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Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service

Inspected 25 Jan 2008

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Summary

No overall grade in this framework

Sharon Treadwell, Trisha Gibbs

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  • Inspection date verified

    25 Jan 2008

  • Inspectors AI-checked

    Sharon Treadwell, Trisha Gibbs

  • Postcode verified

    NG2 7QP

  • Name on report verified

    Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service

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  • What needs to improve3850w+28

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Full report text

Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service Inspection report for la fostering agency

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SC049576 Unique reference number 25 January 2008 Inspection date Sharon Treadwell / Trisha Gibbs Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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Nottinghamshire County Council Address County Hall Loughborough Road West Bridgford NOTTINGHAM NG2 7QP 0115 982 3823 Telephone number

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Email

Nottingham County Council Registered person Jayne Austin Registered manager Anthony May Responsible individual 22 June 2006 Date of last inspection .

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Email

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Email

You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children's Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Cripins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcome for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and relevant National Minimum Standards for the establishment.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is strong Good: this aspect of the provision is sound Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Inadequate: 3 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008

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Brief description of the service

The fostering service is overseen by an assistant director with responsibilities being delegated down to a service head and subsequently to a service manager with day-to-day management responsibility. The service consists of nine fostering teams located across five district office bases. Five of the fostering teams provide services to mainstream carers with the remaining four dedicated to recruitment and publicity, fostering futures, short breaks and emergency/remand. The service provides a number of different types of foster care: long and short term mainstream foster placements; support care placements, which support the child’s main placement; short term breaks for disabled and non-disabled children; emergency foster placements for children needing a placement of 6-8 weeks; fostering futures placements where the carer is self-employed and receives a salary from the Children and Young People’s Department; remand foster care for young people remanded to the care of the local authority

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Brief description of the service

and child-specific or kinship placements. The fostering service also supports persons wishing to apply for a non-agency adoption order and adopted adults who are seeking to trace their families via adoption counselling and supports disabled children permanently living in the community through a sitting/befriending service. The service additionally provides a daily home finding service to children entering the care system or needing to move within the care system and also a permanent home finding service to children in need of such a service. The Fostering Service has two Fostering Panels, each held monthly, one on a Friday and one on a Tuesday. The two panels have different members. The Fostering Service has 402 approved foster households (as at 1st January 2008) and has 355/360 children living in foster care, as their main placement, at any one time. This represents, at any one time, 65 - 70% of the total number

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Brief description of the service

of children looked after by the local authority.

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Summary

The fostering service is well managed with clear lines of accountability and a low staff turnover, which promotes stability and continuity of service delivery. Young people are generally well matched to foster placements, which provide safe care and promote their development. Young people are well supported by their carers to access appropriate health care, to achieve academically, to engage in leisure and sporting activities and to retain contact with friends and families. Foster carers are well supported by their supervising social workers and some good examples of partnership working, between foster carers and placing and supervising social workers, were noted to be promoting positive outcomes for young people. The electronic recording system has some shortfalls in that it is unwieldy and very time consuming and appears, in some respects, to be unresponsive to the needs of the fostering service. Tracking young

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Summary

people's care is sometimes difficult and some essential documents, such as foster placement agreements and health care plans are not sufficiently accessible. The service is unable to demonstrate that signed foster care agreements and foster placement agreements are always in place. Carers do not always receive appropriate health information in respect of young people, when they are placed, and the fostering service is not able to demonstrate that supervising social workers are pro-actively supporting carers to obtain this information, in a timely manner. Carers are also concerned that payments are not always made promptly. The arrangements described by some carers, for the provision of transport for young people's contact arrangements, are neither safe nor appropriate and have the potential to cause young people distress and to seriously compromise their safety Personnel files relating to staff are not retained in a

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Summary

standardised format and do not always demonstrate that essential checks have been undertaken. 4 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 The overall quality rating is satisfactory. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Five good practice recommendations were identified during the previous inspection of the fostering service. Foster carer recording was inappropriate with carers recording placement information, relating to all children in placement, in one diary and receiving no post approval training in relation to recording. The National Minimum Standards require that ‘an up to date, comprehensive case record is maintained, which details the nature and quality of care provided and contributes to an understanding of his/her life events’. Carer recording, particularly in relation to young people's health, was minimal. The service now provides training for carers to clarify recording requirements and has developed written guidelines detailing expectations in relation to placement records. Carers have recently been provided with individual files for each young person in placement, which are sectioned to cover key development areas including

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Improvements since the last inspection

health and education. The health section requires carers to retain a record of all medication administered. At the time of the previous inspection some panel members, listed as independent, were in fact employees of Nottinghamshire County Council. The service has reviewed the membership of both fostering panels and both are now constituted in accordance with the Fostering Services Regulations. Operational guidelines for panel members have been further developed to clarify the decision making process. The fostering service was recommended to ensure that it retained full evidence of matching considerations in respect of each placement made and advised that this record should indicate any potential shortfalls in relation to the match and how these would be addressed. A placement request form has recently been uploaded onto the electronic recording system. The pro-forma includes details of matching considerations

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Improvements since the last inspection

and requires any shortfalls, and how these will be addressed, to be detailed but this pro-forma is very new and it has not been possible to assess its impact in providing a better demonstration of matching. The inspectors recommended that written guidance be issued to staff in respect of the implementation of the 'framework’ system, to ensure that crucial information was not lost in the transfer process from written to electronic records, paying particular attention to the essential documents, which needed to be loaded into the system before paper files were archived. Staff are now much more familiar with the electronic recording system and have a better developed awareness of the location of documents, but, this inspection demonstrated that some essential documentation has become inaccessible as a result of the transfer.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. The introduction of a new carer recording system requires all foster carers to retain separate records relating to young people's health appointments and to record any medication administered. The looked after children (LAC) health team were involved in the development of these records and in compiling advice on their appropriate completion. Some carers, and the inspectors, are concerned that this record does not move with the young person, for example when respite is provided, with the implication that the health record retained by the main carer may have gaps and that the only complete record is that held electronically by the social worker. Information relating to young people's health is sometimes difficult to locate on the 'framework' system, with current health care plans were not always found in relation to the young people tracked during this inspection. Changes to LAC documentation mean that signed consent, for

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Helping children to be healthy

carers to agree to medical treatment for young people in placement, is not always traceable 5 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 although the Foster Care Agreement details that carers will receive this. The LAC health team are involved in providing training to foster carers and have led a health seminar covering physical, social and emotional well-being and healthy eating. Carers have a good awareness of, and a commitment to meeting the health needs of young people in placement. Many carers are concerned that health information supplied at the commencement of a placement is often poor and sometimes not received for several weeks. Annual health assessments are prompted by placing social workers and they receive copies of the health care plan emerging from this assessment. These plans are not currently shared by the health service with fostering social

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Helping children to be healthy

workers and are currently not always being shared, by placing social workers, with carers. All foster carers have access to a specialist LAC nurse, to staff working in the teenage pregnancy service and to staff working in the drug and alcohol teams and a new LAC child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) co-ordinator has recently been appointed to support referrals for mental health interventions. The inspectors note the excellent prioritisation of the health needs of young people receiving care through the short breaks service. The team includes a paediatric nurse and an occupational therapist, whose input ensures that carers are fully trained and equipped to meet specific and often complex health needs. Carers involved in this service say that they receive good information about young peoples health needs, always receive signed consent to medical treatment from parents and are provided with regular training around both

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Helping children to be healthy

general and specific health issues. One placing social worker commented 'Family link carers have shown excellent skills in meeting the physical health needs of physically disabled children and have undergone appropriate training'.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Personnel files are not retained in a standardised format and this makes it difficult to confirm that essential checks and references have been undertaken. In one file examined there was no evidence of appropriate criminal records bureau (CRB) clearance or of a social worker's registration with the General Social Care Council (GSCC). The manager of the fostering service confirmed that she had seen both these documents and was able to demonstrate that these checks had been undertaken. The authority has a clearly stated recruitment process and all staff working for the fostering service are appropriately experienced and qualified. There is a low staff turnover within the service and this promotes stability and continuity. A health and safety risk assessment is conducted in respect of each carer household as part of the annual review process and any shortfalls identified are well monitored by both supervising social

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

workers and the fostering panel. Carers are provided with comprehensive guidance on safe caring within the safe care policy document, which constitutes a signed contractual agreement to provide a safe environment for young people in placement. The document is individualised to the fostering household and is reviewed annually as part of the annual review process. The safe care policy is not in a very child-friendly format. Good guidelines are included for carers on dealing with bullying, appropriate and non-permissible punishments and reporting requirements when young people go missing. The fostering service does not have a written policy on bedroom sharing and staff and carers seem unclear about the circumstances under which this arrangement would be reasonable, which has the potential to lead to inconsistency. Senior staff confirmed that risk assessments are always completed in relation to bedroom

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

sharing arrangements involving a young person who has been abused or who has abused another young person. Young people feel happy, safe and well cared for: 'they have always loved and cared for me-they're the best'; 'I get pocket money, food, entertainment and a roof over my head along with lots of love from everyone in the family'. A good range of training is available 6 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 for carers around safe care, child protection and behaviour management, including courses on 'management of actual and potential aggression' and 'managing challenging behaviour'. The young people tracked during the inspection were noted to be well matched with their carers although some of the files contained no information to demonstrate the matching considerations which had informed the placement. The staff and carers spoken to confirm that matching is an

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

important consideration in the making of placements. Individual offices operate their own duty system and are able to receive referrals for placement, using the 'framework' system to access information about current vacancies and details of those carers. A placement request form has recently been uploaded onto 'framework', to replace the previous hard copy form, and will be completed by all placing social workers requesting foster placements. The pro-forma includes details of matching considerations and requires any shortfalls, and how these will be addressed, to be detailed. This pro-forma is very new and it has not been possible to assess its impact in providing a better demonstration of matching. A commendably robust initial risk assessment is completed in relation to all young people placed with foster carers, which is developed into a risk management plan, and this strongly supports placements that promote young people's

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

safety. Carer skills are well evidenced through competence based assessment and progression through four skill levels. The service is unable to demonstrate that signed foster placement agreements are always in place. Changes to LAC paperwork, which previously included the placement agreement, and the transfer to electronic records, without always uploading a copy of the initial placement agreement, leaves the fostering service unable to demonstrate that a signed, dated agreement meeting regulatory requirement is in place. The fostering panels are appropriately constituted and reflect strong positive leadership by knowledgeable and committed chairs. Clear guidelines covering panel procedures are in place and the panel has a strong quality assurance role, receiving regular updates on the operation of the service and having good opportunities to report to the service manager about the standard of assessments. Both panel

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

chairs demonstrate good awareness of the panel's independent status and its safeguarding role. Members of both panels receive appropriate training opportunities and have good access to specialist advice. The panel minutes do not accurately reflect the panel membership, since both the panel advisor and the panel co-ordinator are currently incorrectly listed as members. This was rectified during the inspection and future minutes will separately list these personnel. The position of vice chair has been a nominal rather than an active role but the service has recognised that this does not meet regulatory requirement and is currently in the process of appointing new vice chairs to both panels.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Black and Asian communities are positively targeted for the recruitment of foster carers as the fostering service endeavours to develop a diverse range of fostering households to promote positive matching of young people to appropriate placements. A new training course, on meeting the needs of asylum seeking children, was provided in 2007 and a new policy, for meeting the needs of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) children, was launched in June 2007 with staff receiving training to support the implementation of this policy. Training was also available in 2007 on the recruitment and assessment of gay and lesbian carers. Placement choice for disabled children has been significantly enhanced by the appointment of contract carers within the short breaks scheme. The black children and families overview group produces a quarterly monitoring report to demonstrate close monitoring of assessments completed of BME children. Independent

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

reviewing officers (IRO) have a role in monitoring that care planning for BME children is appropriately undertaken and one senior IRO is member of the BME working group. One IRO 7 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 specialises in children with disability reviews and another specialises in identity needs and is involved in carer training on this. The fostering service accommodates a high number of asylum seeking young people and has developed its use of independent fostering agency placements to more effectively meet the specific needs of this group. The Nottinghamshire short breaks scheme has recently been awarded pathfinder status and been awarded government funding subsequent to the 'Aiming High for Disabled Children' review. The inter-disciplinary nature of this service equips it well to meet the very diverse and complex individual needs of young

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

people with disabilities. The scheme recruits, assesses and trains its own carers who also have access to all training opportunities available to mainstream carers. All young people tracked during this inspection are achieving well educationally and are supported and encouraged to access a wide range of sporting and leisure pursuits. Some young people are especially successful in sporting achievements playing rugby and football for school and local teams. One placing social worker commented that a young person was: 'showing signs of developing into a healthy and empathetic young man'. Additional allowances are available to foster carers to promote educational achievement or to facilitate access to activities specifically designed to build self confidence. All young people currently in foster care have a school placement and very good results were obtained this year at Key Stage 2. An annual achievement award day is held to

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

recognise and reward young people's educational and personal successes. A dedicated LAC education team comprising 3.5 teachers is available to support young people who have no school placement or require very specific input. Foster Carers have access to training on educational matters and are supported by a dedicated corporate parenting consultant. 'No Less than Success' is a document produced by corporate parenting to outline the key duties and responsibilities for all local authority staff and carers to actively promote the educational achievement of looked after children. An East Midlands regional protocol for looked after children was launched, in the Summer of 2005, to ensure that children who move over county boundaries receive a consistent education package. The proportion of young people in education, training or employment at the age of 19 years increased from 75% in 2004/2005 to 85% in 20O5/2006.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Foster carers retain records relating to young people's contact arrangements and share the outcomes of any contact visits with young people's placing social workers. Some very clear contact planners are in place demonstrating that foster carers and social workers support and encourage young people to retain good levels of contact with friends and family, where this is appropriate. Young people are consulted about contact arrangements through the LAC review process. Risk assessments are undertaken and arrangements for supervision and transport are agreed with the foster carer. Foster carers, however, raised some concerns regarding transport arrangements for young people's contact. Some carers feel that communication, between placing social workers, transport providers and themselves, is poor. Transport services are generally provided by volunteer drivers or by taxis and carers express concern about drivers

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Helping children make a positive contribution

turning up unexpectedly, or not turning up when they are expected. There are additional concerns about drivers arriving without identification, without legally required car seats and, for young children, without escorts. The arrangements described by some carers are neither safe nor appropriate and have the potential to cause young people distress and to seriously compromise their safety. The National Youth Advisory Service (NYAS) is contracted by the authority to provide a children's rights service and an independent visitor scheme and produces a quarterly report detailing its involvement with young people. NYAS also produces a good 8 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 information leaflet for foster carers to clarify their responsibility to support young people to appropriately access advocacy services. Carers are aware of their role and are supporting young

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Helping children make a positive contribution

people to raise issues of concern when necessary. NYAS circulates the 'who cares' magazine to all looked after children and is able to provide access to a number of specialist advocates in relation, for example, to young people with disabilities or asylum seeking children. Young people complete a consultation document prior to their annual LAC review and independent reviewing officers report that the majority of young people contribute to reviews and almost 100% are currently held within timescales. Young people additionally complete a placement feedback report for their foster carer's annual review. Fostered young people are also offered opportunities to meet with other looked after children, for example at 'chill out' days, at the annual fostering conference and at various achievement events where they can share their views and experiences, which are fully taken into account in planning future events. Currently

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Helping children make a positive contribution

significant dedicated youth worker hours are allocated to each of the authority's residential children's homes and to the adoption service. No hours are specifically allocated, at present, for young people in foster care, although consideration is being given to the allocation of half of a new youth worker post. There is a youth service website available to older looked after children but the newsletter, which used to be included in the focus magazine, for fostered children has been withdrawn.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The fostering service produces a statement of purpose clearly detailing its aims and objectives and the services it provides and this is regularly reviewed and updated. Two excellent guides are available to children and young people and both include good information about being fostered, the rights of looked after children and access to advocacy. The guide for younger children is particularly commended for its colourful, interactive format. There is a robust management structure within the fostering service with clear lines of accountability. A stable and committed management team is in place and their leadership is valued by the staff. Staff comment positively about access to team managers and say that both formal and informal support systems are good and workload allocation is fair. Staff are appropriately qualified and experienced and have good access to appropriate training opportunities. The service has a

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Organisation

dedicated recruitment and publicity team and this team consults well with the team managers to ensure that recruitment of carers is targeted according to the needs in particular geographical areas. Placing social workers are generally happy about placement choice and speak highly about the quality of foster placements provided 'The service provides excellent foster carers who treat young people as their own and who go the extra mile to support them'. The fostering panel has a strong quality assurance role in relation to the standard of carer assessments. A good range of post approval training opportunities is available to foster carers and, although the service does not currently have a stated expectation for carers to access a certain number of training courses each year, the fostering panel monitors that training is being appropriately undertaken. Carers are expected to complete an annual learning and development plan with

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Organisation

their supervising social worker to develop their capacity to meet the specific needs of young people in placement. The fostering service is fully aware of the carer training implications of the implementation of the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) standards from April 2008 and plans to launch this to carers through a series of workshops. Foster carers are 9 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 provided with regular supervision to a standard agenda covering how the needs of young people in placement are being met as well as the carer's own development needs. Carers value the support provided by their supervising social workers: 'our fostering team is excellent'; 'I have found fostering for Nottinghamshire to be a rewarding and positive experience'. An annual foster carers' conference is held and this provides the opportunity to share good practice and

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Organisation

to recognise carers' loyalty and achievements. A good range of carer support groups and a dedicated out-of-hours duty service provide additional support for carers. The carers' handbook is limited in that it details service policy in key areas but is not inclusive of practice guidance or information which could provide a tool of reference for carers. The carers' handbook includes a breakdown of the foster carer allowance and also gives specific information regarding carers’ tax and insurance liabilities. The fostering service operates a skills level payment system for mainstream carers, with progression through the four levels being determined by the acquisition of competencies and being decided by a levels panel. Some carers, particularly those providing respite placements, are unhappy about delays in the receipt of allowances and carers also report lengthy delays in re-imbursement of money spent on essential equipment. The 'framework'

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Organisation

system is unwieldy and very time consuming and appears, often, to be unresponsive to the needs of the fostering service, for example in the capacity to extract important management information. There is inexplicable, differential access to the system, which is currently being addressed, for example for fostering service staff and child care operational staff. This does not accord with the existence of a holistic, integrated children's service and this apparent restricted access to information does not support positive outcomes for young people. Records retained by the fostering service and by carers are securely stored and there are appropriate policies in relation to access. The fostering service recognises the need to update the foster care agreement to reflect changes to LAC documentation used by Nottinghamshire. A foster care agreement was not in place in relation to one of the placements tracked but this shortfall

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Organisation

was addressed during the inspection. The fostering service has improved the process for obtaining temporary approval for family and friends carers providing placements under Regulation 38 (2), pending the completion of a full assessment. Some good examples of partnership working by placing and supervising social workers were noted, particularly in relation to family and friends placements. Family and friends carers are being supported well and are being encouraged to access appropriate training opportunities to equip them to meet the identified needs of the young people placed.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Fostering Services Regulations 2005 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider must comply with the given timescales.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that foster carers are provided with as full a description as posible of the health needs of any young person placed, either before placement or as soon as possible after. This must include clarity about consent to medical treatment (NMS 12.3) 10 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008 • retain records of checks and references that have been obtained in relation to staff, and their outcomes (NMS 3.4) • demonstrate that written foster placement agreements, covering the matters specified in schedule 6 of the Fostering Services Regulations, are in place in respect of all young people placed and contain specific reference to elements of matching which were taken into consideration in agreeing the placement (NMS 8.4)

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Recommendations

• ensure that there are clear procedures for setting out how appropriate contact arrangements for young people are to be established, maintained and monitored and that these take full account of the requirement for transport provided for young people, for these purposes, to be safe and appropriate to their needs (NMS 10.2, NMS 6.8) • demonstrate that systems for the practical support of foster carers inlude prompt payments (NMS 22.7, NMS 29.1) • ensure that a foster care agreement is in place for each carer, which is in line with Schedule 5 of the Fostering Services Regulations (NMS 22.4). 11 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service promotes the health and development of children (NMS 12). Ofsted considers 12 the key standard to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• any persons carrying on or managing the service are suitable (NMS 3) • the fostering service provides suitable foster carers (NMS 6) • the service matches children to carers appropriately (NMS 8) • the fostering service protects each child or young person from abuse and neglect (NMS 9) • the people who work in or for the fostering service are suitable to work with children and young people (NMS 15) • fostering panels are organised efficiently and effectively (NMS 30) Ofsted considers 3, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 30 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service values diversity (NMS 7) • the fostering service promotes educational achievement (NMS 13) • when foster care is provided as a short-term break for a child, the arrangements recognise that the parents remain the main carers for the child (NMS 31) Ofsted considers 7, 13 and 31 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service promotes contact arrangements for the child or young person (NMS 10) • the fostering service promotes consultation (NMS 11) Ofsted considers 10 and 11 the key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• the fostering service prepares young people for adulthood (NMS 14) • the fostering service pays carers an allowance and agreed expenses as specified (NMS 29) Ofsted considers none of the above to be key standards to be inspected.

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The intended outcomes for these standards are:

• there is a clear statement of the aims and objectives of the fostering service and the fostering service ensures that they meet those aims and objectives (NMS 1) • the fostering service is managed by those with the appropriate skills and experience (NMS 2) • the fostering service is monitored and controlled as specified (NMS 4) 12 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008

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Annex A

• the fostering service is managed effectively and efficiently (NMS 5) • staff are organised and managed effectively (NMS 16) • the fostering service has an adequate number of sufficiently experienced and qualified staff (NMS 17) • the fostering service is a fair and competent employer (NMS 18) • there is a good quality training programme (NMS 19) • all staff are properly accountable and supported (NMS 20) • the fostering service has a clear strategy for working with and supporting carers (NMS 21) • foster carers are provided with supervision and support (NMS 22) • foster carers are appropriately trained (NMS 23) • case records for children are comprehensive (NMS 24) • the administrative records are maintained as required (NMS 25) • The premises used as offices by the fostering service are suitable for the purpose (NMS 26) • the fostering service is financially viable (NMS 27) • the fostering service has robust financial processes (NMS 28)

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Annex A

• local authority fostering services recognise the contribution made by family and friends as carers (NMS 32) Ofsted considers 1, 16, 17, 21, 24, 25 and 32 the key standards to be inspected. 13 of 13 Inspection Report: Nottinghamshire County Council Fostering Service, 25 January 2008

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