Setting

X10029.doc Version 1.40 Page 1 FOSTERING SERVICE

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Lead Inspector Stephen Smith Key Announced Inspection 15th January 2007 10:00 North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 2 The Commission for Social Care Inspection aims to:

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• Put the people who use social care first • Improve services and stamp out bad practice • Be an expert voice on social care • Practise what we preach in our own organisation

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Reader Information Document Purpose Inspection Report Author CSCI Audience General Public Further copies from 0870 240 7535 (telephone order line) Copyright This report is copyright Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and may only be used in its entirety. Extracts may not be used or reproduced without the express permission of CSCI Internet address www.csci.org.uk North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 3 This is a report of an inspection to assess whether services are meeting the needs of people who use them. The legal basis for conducting inspections is the Care Standards Act 2000 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for this establishment are those for Fostering Services. They can be found at www.dh.gov.uk or obtained from The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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Every Child Matters, outlined the government’s vision for children’s services and formed the basis of the Children Act 2004. It provides a framework for inspection so that children’s services should be judged on their contribution to the outcomes considered essential to wellbeing in childhood and later life. Those outcomes are: • Being healthy • Staying safe • Enjoying and achieving • Making a contribution; and • Achieving economic wellbeing.

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In response, the Commission for Social Care Inspection has re-ordered the national minimum standards for children’s services under the five outcomes, for reporting purposes. A further section has been created under ‘Management’ to cover those issues that will potentially impact on all the outcomes above.

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Copies of Every Child Matters and The Children Act 2004 are available from The Stationery Office as above This report is a public document. Extracts may not be used or reproduced without the prior permission of the Commission for Social Care Inspection. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 4

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Name of service

Address Children`s Services Camden House Camden Street North Shields NE30 1NW

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Name of service

Email address Paula.Gibbons@northtyneside.gov.uk

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manager (if applicable)

Ms Paula Gibbons, Mainstream Fostering Mr Colin Fairgrieve, Chrysalis Project Type of registration Local Authority Fostering Service North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 5

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Conditions of registration:

Date of last inspection 27th February 2006

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Brief Description of the Service:

North Tyneside Fostering Service is part of the Local Authority’s Family Support and Placement Service, based at Children’s Services, Camden House, Camden Street, North Shields. The fostering service recruits, assesses and supports foster carers to provide a range of placements for children and young people. This includes a short break care service for children with disabilities. The fostering team have responsibility for assessing and supporting long-term foster carers as well as short term and mainstream carers; the service includes an immediate placement scheme and assessment foster carers. The authority also operates a joint ‘Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care’ project with Northumberland County Council named Chrysalis. This aims to provide therapeutic placements for up to six children, though, at the time of the inspection only three children were in placement.

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Brief Description of the Service:

At the time of the inspection the main Fostering Service was supporting placements in approximately 120 foster families. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 6

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SUMMARY

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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SUMMARY

The inspectors would like to thank the children, carers and staff for the way they helped the inspectors do their job and find out what the fostering service is like. The inspectors also want to thank children’s social workers who filled in forms or who told inspectors what they think of the fostering service. Staff in the fostering team, carers and children spoken to were very helpful and people spent time filling in surveys and sending them to the inspectors before the inspection. Information and facts in this report come from surveys sent to foster carers, fostered children and placing social workers and from written information the manager gave inspectors, as well as from the things seen and the people spoken to when they visited. Inspectors visited three foster carers with children living with them and 15 completed surveys from fostered children, 28 from foster carers and from 21 from social workers were returned

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SUMMARY

by the date this report was written. This inspection looked at both the main fostering service and the Multi-Disciplinary Treatment Foster Care Scheme called Chrysalis; some findings in this report relate to both services, others only relate to one or the other and the report will clearly indicate which. All together, 8 inspector days were spent with the fostering team and a further two days were spent reading questionnaires and sorting out the information in them.

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SUMMARY

A team of three inspectors carried out the inspection and information was gathered by:

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SUMMARY

ƒ Talking individually with children and foster carers; ƒ Group discussions with fostering staff; ƒ Group discussions with children social workers; ƒ Visiting foster carers’ homes; ƒ Group discussion with foster carers; ƒ Discussion with an independent reviewing officer; ƒ Discussion with children’s participation workers; ƒ Discussion with a looked after children education worker and a health worker; ƒ Reading children’s, carers’ and staff files; ƒ Reading records; ƒ Interviewing the fostering manager; ƒ Studying the surveys and other information sent back to us; ƒ Attending a meeting of the fostering panel.

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SUMMARY

People who told inspectors what they think about North Tyneside Council Fostering Service generally said very good things about the service and the authority. The great majority of people said that the service gives excellent support to foster carers and provides very good outcomes for fostered children. Only one foster carer thought the service has got worse in the last twelve months, all other foster carers and all social workers said the fostering service has either not changed or got better in the last twelve months. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 7 When asked how things could be made better, few people made any suggestion to make it better. Suggestions made by social workers tended refer to the need for more foster carers and can be summed up by the comment of one social worker, “In a demanding environment I believe the fostering service provides a good service, however, more choice in placements

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SUMMARY

would take the strain off the workers and carers.” The suggestions from foster carers tended to refer to the high workload of children’s social workers and a feeling that, as a consequence of this workload, children do not get as good support from their social worker as they should. This view, however, was limited and the majority of carers felt that support for children is very good. Other carers said things like, “The service can’t be faulted” and “We believe that in our experience the quality of the fostering service has improved each year.”

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SUMMARY

It is good that so many people think the service works well works well and that most people are very pleased with how things are going for them. Most importantly, children said very good things about being fostered and said that they are well looked after and happy in their foster homes. They said things like, ƒ “I am happy with my carers.” ƒ My carers are good and I get everything I ask for.” ƒ “She looks after me with food and healthy stuff and clothes and keeps my clothes clean and gives me everything I need throughout the time I stay with her.” ƒ “I’m treated like one of the family.” ƒ “I get lots to eat, treats, activities and holidays and am kept clean.”

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What the service does well:

North Tyneside Council Fostering Service is very good at a lot of the things it does.

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What the service does well:

ƒ The fostering service is good at finding people who want to be foster carers and working with them to make sure that they are the right sort of people to look after children. It checks new foster carers out very carefully and they get good training before they can foster. A social worker said, "All foster carers are assessed to a high standard.”

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What the service does well:

ƒ New foster carers cannot foster until a group of experts called a panel make a recommendation that they are the right sort of people and have the skills they need to look after children properly. This panel is very careful, gets a lot of information and thinks very hard about people before it recommends that they can foster. This is good for children as it helps keep them safe and have a good life.

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What the service does well:

ƒ The fostering service is good at ‘matching’ children with foster carers; that is making sure that children get to live in the place and with the North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 8 carers that are right for them. This is very hard for a local authority because it always needs more foster carers and sometimes has to put children with carers in an emergency but it works hard to make sure children live with carers who are right for them. It also works very hard to make sure that carers get to know all they need to about the child they are going to be looking after. A social worker said, “I am always confident that the carer offered will be suitable for and competent to manage the child” and a foster carer said, “All the information they have they share with the carers.”

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What the service does well:

ƒ The service is also good at making sure that foster homes and foster carers get checked and trained regularly to make sure they are safe places for children to live and that children are well cared for. Children told inspectors things like, “My carers are good and I get everything I ask for,” “She looks after me with food and healthy stuff and clothes and keeps my clothes clean and gives me everything I need throughout the time I stay with her,” “I’m treated like one of the family,” “I get lots to eat, treats, activities and holidays and am kept clean” and “I am happy with my carers.”

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What the service does well:

ƒ The service is very good at helping children stay healthy and well. Children get good health advice and foster carers make sure they have doctors and dentists. It also makes sure that children get their health checked often.

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What the service does well:

ƒ The fostering service is good at helping children get a good education. It is good at helping children stay in school and helping plan the support they need at school. The service is doing a lot of work to help children who are looked after to do well and get good grades at school. A young person said, “I get good help because I need a good education to get qualifications to get a good job when I’m older.”

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What the service does well:

ƒ The fostering service is excellent at finding out what children think about things and using this to make their care better or to help the service do things better. The local authority is doing a lot of work to make this even better. Children said they are listened to by their foster carers and, most of the time, by their social worker.

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What the service does well:

ƒ Once children are in placements, social workers, foster carers and fostering staff are good at working together and talking to each other to make sure that children keep being well cared for. A social workers said, “Relationships are good, I think everyone is focussed on the child first.”

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What the service does well:

ƒ The service is excellent at supporting foster carers to look after children. Foster carers get visited regularly and get good advice about how to help the children they are caring for. Foster carers get excellent training and this helps them to look after children well. Foster carers said very good things about the support and training they get, like “Training and advice North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 9 is good, also the support groups and help lines are useful” and “I have, in all my years as a carer, had full support from fostering services.”

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What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the last inspection the service has:

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What has improved since the last inspection?

ƒ Worked very hard to make sure that foster carers get all the information about a child they need to care for them properly. Carers now get good information.

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What has improved since the last inspection?

ƒ Made sure that the fostering service has enough staff who have got the right training to be able to do their jobs properly.

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What they could do better:

Although the fostering service does a lot of things well there are a few things that it could do better.

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What they could do better:

ƒ It should only let children be fostered, even for a short time, by carers who have enough space and experience to look after them well.

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What they could do better:

ƒ It needs to make sure that children who don’t speak English have an interpreter with them at all important times, like when they go to a foster carer for the first time.

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What they could do better:

ƒ The local authority should make sure, where children need someone to supervise their contact with their family, that only a few people that the children know do this.

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What they could do better:

ƒ The local authority should make sure it has enough children’s social workers and that they stay in their jobs for a long time so that children and their social workers can get to know each other well so the child gets the best help possible.

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What they could do better:

ƒ The Chrysalis foster care scheme need to get better at the way it checks out the work that staff members who want to work for it have done before, so it can make sure they are the right sort of people to work with children. The main fostering service is already very good at this.

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What they could do better:

ƒ The Chrysalis foster care scheme also should make sure that some of its carers who have been fostering for nearly a year, have done the training it says they have to do in their first year. This is also something that the main fostering service is already good at. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 10 Please contact the provider for advice of actions taken in response to this inspection. The report of this inspection is available from enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk or by contacting your local CSCI office. The summary of this inspection report can be made available in other formats on request. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 11

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CONTENTS

Statutory Requirements Identified During the Inspection North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 12

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The intended outcome for this Standard is:

• The fostering service promotes the health and development of children.(NMS 12)

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12

Quality in this outcome area is good. This judgement has been made using available evidence including a visit to this service.

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12

Children’s physical and emotional health needs are very well met and their health promoted by the fostering service and authority’s effective arrangements in this area.

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EVIDENCE:

All people spoken to or consulted during the inspection said there are good links between children’s services and health services working with children in the area. The authority has placed great emphasis on promoting the health of looked after children and has worked hard to make sure children receive annual Looked After Children (LAC) medical checks. 94% of fostered children have received their annual medical and plans developed for the small number of children who refused such a check. People spoke highly of the effective work being carried out by the LAC Nurse who, when interviewed described the good arrangements made to promote the health of fostered children. Foster carers confirmed that the arrangements for ensuring children’s health is monitored are getting better. Good work is carried out with children on an individual basis and in group settings to promote their health and good information is provided to children.

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EVIDENCE:

The authority has carried out health promotion work with its carers with 33% of fostering households attending a Healthy Care course that was co-facilitated by the Raising Health and Education of Looked After Children (RHELAC) team and a foster carer. Foster carers also get a good range of training provided to them in health matters such as substance misuse, healthy living, mental and emotional health issues and so on. The service is working to reduce the number of foster carers households where a member of the household smokes. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 13 The authority monitors this figure and has reduced it to 45% and further work is planned including foster carer training. Foster carers are required to undertake first aid training as part of the service’s ‘mandatory’ training that has to be undertaken within the first year of foster caring. Evidence was

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EVIDENCE:

available to confirm that effective arrangements are in place within the mainstream fostering team to ensure this happens. Some of the carers fostering for the Chrysalis ‘treatment foster care’ project have been approved as carers for nearly a year and not all of these have done first aid training yet. The service should ensure that these carers receive first aid training as soon as possible.

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EVIDENCE:

Children have good access to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) where needed and there are four social worker therapists within CAMHS to support foster carers. Access to other services is also available where necessary; attendance at fostering panel showed that a young person is supported to access therapy with the NSPCC.

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EVIDENCE:

Case tracking during the inspection provided good examples of how children’s health needs are met and provided for, including children’s dietary, medical and emotional needs. Children visited and spoken to were all registered with doctors and dentists and foster carers said that the local authority will make sure children have access to dental services if they are unable to be registered with an NHS dentist. Young people case tracked had up-to-date LAC medical reports in place in their files and health plans where appropriate and LAC documentation contained appropriate health information.

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EVIDENCE:

Foster carers and social workers views about how well the service supports foster carers to meet children’s health needs were as follows:

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 30% 40% Good 50% 55% Adequate 20% 5% Poor/Inadequate 0% 0%

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Foster carers’ comments included: ƒ “They promote healthy lifestyles through training.” ƒ “Some children have had medical problems and they have received check-ups at hospital they might not have received if they were not in the care system.” ƒ “They run course on healthy eating and try to promote this through advice and training courses.” ƒ “They make sure that health assessments are completed and any doctor, dental or opticians appointments are attended.”

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Social workers’ comments included: North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 14 ƒ “The carers ensure (young person) gets to all appointments and work with those people necessary to get treatment or support for (young person.) ƒ “(Young person’s) carer has been excellent and has implemented all suggestions from health professionals in enabling (young person) to reach her potential.”

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Foster Carers Social Workers

87% of children consulted said they ‘always’ get the right help and advice with their health and 13% said they ‘sometimes’ get this help. Children’s said things like: ƒ “My carer tells me to eat fruit and veg.” ƒ “To keep me healthy and free from germs and eating sensible.” ƒ “To help me develop and grow.” ƒ “I always get help as school and at home.” ƒ “I eat fruit/vegetables and I play football for exercise.” North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 15

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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)

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3, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 30

Quality in this outcome area is good. This judgement has been made using available evidence including a visit to this service.

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3, 6, 8, 9, 15 and 30

Children’s safety is promoted by the authority’s effective matching arrangements and the provision of safe homes with skilled foster carers who get very good training and support to help them keep children safe. Recruitment practices of the main fostering service keep children safe but need to be developed further in the Chrysalis service. The fostering panel provides a rigorous consideration of foster carers’ assessments and reviews presented to it.

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EVIDENCE:

All foster carers visited as part of the inspection process made the inspectors welcome and cooperated fully with the inspection process. The homes visited were comfortable and suitable environments in which to bring up children. Children consulted were very pleased with their home. Good health and safety checklists were in place in all the files examined; these contained thorough checks of home safety and include checks on car MOT and registration documents as well as driving licence and insurance details. It was noted that the health and safety checklist relating to the home of one foster carers referred to a dog and cats but did not contain any detail about these pets and North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 16 there was no additional pet questionnaire in place to identify and plan for any issues relating to the pets and any child placed. It is recommended that pet

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EVIDENCE:

safety questionnaires be completed for situations in which foster carers pets may have welfare implications for children placed with them.

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EVIDENCE:

The authority’s arrangements to match children with foster carers taking into account their specific needs are good. Social workers’ views about the council’s ability to offer a choice of placements were as follows:

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EVIDENCE:

Excellent 0% Good 5% Adequate 38% Inadequate 57%

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EVIDENCE:

Social workers’ comments included: ƒ “This depends on availability and availability is always limited.” ƒ “Resources are few and choice is not really an option due to finances.” ƒ “As is the case with most authorities more carers are needed to allow a choice of placement and increase the ability to match properly every time.”

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EVIDENCE:

Despite this view of a lack of placement choice. Social workers consulted were generally very positive about the quality of foster placements available. One social worker said, “Although we are rarely offered a choice of placement, the quality of the authority’s carers are such that I am always confident that the carer offered will be suitable for and competent to manage the child.” Other social workers confirmed this view; another said, “I think we are seeing, year on year, an improvement in the quality and competence of the service’s carers.” Fostering staff explained that careful work takes place to make sure that any placement offered is appropriate for the child in question.

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EVIDENCE:

The authority has placed a great deal of emphasis on ensuring foster carers receive good information about the child at the time the placement is made. An effective procedure for placement agreement meetings is in place, driven by the fostering service, that has ensured that 97% of placement agreement meetings take place on or before the day of placement with others taking place on the next working day. The fostering manager monitors this closely and a checklist is in place to ensure that placement agreement meetings cover all areas and make sure documents such as complaints leaflets, a health file, LAC charter, life story book, safe caring policy and so on are shared. A fostering social worker said that the quality of information for placements provided by the child’s social worker has “very much improved” and children’s social workers confirmed that a high priority is placed on the need to supply full

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EVIDENCE:

Foster carers’ views about the quality of information they receive before placements are made confirmed the good work done in this area as follows: North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 17 Excellent 24% Good 24% Adequate 48% Poor 4% (1) response

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EVIDENCE:

In the context of a local authority fostering service, which has to make placements in line with the authority’s statutory duty to protect and provide for children, this level of satisfaction about the information provided to foster carers is commendable.

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EVIDENCE:

The service operates an effective ‘gatekeeping’ or planning system regarding access to the fostering service with all placements being referred to a placement panel before (or immediately after in an emergency situation) the placement is made. Detailed placement referral forms are used and the service’s Resource Information Officer (RIO) will not accept a referral without detailed written information about the child wherever this information is available.

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EVIDENCE:

All parties spoken to said that placements are matched as well as possible and all parties cited very good support to maintain placements when they are made. Foster carers said that, as carers become more experienced they become more confident in refusing placements that they don’t regard as suitable. Commendably, they said the service respects the views of carers and will not insist on making placements that carers feel are not appropriate. Some foster carers said, however, there is some pressure for placements and expressed the view that newer carers are sometimes pressured to take placements because they are less confident at saying ‘no’. This view was supported in a situation examined where new carers, approved for long-term care, were taking some shorter term placements as a way of gaining experience whilst waiting for a ‘match’. In this situation three young children were placed with these carers for two weeks despite the carers only having one

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EVIDENCE:

bedroom for the children to share and having to use an airbed for one child. The carers said they found this experience positive and a good learning experience and the children and their social worker thought the children’s stay was positive. Nevertheless the placement of three children in one bedroom in a small house with relatively new carers where one child had to sleep on an airbed is not appropriate. The service should ensure that placements of this nature are not made.

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EVIDENCE:

Other situations examined during the inspection provided examples of careful matching and ongoing support to promote placement stability. The service is doing a good job of trying to reduce the number of foster placements made in an emergency. Overall, 37% of placements are made in an emergency with this figure rising to 42% for children aged 10 and over. The service offers some assessment carers who take young people, sometimes on an emergency basis to identify the type of support they need from a foster carer and the North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 18 manager said that the service is considering the development of a ‘crisis’ foster care service to support carers with overnight stays for a child in emergencies. Additionally, placements are offered with carers in a specialist foster care scheme, a teenage foster care scheme as well as placements with family and

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EVIDENCE:

friends foster carers. Planned placements are available within the Chrysalis project for children who are extremely difficult to place or who may have required a secure placement.

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EVIDENCE:

The authority uses placements with independent fostering agencies rarely, in situations in which it requires placements of a nature that it cannot meet with its own carers. These placements need to be agreed by a ‘higher resource panel’ that includes the head of children’s services. Social workers spoken to said that placements could be agreed for specific situations such as a large sibling group. They said they had not experienced a situation in which an inappropriate internal placement had been used to avoid the use of an independent fostering agency placement. All long-term placements are carefully matched by the fostering panel and a child’s file examined showed the very careful family finding and matching process that had taken place.

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EVIDENCE:

The authority has a placement stability strategy in place and monitors its effectiveness closely. The service has invested in a range of foster carer schemes and offers good reward packages to carers to encourage quality, and the take up of training. As already stated, social workers said very good things about the skilled nature of many of the authority’s foster carers. The authority monitors the percentage of children who remain in foster care after their sixteenth birthday. Commendably, since 2004 all fostered children remained in foster care after their sixteenth birthday, 63% remained after their seventeenth birthday and 44% stayed with foster carers after they were eighteen. These figure demonstrate effective work to provide stability for young people.

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EVIDENCE:

Views of foster carers and social workers about how good the fostering service is at promoting placement stability were as follows:

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 52% 45% Good 28% 45% Adequate 12% 10% Poor/Inadequate 8% 0%

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Social workers and foster carers spoken to were very positive about the support given to foster carers to make sure children are well cared for. Responses in survey forms confirmed this view:

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 60% 58% North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 19 Good 56% 42% Adequate 4% 0% Poor/Inadequate 0% 0%

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Social workers consulted were also generally positive about the quality of information they receive back from the fostering service and foster carers:

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 0% Good 60% Adequate 35% Inadequate 5% (1)

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Comments from foster carers about matching included: ƒ “The child’s profile was outlined clearly, however some of their experiences have only been ascertained by subsequent counselling (NSPCC).” ƒ “I have had a couple of children in the past who asked to be moved on and it was organised excellently.” ƒ “We have regular training and education on how to meet children’s needs. We have regular meetings with support workers to discuss any problems we may have.” ƒ “They try to provide as much help as possible when it is needed. They try to match children with carers and offer lots of support.” ƒ “All the information they have they share with the carers.” (Chrysalis) ƒ “Sometimes, when a child is placed on immediate placement we do not have all the information. If the child stays with us for any length of time then this is quickly rectified. For planned placements the planning meeting addresses this and never takes place later than the day they are

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Foster Carers Social Workers

placed; more often than not these meetings take place in advance of the placement.”

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Comments from social workers included: ƒ “The foster carers who care for (young person) are excellent. It is a stable placement and, as a consequence, input from the fostering service is appropriately limited.” ƒ “Once children are in placement the service are good at ensuring stability.” ƒ “The service is excellent at ensuring stability, especially in providing short-term placements for young children.” ƒ “Family and friends assessments are very positive to allow children to remain in their families.” ƒ “The foster carers are both providing an excellent placement for the two children.” ƒ “(Young person’s placement has been settled and his carers have been excellent in promoting his needs.” ƒ “We get great information from the carers but sometimes communication between social workers and the fostering team could be better.” North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 20

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Foster Carers Social Workers

Information about how to keep children safe, including child protection, unauthorised absence and behaviour management arrangements, is provided for carers in the foster carer handbook and foster carers receive child protection training during their initial assessment training and in the mandatory training to be completed during the first year as a foster carer. A range of other training in safety issues is provided to carers including, safe caring, bullying and behaviour management and fire safety training is provided jointly with the fire service.

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Foster Carers Social Workers

All of the foster carers’ files examined contained safe caring policies. All parties spoken to said that these policies are provided by the fostering service for the placement agreement meeting and used in the discussion to ensure that the placement is safe for the child. Any safe caring issues identified are then considered in the meeting and recorded in the placement agreement record. A form is included for the child’s social worker to sign to confirm that safe caring issues have been considered. Examination of records during the inspection provided confirmation of the above.

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Foster Carers Social Workers

All foster carers whose files were examined contained up-to date Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosures and a clear system is in place to ensure that they are updated every three years. The fostering manager monitors records closely to ensure that the checks take place as required.

p.20

Foster Carers Social Workers

The fostering manager within the mainstream fostering service and the manager of Chrysalis have effective systems in place to monitor any complaints, allegations or incidents taking place as well as any incidents of unauthorised absence and other incidents set out tin Schedule 7 of the Fostering Services Regulations 2002. All recorded events had been dealt with appropriately. One foster carer told an inspector that an informal ‘complaint’ had been made verbally to a supervising social worker in May 2006 about a perceived lack of support for a foster child but that no response had been received. The fostering service should ensure that this carer receives a response to the concerns expressed.

p.20

Foster Carers Social Workers

Reading of files and discussion with foster carers and staff provided good evidence of the high levels of support and effective clinical teamwork in relation to a young person receiving foster care with the Chrysalis treatment foster care scheme. The young person was also very positive about the support received.

p.20

Foster Carers Social Workers

All children spoken to said they are always happy and well cared for in their placement and children knew who to speak to if they had a problem. All children, apart from one, who returned surveys also said they know how to make a complaint if they are not happy with the service; the other child was not sure whether they knew or not. Three children stated, in the survey forms North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 21 they returned, that they were being bullied. This information passed on to the fostering service to ensure the situation is being addressed.

p.20

Foster Carers Social Workers

Children’s comments about being safe included: ƒ “My carers are good and I get everything I ask for.” ƒ “She looks after me with food and healthy stuff and clothes and keeps my clothes clean and gives me everything I need throughout the time I stay with her.” ƒ “I’m treated like one of the family.” ƒ “I get lots to eat, treats, activities and holidays and am kept clean.” ƒ “I am happy with my carers.” ƒ “If I have a problem I can talk to my teacher, social worker or my carer.” ƒ “I can talk to my social worker, foster carer or teacher.” ƒ “I could tell my family, foster carer or social worker.”

p.21

Foster Carers Social Workers

Recruitment files examined of staff members appointed since the last inspection were generally in very good order and demonstrated that a robust and well recorded recruitment procedure is operated with effective checks and references being sought. Commendably, the fostering manager ensures that applicants’ full employment history is verified by contacting all previous employers regarding the applicant’s suitability. CRB checks are undertaken before employment commences with the fostering service even when employees are transferring or being re-deployed into the service from elsewhere within the authority. The files of staff members appointed to the main fostering service showed a very thorough process of seeking written references and following the up with a telephone call to verify the referee’s comments.

p.21

Foster Carers Social Workers

The files examined of staff members appointed to the Chrysalis project, however, were not as through in this regard. In one file examined a written reference did not contain a date and the evidence of the verbal follow-up made was not sufficiently detailed. In another one reference was undated, the last employers’ reference was a character reference only giving no information about the person’s suitability and neither contained evidence that they had been followed up verbally. In a third situation a written reference was not dated and the evidence of telephone follow-up was not sufficiently detailed and the applicant’s last employer was an agency. The reference from the agency was a summary of the rating score given to the applicant by the settings worked in; there was no evidence of any attempt being made to explore this more robustly. The authority needs to ensure that recruitment practices in terms of seeking references of applicants for the Chrysalis fostering service are

p.21

Foster Carers Social Workers

as robust as those employed for the main fostering service.

p.21

Foster Carers Social Workers

North Tyneside Council Fostering service operates an effective panel that employs structured processes and keeps good records of its decisions and how it reaches them. Decisions and recommendations made are clear and the agency decision maker makes a decision promptly bearing in mind the panel North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 22 recommendation; good records of these decisions and panel minutes are maintained on foster carers’ files. Panel is correctly constituted in line with the regulations and national minimum standards and, although at the time of inspection it had a vacancy for councillor to sit on panel it was working hard to fill this position. Panel membership provides it with a very good balance of experience and background and it is chaired by a person independent of the authority. All long-term fostering arrangements either with the authority’s own

p.21

Foster Carers Social Workers

foster carers or with foster carers from an independent agency are carefully matched by this panel.

p.22

Foster Carers Social Workers

During the inspection an inspector attended part of a panel meeting. The panel attended was correctly quorate and the chair ensured that it remained so after a member declared an expression of interest and stepped down from the consideration of a particular case. Discussion was careful and panel was sensitive to the feelings of foster carers attending panel. It was good to note panel taking an advisory role as well as considering cases and making recommendations to the decision maker. Panel was robust in asking for further work to be done before a decision could be made. The panel chair said that panel is encouraged to provide qualitative feedback to the service and to be pro-active in offering advice and guidance. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 23

p.22

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)

p.23

7, 13 and 31

Quality in this outcome area is excellent. This judgement has been made using available evidence including a visit to this service.

p.23

7, 13 and 31

Children are get very good support with their educational and leisure needs and are helped to attain academic achievements that will help them greatly in later life. Foster carers get good support to help them care for children with different needs and from different ethnic backgrounds and the service is working to improve its provision in this area.

p.23

EVIDENCE:

The service provides foster carers with good information about promoting equality and diversity within the foster carer handbook and issues surrounding this are covered in foster carers’ approval training. Staff members have received training in diversity issues to help them deliver this training effectively. Good arrangements are in place to provide ongoing training for foster carers.

p.23

EVIDENCE:

The population served by the local authority is predominantly white British and the make up of foster carers and children that the service works with reflects this composition though the service has a small number of Asian carers. The service is involved with the Sahara project, which provides support for the recruitment and support of carers from different backgrounds. Sahara also offers consultancy and support for specific situations where there are needs relating to culture or race. The fostering service’s strategy for recruiting carers North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 24 includes the attendance at local festivals and events including those for the gay and lesbian communities to attempt to increase the range and diversity of foster carers available.

p.23

EVIDENCE:

Over recent years the service has begun to need to provide foster placements to unaccompanied asylum seeking children. In discussion with professionals during the inspection they expressed the view that, generally, the service has responded effectively to this need. One foster carer, however, said that when they were preparing to take an asylum seeking foster child who could speak no English said that it was promised by the social worker that an interpreter would accompany the child on arrival at their home. The carer said that this did not happen and that arrangements had to be made through the carer’s own personal contacts, as the young person was extremely distressed and frightened. The fostering service should ensure that any child with limited or no English receives the services of an interpreter at all important moments such as the arrival at a new foster carer’s home.

p.24

EVIDENCE:

The service uses specialist carers to work with children with disabilities and operates a short break foster care scheme to support children with disabilities to remain with their families. Foster carers and social workers said that carers have access to a budget for any aids and adaptations necessary.

p.24

EVIDENCE:

Social workers and foster carers consulted were generally positive about how well the service supports foster carers to address diversity issues in relation to the children they care for.

p.24

Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 39% 14% Good 43% 55% Adequate 18% 31% Poor/Inadequate 0% 0%

p.24

Foster Carers Social Workers

Comments made by foster carers included: ƒ “(Young person) is treated no different to other children although her disability is taken into account.” ƒ “In our assessment with our social worker it was always said that each child was an individual and they are all treated with respect.” ƒ I am proud of the way the fostering service addresses all issues of equality for all. There is abundant help and information available plus support for any problem that may occur.”

p.24

Foster Carers Social Workers

Social workers said things like: ƒ “In my opinion we have a wide range of foster carers as is possible within a region with limited ethnic variety.” ƒ “Things have worked very well for the specific needs of the young person in placement. The carers have been supported to learn about his culture to be able to support him in this area.” North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 25 Foster carers are provided with good information about promoting education for fostered children and working with the different services involved. The service has worked hard to ensure that children have up to date Personal Education Plans (PEPs) and told inspectors that 92% of fostered children of school age have up-to-date PEPs. Children of school age spoken to during the inspection and those whose files were examined had PEPs in place and Statements of Special Educational Need (SEN) where appropriate.

p.24

Foster Carers Social Workers

The authority is working hard to monitor and promote school attendance and promote and support the education of looked after children. The RHELAC team provides extra services and support to looked after children to promote their education and achievement, including support for children with homework, home studies and academic achievement. Figures provided by the fostering service showed that there is a very low level of school exclusions for fostered children. Foster carers generally reported good support in helping them with a situation in which a young person may not be attending school, though one carer said that support for long-term school exclusions could be better. A looked after children education worker spoken to during the inspection provided a number of examples of very good work and support to fostered children. This worker said that priority is given to older children or those in crisis situations and that it would be good to be able to extend the level of

p.25

Foster Carers Social Workers

support to all children. The Connexions service has a named adviser for looked after children.

p.25

Foster Carers Social Workers

Evidence from reading files and talking to children and carers during the inspection shows that fostered children are getting good support at school. All children consulted said they have access to computers in their foster placement and the fostering service told inspectors that young people are provided with laptop computers to support their sixth form and college work. The authority runs Celebrating Achievement Events for looked after children to promote and reward educational achievement and success is reported and celebrated in the foster carers’ newsletter.

p.25

Foster Carers Social Workers

100% of children whose last placement was a foster placement who took their GCSEs in 2006 achieved at least 1 GCSE at A* - G or a GNVQ. Furthermore, 23% achieved at least 5 GSCEs at Grades A*-C. These figures demonstrate the high priority given to the education of fostered children and will help children in their future once they have left care. All fostered young people aged 15 or over have an allocated personal adviser and Pathway Plans are in place for the great majority of these young people.

p.25

Foster Carers Social Workers

A range of leisure activities and events take place for children and the authority has worked hard to ensure that young people have things to do that they can enjoy. The service is proud that 96% of looked after children had a holiday last year with over half of children holidaying abroad. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 26 73% of children consulted said that they ‘always’ receive the right sort of help with their education and the remaining 27% said they ‘usually’ or ‘sometimes’ are helped. 60% said they are ‘always’ helped to think about their future with the others saying they ‘usually’ or ‘sometimes’ get this help. Children said things like: ƒ “I have extra help at school” ƒ “I get helped about homework and learning to do as you are told.” ƒ “My carer wants me to attend school.” ƒ “My carers want to help me.” ƒ “(Carer) wants to help me by giving me as much advice as she can.”

p.25

Foster Carers Social Workers

ƒ “There is a computer and can use it when I want.” ƒ “I get good help because I need a good education to get qualifications to get a good job when I’m older.” ƒ “(Carers) have been preparing me for my future career.” ƒ “We talk about what I want to do when I’m older.” ƒ “I’m helped to work hard at school to get a good job.”

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Foster carers and social workers were mostly very positive about the support provided for children’s education:

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 39% 32% Good 33% 59% Adequate 22% 9% Poor/Inadequate 6% (1) 0%

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

They were also positive about support for children to be able to undertake activities in the community:

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 38% 38% Good 42% 57% Adequate 20% 5% Poor/Inadequate 0% 0%

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Views about how well the fostering service supports foster carers to provide an environment in which the child can prosper were also very positive:

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 35% 38% Good 43% 48% Adequate 22% 10% Poor/Inadequate 0% 4%(1)

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Foster carers’ comments about ‘Enjoying and Achieving’ included: North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 27 ƒ “(Young person) has downs syndrome so a taxi is provided so we can take part in activities as I don’t drive.” ƒ “We have MAX cards and have been to parties etc.” ƒ “They are fully committed to the children getting the best possible education.” ƒ The education for children in public care is an area of huge importance to the authority. We have never experienced anything other than a very pro-active approach to the education of looked after children.” ƒ “We feel the links between education and fostering service are not strong enough. Separate plans exist but these do not necessarily coincide and some tensions do exist.”

p.26

Foster Carers Social Workers

Social workers said things like: ƒ “(Young person) has been supported and encouraged by carers with army cadets.” ƒ “The foster carers are committed to this.” ƒ “The fostering service works with the carers and liaises with social work staff to help children’s education.” ƒ “The children always seem to have a lot going on in and out of school.” ƒ “The foster carers have made the child’s education a priority and, I believe have been encouraged and supported in this by the fostering service.”

p.27

Foster Carers Social Workers

The authority provides short break care for children with disabilities. Arrangements are suitable to ensure that responsibility for decisions regarding these children remains with their parents. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 28

p.27

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)

p.28

10 and 11

Quality in this outcome area is excellent. This judgement has been made using available evidence including a visit to this service.

p.28

10 and 11

Children get good support to maintain contact with their family and friends. Children’s views are important to the service; they are listened to well and can influence the care they receive and the running of the service. The service is developing excellent work in this area.

p.28

EVIDENCE:

The importance of promoting appropriate contact between young people and their families made clear to foster carers and set out in the foster care agreement. The foster placement agreement and the referral form used by the fostering service ensures that information about contact arrangements is shared with all parties and that the foster carers are clear about what is expected of them. Foster carers spoken to during the inspection told inspectors about the actions they take to support contact and the support they receive from the fostering team and children’s social workers. The authority has provided training for foster carers in supporting contact and working with patents; 98% of carers who support contact have done this training with nearly a quarter of all carers doing the training even if they do not deal with contact situations. One carer raised a concern about having to supervising contact before being given this training but it is apparent that there cannot be

p.28

EVIDENCE:

Where contact is being supported or supervised by children’s social work teams, some carers stated that levels of staff turnover and sickness in these North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 29 teams means that contact can be inconsistent or that a number of different people, sometimes new to the child, supervise the contact. The authority should give attention to how these arrangements can be more consistent for the children concerned.

p.28

EVIDENCE:

Other parties consulted reported good arrangements for contact where it is in children’s interests. One foster carer said, “Social services have supported family contact at 3 sessions per week for the majority of the two years the child’s been with me.” Foster carers and social workers questionnaires considered that children have good networks with their families where these are possible. Where networks were identified as not being good respondents cited specific reason for this relating to the child’s needs or circumstances.

p.29

EVIDENCE:

Evidence gathered during the inspection showed the work to provide consultation events and activities children and also regular consultation events and activities. The authority runs a looked after children group and is developing the use of Viewpoint, initially for children aged 8 to 13. Three workers have been appointed to develop this, with one worker employed to gather trends and themes from the views expressed.

p.29

EVIDENCE:

The service has developed information in formats accessible to children, including the Young People's Plan and is developing charters for looked after children and disabled children. There are three looked after children representatives on the authority's Youth Council and children participate in planning for the Ultimate Kids Day's events. The authority is also working to develop ways of consulting with children who don't like completing forms and working with them about how to make looked after reviews more effective for children.

p.29

EVIDENCE:

Within the fostering service, young people have developed information for foster carers about their view of the ‘perfect carer’. The service also operates a well-developed Children Who Foster group. This group has been in operation for approaching 12 years and is regarded as a model of good practice. Children who foster help present part of the Preparation to Foster training for new foster carers.

p.29

EVIDENCE:

Case tracking during the inspection and discussion with social workers and foster carers showed that the difficulties in recruitment and retention in the children's social work teams, along with staff sickness levels, causes the authority some difficulty in ensuring consistent allocation of social workers for children. One child had six social workers in 30 months, one had, four social workers in six months and a 30 month old child had already had four social workers. Although some children said in their survey forms that they do not see their social worker very often, generally, their views about how well they are listened to by their social worker were very positive as can be seen below. Nevertheless, the authority should give attention to stabilising the staffing situation to provide greater consistency for children. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 30

p.29

EVIDENCE:

In survey forms children said they are listened to and their opinions taken notice of by their foster carers and, most of the time, by their social workers. Their responses were as follows:

p.30

EVIDENCE:

Always Usually Sometimes Never Foster carer: 60% 40% 0% 0% Social worker: 33% 47% 20% 0%

p.30

EVIDENCE:

Children said thing like: ƒ “My carers are kind.” ƒ “Because sometimes we (foster carers) sit down and chat, especially when I am worried about something.” ƒ “They (foster carers) always ask me what I want to do.” ƒ “My foster carers have always got time to talk.” ƒ “They let me choose how to have my hair cut, what clothes I wear and how my bedroom looks.” ƒ “She (social worker) explains important things to me.” ƒ “I have a new social worker.” ƒ “They (social workers) look after me.” ƒ “When I had a problem my social worker came out and spoke to me and phoned nearly everyday until the problem was resolved.” ƒ “(My social worker) talks to me alone.” ƒ “When she (social worker) turns up to see me.” ƒ “Last time I seen (social worker) was in September/October.”

p.30

EVIDENCE:

Foster carers and social workers were very positive in their responses about how well children are consulted about their lives and their care:

p.30

Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 21% 54% Good 58% 23% Adequate 21% 23% Poor/Inadequate 0% 0%

p.30

Foster Carers Social Workers

Views were more mixed but still generally positive about the effectiveness of arrangements for consulting children about the running of the service:

p.30

Foster Carers Social Workers

Excellent 26% 12% Good 42% 12% Adequate 21% 76% Poor/Inadequate 11% 0%

p.30

Foster Carers Social Workers

Foster carers made comments about consultation with children including: ƒ “This has not been an easy task but the children have been given many opportunities to engage in group work and one-to-one discussions.” North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 31 ƒ “They (children) are encouraged by the service to be involved in their care arrangements and decisions about them.” ƒ “Children in care are given many opportunities and avenues to voice their opinions.” ƒ “Children are encouraged to express their views at their reviews and helped to do so.” ƒ “Various groups for fostered children are available.”

p.30

Foster Carers Social Workers

Social workers said things like: ƒ “Carers encourage young people to be responsible for and make decisions about their own lives.” ƒ “Young people are helped to have their say in all the meetings held about them.” ƒ “(Young person) has been helped to express his view much more confidently during the time of the placement.” North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 32

p.31

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)

p.32

29

Quality in this outcome area is good. This judgement has been made using available evidence including a visit to this service.

p.32

29

The fostering service has a generous and effective system of rewarding foster carers for their skills. This enables carers to meet children’s needs well and helps promote a high quality of foster placements for children.

p.32

EVIDENCE:

North Tyneside Council fostering service has structured payments schemes in place for foster carers that reflect the various specialist foster carer schemes operated by the authority. All fostering allowances paid to carers are equal to or exceed the minimum fostering allowance suggested by fostering network. Many schemes include the payment of a fee in addition to the fostering allowance and in many situations this fee is paid throughout the year regardless of whether a child is in placement or not. Information about payment levels and the system of payments is provided to foster carers. The manager expressed the view that the authority’s level of allowances along with the support and training provided to carers help in the recruitment and retention of carers and enable the authority to provide children with skilled and experienced carers.

p.32

EVIDENCE:

One carer consulted said that his payment had, on occasion been late and that on one occasion a muddle in payment had meant that someone else was reimbursed an expense incurred by him. This, however, was an isolated view and not reflected in opinions given by any other foster carer consulted or spoken to or by other findings during the inspection. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 33 No foster carer who responded had any criticism for the level of foster carer payments and the authority is to be commended for the creative work being done in terms of the specialist schemes and rewards in place to increase the range, capacity and quality of the foster carers it works with. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 34

p.32

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) • 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)

p.34

The intended outcomes for these Standards are:

• 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) • Local Authority fostering services recognise the contribution made by family and friends as carers.(NMS 32)

p.34

1, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 32

Quality in this outcome area is excellent. This judgement has been made using available evidence including a visit to this service.

p.34

1, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 32

The service’s arrangements for the assessment, support, training and review of foster carers are excellent and promote high quality outcomes for children. Management is effective and works to improve standards further. Children’s records are detailed and help support good quality care. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 35

p.34

EVIDENCE:

The fostering service is very effectively managed and organised with clear lines of accountability in procedures for decision-making. The manager has developed very effective systems to ensure that work relating to the assessment, approval, management, support and supervision of foster carers is well carried out. The service has statistical reporting processes in place to ensure that work takes place consistently in line with the requirements of the service and National Minimum Standards. The manager effectively supervises and manages the team of staff and supervising social workers said their caseload and the work within the team is very busy, but manageable. Fostering social workers said they receive good formal and informal support from the manager and other members of the team and said they have good access to training. The fostering team has efficient clerical and administrative support, including the Referral Information Officer, who is the first point of

p.35

EVIDENCE:

contact for social workers seeking a foster placement.

p.35

EVIDENCE:

The fostering service has an effective recruitment and assessment procedure. All people consulted said that the service does well at attracting people interested in fostering. People interviewed said that the service has a good reputation for the level of support and training it provides for foster carers and findings during the inspection confirmed this. Children’s social workers and fostering workers said that good relationships exist between the fostering team, foster carers and children’s social workers.

p.35

EVIDENCE:

As stated earlier, a number of people commented on the high levels of staff turnover within children's social work teams and some foster carers said that this has resulted in actions from children's reviews not been carried out. Records of the looked after reviews for one child showed that the Assessment and Action Record started in November 2004 had still not been completed in November 2006 despite the matter being raised at each review.

p.35

EVIDENCE:

A young person fostered through the Chrysalis scheme, said that because lots of people from that scheme are supporting him he does not see his social worker as much as he did and is losing his relationship with him. As this young person's placement with Chrysalis is coming to an end, work should be done to re-establish his relationship with his social worker.

p.35

EVIDENCE:

Assessments of new foster carers seen during the inspection were very thorough, and people spoken to confirmed this is the case for other assessments. Assessments contained very detailed and careful checks on applicants’ suitability and competence to foster as were checks on foster carers backgrounds and records of visits to the referees of applicants. Fostering staff told inspectors that the authority is in the process of implementing the new North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 36 Fostering Network competence based assessment forms. Good ‘Preparation to Foster’ training is provided and children's social workers said, they are noticing an increasing quality and competence in foster carers.

p.35

EVIDENCE:

The first fostering assessment undertaken by the Chrysalis project was questioned by the fostering panel and further work required, it is positive to note that the next assessment was of good quality.

p.36

EVIDENCE:

The authority has effective arrangements in place for the management and support of carers. Carers receive useful information and guidance about their roles as foster carers and receive good support from their supervising social workers. The fostering service works well with the Independent Reviewing Officer responsible for foster care reviews to ensure that they take place on time. Good arrangements are in place to seek the views of the foster carer, supervising social worker, placing social worker as well as the fostered child and any children of the foster family. The first fostering review is taken back to panel and the review record form identifies any issues raised by panel at approval and identifies how they have been responded to. After the first review every third review goes to panel and management information is fed back to panel between these reviews for panel’s information. Any changes of

p.36

EVIDENCE:

approval or reviews following incidents or events would be taken to panel. One foster carer was very positive about the review process and commented that a letter of thanks for the work done as a foster carer had been received from panel.

p.36

EVIDENCE:

In foster carers’ survey responses about the quality of support provided by the fostering team for them to care for the child views were as follows:

p.36

EVIDENCE:

Excellent 56% Good 32% Adequate 8% Inadequate 4% (1)

p.36

EVIDENCE:

Comments from foster carers about this included: ƒ “There is always someone there who will offer support and help.” ƒ “Training and advice is good, also the support groups and help lines are useful.” ƒ “I have, in all my years as a carer, had full support from fostering services.” ƒ “We have an excellent support worker; in her absence the fostering team are very supportive. We are very pleased with the support we receive.” ƒ “There should be one member of the team available 7 days a week. Caring for kids isn’t Monday to Friday. Ringing other carers doesn’t fill me personally with confidence and peace of mind. As assessment carers caring for difficult 14-16 year old boys a full time service would give me more peace of mind.” North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 37 ƒ “Training is interesting and frequently offered at convenient times and with crèche services provided.”

p.36

EVIDENCE:

ƒ “I have excellent support from a service that feels like a big family. As with all families there are bad days and good day but everyone works hard to do the right thing for children and that’s the main support for me.”

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EVIDENCE:

Records and interviews showed that foster carers receive good levels of supervisions and unannounced visits take place at least yearly. In the case of one foster carer for the Chrysalis project, a gap in formal supervision from August to November 2006 was noted. There was evidence that regular meetings had taken place with the foster carer as part of the scheme’s usual way of working and an unannounced visit to the carers had taken place. The Chrysalis project should ensure that foster carers receive formal supervision on a regular basis to ensure they are adequately supported and equipped to fulfil their role.

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EVIDENCE:

The fostering service provides a range of good training for its foster carers. All parties consulted during the inspection said that carers get good training and foster carers said they value this training. Social workers confirmed this, one said, "All foster carers are assessed to a high standard, and now undertake good relevant training." Over 30% of the authority’s carers have either completed or are working towards NVQ level 3 in childcare and another 16 have other relevant qualifications. A group of carers have done a 10 week course of attachment training and the authority is planning to run this again. Carers are also offered training in life story work with children, and there are a range of mandatory training courses, including child protection, first aid and bullying, that carers must complete within their first year of approval and which then must be updated at periodic intervals. A range of training is

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EVIDENCE:

provided jointly with fostering social workers and children social workers and all parties said this is beneficial.

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EVIDENCE:

Foster carers for the Chrysalis project also receive good training opportunities and the Multi - Dimensional Treatment Foster Care Training is of good quality. Carers for this project are also expected to undertake mandatory training in their first year of approval. Some Chrysalis carers have been approved for nearly a year and have not yet undertaken all this mandatory training. Work should take place to ensure they receive this training as soon as possible.

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EVIDENCE:

The quality of LAC documentation in children’s social work files seen during the inspection was good, files seen contained all the appropriate LAC documentation and this was up-to-date and well completed. All long-term foster placements are matched through the fostering panel and a family finding file is established for this purpose. A file examined was well completed and contain detailed useful information to assist the matching process. The fostering service retains LAC documentation for children currently placed with foster carers on foster carers' files for ease of reference, and this information North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 38 to was complete and up-to-date. Miscellaneous records including foster carer records, panel records, records of allegations, complaints, training and so on are also well maintained and monitored.

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EVIDENCE:

The fostering service arranges assessments of family and friends carers promptly and effectively. Commendably, all family and friends assessments are completed to a stage in which they can be brought to panel within six weeks. At this point, initial approval is given and the assessment is brought back to panel at a later date if any additional checks or final work has been required. Children’s social workers record the reason the placement is required and the rest of the assessment form and all visits to the prospective carers are undertaken by the fostering social worker. The preparation to foster training is adapted specially for family and friends carers and provided by an experienced foster carer in their own home as soon as possible after their approval. Supervising social workers said that family and friends foster carers get good support, training and management. Case tracking during the

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EVIDENCE:

inspection and attendance at fostering panel confirmed the effective arrangements in this area and a social worker cited work carried out with family and friends carers and their assessment as one of the things the service does best to help promote good outcomes for children. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 39

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SCORING OF OUTCOMES

This page summarises the assessment of the extent to which the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services have been met and uses the following scale.

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SCORING OF OUTCOMES

4 Standard Exceeded (Commendable) 3 Standard Met (No Shortfalls) 2 Standard Almost Met (Minor Shortfalls) 1 Standard Not Met (Major Shortfalls) “X” in the standard met box denotes standard not assessed on this occasion “N/A” in the standard met box denotes standard not applicable

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SCORING OF OUTCOMES

BEING HEALTHY ACHIEVING ECONOMIC Standard No Score WELLBEING 12 3 Standard No Score 14 X STAYING SAFE 29 3 Standard No Score 3 3 MANAGEMENT 6 3 Standard No Score 8 3 1 3 9 3 2 X 15 3 4 X 30 4 5 X 16 4 ENJOYING AND ACHIEVING 17 4 Standard No Score 18 X 7 3 19 X 13 4 20 X 31 3 21 3 22 3 MAKING A POSITIVE 23 3 CONTRIBUTION 24 3 Standard No Score 25 3 10 3 26 X 11 4 27 X 28 X 32 3 North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 40 Are there any outstanding requirements from the last inspection? No

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STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Fostering Services Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS

No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action 1 FS15 20 The authority needs to ensure that recruitment practices in terms of seeking references for staff applicants for the Chrysalis fostering service are as robust as those employed for the main fostering service. 29/03/07

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RECOMMENDATIONS

These recommendations relate to National Minimum Standards and are seen as good practice for the Registered Provider/s to consider carrying out.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

No. Refer to Standard Good Practice Recommendations

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RECOMMENDATIONS

1 FS6 It is recommended that pet safety questionnaires be completed for situations in which foster carers have’ pets that may have welfare implications for children placed with them. 2 FS8 The service should ensure that the number of children placed with carers at one time do not exceed the space they have available or their experience and ability to care for the children. 3 FS7 The fostering service should ensure that any child with limited or no English receives the services of an interpreter at all important moments such as the arrival at a new foster carer’s home. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 41 4 FS10 The authority should give attention to how supervision of young people’s contact with their families can be staffed more consistently for the children concerned. 5 FS11 FS16 The authority should give attention to stabilising the staffing situation in the children’s social work teams to

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RECOMMENDATIONS

provide greater consistency for children. 6 FS22 The Chrysalis project should ensure that foster carers receive formal supervision on a regular basis to ensure they are adequately supported and equipped to fulfil their role. 7 FS12 FS23 Carers for the Chrysalis project should receive all their mandatory training including first aid as soon as possible. North Tyneside Fostering Service DS0000041537.V295296.R01.S.doc Version 5.2 Page 42

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Commission for Social Care Inspection

Cramlington Area Office Northumbria House Manor Walks Cramlington Northumberland NE23 6UR

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Commission for Social Care Inspection

National Enquiry Line Telephone: 0845 015 0120 or 0191 233 3323 Textphone: 0845 015 2255 or 0191 233 3588 Email: enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk Web: www.csci.org.uk © This report is copyright Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) and may only be used in its entirety. Extracts may not be used or reproduced without the express permission of CSCI

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