, they are aware of child’s progress and have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The director made the decision that the agency’s fostering panel was not fit for purpose at this stage. It is his long-term intention to rebuild this panel. However, as an interim measure, a joint panel was convened with an established panel from another independent fostering agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The panel is insightful and challenging. It provides a good level of independent scrutiny. The panel chair is experienced and knowledgeable. Members of the fostering panel are diverse and understand the needs of the child who is placed with the agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The director and staff work in partnership with other professionals. They actively challenge other professionals to make sure that the child receives the care and Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 6 services that he needs to grow and develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supervised and all those working for the agency feel supported in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are effective quality assurance processes in place that have fed into the action plan and business plan. Placement endings are being reviewed for lessons learned. However, directors, staff and foster carers are not formally reviewing significant incidents such as incidents of going missing from care and safeguarding referrals. A formal process of review and learning would provide further opportunities for the development of practice and the agency’s policies and procedures.

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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: Plus One Fostering 7

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Plus One Fostering Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 16 Vernon Avenue, Birmingham B20 1DE

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: noor@plus1fostering.co.uk

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett: social care inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Plus One Fostering 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 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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