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Liverpool City Council Fostering Service Inspection report for la fostering agency

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SC041546 Unique reference number 8 January 2008 Inspection date Sharon Lloyd / Sue Winson Inspector Random Type of Inspection

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Liverpool City Council Address Housing & Consumer Services Directorate Millennium House

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LIVERPOOL L1 6JQ 0151 233 6806 Telephone number

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Email

Liverpool City Council Registered person James Clarke Registered manager James Clarke Responsible individual 26 June 2007 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 8 Inspection Report: Liverpool City Council Fostering Service, 8 January 2008

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Brief description of the service

Liverpool City Council's fostering service provides a range of placements for children and young people who are unable to live at home with their families for short or long periods. It is responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are fostered. The service operates from council offices known as Parklands in Speke, approximately eight miles from Liverpool city centre, however, meetings with foster carers and children take place in centrally located council premises. A principal officer leads the service and is assisted by three team leaders and approximately 40 social work and support staff. The fostering service works closely with the safeguarding unit and other local authority (LA) and health services including education and leisure services.

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Summary

Not all key standards were assessed. The inspection focused on the breaches in regulations that were identified in the key inspection report of 26 June 2007. 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

All of the five actions raised as a result of the key inspection of June 2007 have been addressed and new systems and documentation have been introduced to improve the service delivery in these areas. However, there has been insufficient time to determine how effective some of the new procedures are, and their impact on the children is not yet evident. In some cases, the new systems have not yet been fully implemented. Recommendations raised in the last inspection report were not followed up and therefore have been repeated. They will be reviewed at the next inspection.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Improved arrangements for obtaining and providing consent to medical and dental treatment enable children to receive the treatment they need without delay. However, files are not kept sufficiently up to date to demonstrate this. The procedure is under further review and an improved system has been devised and is planned to be introduced in April 2008. Children's health is promoted and any health problems are identified and addressed. Good systems are in place to ensure that children receive initial and annual health assessments and regular dental check-ups.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. To ensure children move to a suitable long term placement without undue delay, exemptions and variations to foster carers' approval status are being closely monitored and regularly reviewed. Improved systems ensure that children who are in short term or emergency placements sleep on a full sized bed in a bedroom. However, records do not show that the child's needs are considered in determining the placement. For example, the exemption or variation to approval documentation does not always show that the foster carers' skills and experience are 4 of 8 Inspection Report: Liverpool City Council Fostering Service, 8 January 2008 taken into account in before the child is placed, nor does it always show the date the placement was originally made or how any additional demands on the family are to be met. Children's safety and wellbeing are promoted through the provision of appropriately experienced and

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

knowledgeable panel members. However, the service could not demonstrate within its records that personal references have been obtained on all panel members. Children's safety is promoted by good staff selection and vetting procedures. Staff files are well kept and contain all the required information. This demonstrates that staff who work for the service are deemed suitable to work with children. Although new procedures are in place to monitor all disrupted placements, these are not yet working sufficiently well to provide the service with valuable information that can be used to prevent further placement breakdowns for children. For example, referral is made to an independent reviewing officer to chair a disruption meeting where children's permanent placements break down after three months or more. However, evidence available did not demonstrate this system working in practice. Disruptions that occurred unexpectedly

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

in October 2007 had not been reviewed 10 weeks later. There was no evidence of referral for review contained in the confidential records available for inspection, because of this, the service is not able to formally review the support it gave to the foster carers and consider any improvements in practice that may be necessary. The service is, however, working more closely with the placing social work teams so that where there is concern that a child is having difficulties in a placement, additional support can be provided to avoid the child having to move in an emergency.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The quality of care provided to children is monitored and reviewed through regular meetings between the management team and their partners within the LA. Information obtained enables the management team to have a clearer view of the effectiveness of the service in meeting children's needs. Practice is reviewed and updated to further improve the quality of care provided to children. Foster carer and staff files are audited by managers and the management team have oversight of annual foster carer reviews. This enables managers to determine how well the placements are meeting children's needs. No report is available that provides information showing how all the matters listed in Schedule 7 of the Fostering Services Regulations are monitored.

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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. 5 of 8 Inspection Report: Liverpool City Council Fostering Service, 8 January 2008

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Due date Action Standard

31 March 2008 monitor and evaluate all unplanned placement endings so that information gathered can be used to improve the quality of the fostering service and reduce the number of placement moves for children (Fostering Service Regulations 2002, 42) 31 March 2008 prepare a report in respect of the matters outlined in Schedule 7 and make this available to Ofsted at the next inspection (Regulation 42).

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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 all managers, staff, foster carers and children clearly understand the policy on the use of restraint in foster care (NMS 20) • establish closer working with the social work teams so that foster carers routinely have the opportunity to contribute to the child's Personal Education Plan (NMS13) • make the children's guide more concise and publish it in different forms so that all children who use the service can easily access and understand it (NMS 1) • ensure the premises used for the fostering service are clean and safe (NMS 26) • approve carers to take children on temporary assessment placements according to their skills and competencies and ensure this is recorded on their terms of approval (NMS 8) • ensure that copies of consent to medical treatment are held on children's confidential files

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Recommendations

(NMS 12) • include written evidence to show that the foster carers' skills and experience are taken into account and any additional support needed is identified on the variation to approval documentation (NMS 8) • ensure that the date of a child's placement with the foster carers is recorded on the variation to approval documentation (NMS 25) • include either a copy of personal references or a statement verifying that personal references have been seen by a manager, are satisfactory and are held on the human resources files on staff and panel members' locally held files (NMS 25). 6 of 8 Inspection Report: Liverpool City Council Fostering Service, 8 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) 7 of 8 Inspection Report: Liverpool City Council Fostering Service, 8 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. 8 of 8 Inspection Report: Liverpool City Council Fostering Service, 8 January 2008

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