Setting

Essex Local Authority Fostering Services Inspection report for la fostering agency

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SC042083 Unique reference number 31 March 2008 Inspection date Kristen Judd Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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Essex County Council Address Social Services PO Box 297 CHELMSFORD CM1 1YS 08457 430430 Telephone number christine.hill@essexcc.gov.uk Email Essex Learning Services Registered person

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Registered manager

Christine Hill Responsible individual 11 December 2006 Date of last inspection .

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Registered manager

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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Registered manager

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 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008

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Brief description of the service

Essex Fostering Service is a service responsive to the needs of children who require a family placement. The newly restructured service operates from four teams covering different geographical regions of the county with a separate recruitment team. Services provided include respite care, short-tem placements and kinship as well as long-term placements.

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Summary

This was an announced key inspection, which assessed the service's performance against all the key National Minimum Standards (NMS). The overall judgment is based on the outcomes of the standards inspected. The service provides a good standard of practice in enjoying and achieving and positive contribution. 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

There were two previous requirements made, from the last inspection, one with regard to pre employment checks. There remain some issues regarding the checks being completed prior to staff commencing employment. As such a new requirement has been made. A requirement was made in relation to carers training, however, relevant information could not be accessed to evidence individual training of carers. As such a new requirement has been made.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. The fostering service generally promotes the health of the children and young people. Background health information is provided at the time of placement, using essential information forms and placement agreement forms to ensure medical needs are identified and consent is recorded for routine medical care. Staff indicate that at times children have arrived for short-term placements without sufficient information about their health care. In such situations, supervising social workers support carers in obtaining any missing information. Carers say that children have access to medical services that they require. Carers confirm that children are registered with the local General Practitioners (GP) and have access to optical and dental services as well as specialised health services if required. Carers understand their role in health promotion and support children in attending health care appointments. Supervising social workers routinely

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Helping children to be healthy

check that the health needs of children are met during visits to foster carers. Carers have access to first aid training, but do not receive basic training prior to becoming carers this potentially reduces the overall quality of health care provided to children in foster care.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. The fostering service is managed by suitably qualified and experienced staff. Those responsible for managing the service have all been subject to the local authorities' recruitment and vetting procedures. The service ensures that carers provide accommodation which is comfortable, appropriately furnished and generally suitable for the needs of the children. Comments received from supervising social workers together with the records of carers’ approvals and household 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008 reviews, demonstrate that the service provides safe, healthy and nurturing foster homes. The assessment process includes the appropriateness of prospective carers' homes, including a health and safety checklist, which is reviewed as part of the annual unannounced visit. However, where carers provide respite for other carers there is evidence that there are not consistently

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

adequate checks being undertaken to ensure that the accommodation is suitable or that the placements are in line with the carer’s approval. This means that potentially placements may be made that could be considered unsuitable to meet a child's need. The service has procedures in place for matching children with prospective carers. The central placement team matches all planned placements, whilst respite care arrangements are organised by social workers and the emergency duty team (EDT) has responsibility for emergency, out of hour’s placements. The placement team liaises with the supervising social worker prior to agreeing a placement to ensure that the placement is deemed suitable. The service shares information with carers to make sure they are well prepared to care for the children. Information on matching is recorded on the carers' files. Children are matched with a carer who is capable of meeting their assessed

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

needs. The fostering service works to protect children from abuse and neglect. Child protection matters are covered in Skills to Foster training. Carers and social workers are supported by a clear policy on child protection procedures, giving good guidance about how to respond to cases of suspected or reported abuse. Child protection incidents are recorded clearly. However, the instigation and outcome of child protection incidents are not consistently reported to Ofsted. The service has taken immediate action to remedy this issue. The service takes allegations made against carers seriously. Carers are provided with support during any investigations. However, there are often long delays before strategy meetings are held and before investigations are completed. This has the potential to put children at risk and is stressful for both the children and foster carers. As part of the initial assessment, foster carers are provided with safe caring

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

guidelines. However, the guidelines are general and are not specific to the household or the young person placed. Where guidelines on safe caring are not completed for each fostering household may impact on the care provided. Foster carers are aware of their role in reporting any significant issues relating to the welfare and safety of any child. In addition, they are provided with information on acceptable forms of discipline and this is known and understood by them. Information and guidance relating to bullying, and children missing from placements are in place. Children are generally protected by the local authorities’ recruitment procedures. The service is implementing a system to highlight when Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) are due for renewal. Supervising social workers are currently responsible to check when the foster carers CRB checks are due, however, records indicate that some checks are outside the three year

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

period. Staff files evidence some gaps, for example, where references are sent by e-mail it lacks verification and new staff commencing work prior to clear CRB checks in place. Such practice reduces the robustness of the systems in place. Appropriate arrangements are in place to enable the fostering panel to make good quality decisions about foster carers. Clear, written policies and procedures are in place covering the operation of the fostering panel and the chair confirms that these are implemented in practice. Foster carers are provided with information about the panel on how they operate. Panel members are subject to a robust vetting procedure and receive training appropriate to the task. The records of fostering panel meetings are clear and provide evidence that assessments and reviews of approval receive thorough consideration. The panel includes experienced and qualified members, including medical and educational

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

expertise. The service's foster panel is well organised and effectively ensures good quality decisions are made about carers. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The service recognises and acknowledges the importance of diversity and difference. Children with disabilities have access to specially approved carers whose skills relate to providing care for children with disabilities. Training with regard to valuing difference and diversity is provided. Staff and carers value education and understand the role of the fostering service in helping children to achieve their potential. Children’s files contain Personal Education Plans that set out their educational needs and how they will be met by their schools and carers. Carers take an active role in encouraging children in education, for example, they attend school meetings as required. It provides support for children who are not in formal education and expects carers to take an active role in encouraging children in education. The service gives a high priority to meeting the educational needs of children. Policies and procedures are in place to meet the

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

needs of children receiving short term breaks. Primary responsibility for ongoing health and education needs remains with parents in these cases. The service has a well-established shared care service which offers short-term breaks on a planned basis.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. Children who live with foster carers have their contact needs identified. Individual files contain documented evidence of appropriate and consistent contact between young people in foster care placements and their birth families. There are examples of foster carers providing children with high levels of practical and emotional support to help them maintain contact with family members. Foster carers recognise the importance of contact for children and are aware of the need to monitor and record children's behaviour after contact. The fostering service makes sure that each child is encouraged to maintain contact. The fostering service ensures that children's opinions are sought over issues that affect their daily life. The service arranges opportunities such as activities and training events for young people and children which provide them with the opportunity to express their views. Records indicate that children are routinely

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Helping children make a positive contribution

seen by supervising social workers during foster carer's visits. Staff say that children's views are obtained during these visits. Some children spend time on their own with outreach workers and have the opportunity to express their views about particular issues. Children's views are obtained for foster carers' household reviews. The fostering service provides children with written information, including details of how to make a complaint and how to contact an independent advocacy service. Children confirm that they know how to make a complaint. The fostering service works effectively to ensure that carers are aware of the ways in which children can make complaints or raise any concerns that they may have. It is evident that the fostering service is committed to ensuring their Looked After Children in their care have the opportunity to be heard and listened to.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The Statement of Purpose dated 2006/2007 includes all the required details and provides an overview of the service. The children’s guide is in a DVD format and includes a range of useful 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008 information for children placed with foster carers. There is a written summary of the guide, however, it is not in line with regulation for example, there are no summary of the Statement of Purpose and no information about Ofsted. Additionally the format is not suitable for all age ranges or in a format to meet the needs of different groups of young people and children. Children are, therefore, not consistently provided with information about the service. There have been staffing issues since the previous inspection, however, following successful recruitment there are now an appropriate amount of staff within the service that have the

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Organisation

appropriate qualifications and experience to carry on and manage the fostering service. For example, supervising social workers and the managers have a relevant social work qualification and experience of working in a fostering service. Staff say that they are well supervised. Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and how the fostering service works. Records on files also reflect good communication. The managers and staff of the fostering service are organised and have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to provide a service. Following a recent restructure there is a dedicated recruitment team. The service has a clear plan to increase the number of foster carers in particular areas. Staff within the fostering service are experienced in completing assessments for prospective foster carers. Assessments undertaken include all the matters outlined in the Fostering Regulations. Any issues raised through interviews with

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Organisation

others are explored to ensure foster carers are suitable for the role of caring for children. Foster carers participate in training to prepare them for fostering. The service has qualified and experienced staff who recruit carers to meet the needs of the fostering service. The service offers support to carers in a variety of ways. Foster carers have support groups which are held at a variety of times and locations; out of hours support from the placement team and an emergency out of hours team is available during the evenings and weekends. There is also a respite scheme where carers can have planned breaks when required. There is a designated team to review all approved foster carers on an annual basis. Some reviews are out of date by several months. Additionally where reviews have been undertaken paperwork is not consistently completed and there are cases of carers receiving completed review forms some months after

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Organisation

the actual review. This results in a two to three month delay in presenting reviews to panel where appropriate. On examination of reviews there is a lack of feedback from children's social workers regarding previous placements, this problem is recognised by the reviewing team. Such information is particularly important when there is a breakdown of placement. Without accurate and up to date household reviews the suitability of foster carers can not be continually assessed, this potentially could affect the welfare of children in placement. First reviews are presented to panel, however, subsequent reviews evidence that where issues are raised during the household review they are not consistently referred to panel. For example, where a foster carer is not adhering to the service's policies and procedures. Where there are issues that questions the suitability of a foster carer, reviews should be referred to panel for further discussion to

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Organisation

ensure that all children are cared for by suitable foster carers. Foster carers receive visits from supervising social workers and the records of these visits are shared with the carers. Individual agreements are in place to reflect how often carers are supervised. However, visits are not consistently in line with the supervising agreement. Unannounced visits are conducted however they are not consistently on an annual basis. The unannounced visits report on health and safety issues as part of the annual check. Some of the records of the carer’s supervision are comprehensive and informative, however, some are extremely brief. Carer’s supervision and support may not be operating effectively. There is a training programme in place, and all foster carers receive pre-approval training. Where annual reviews are competed training needs are highlighted. However, the carer’s files and systems in place are not accurate and as such the

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Organisation

actual training that carers have undertaken could not be verified. Without accurate information 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008 it can not be determined whether foster carers are trained in the skills required to provide high quality care. The service keeps an appropriate range of administrative records containing information relating to carers and young people that are generally well retained and relevant to the running of the service. Separate case files are maintained for children and foster carers and these are generally well organised. The service ensures that confidential records and information are stored securely. However, there is evidence that documentation is not consistently signed and dated. Foster carers’ files contain the required details, including signed copies of Foster Care Agreements. Foster carers are provided with a written policy on record

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Organisation

keeping with set formats for maintaining relevant information. Carers understand and follow the procedure for recording different types of information about individual children. Central records of allegations, complaints and incidents are well maintained. The fostering service’s policies and procedures support its aim of providing kinship carers with the same level of support as other carers.

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Statutory requirements

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

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Due date Action Standard

30 April 2008 ensure that Ofsted is notified of the instigation and outcome of any child protection enquires involving a child placed by the fostering service provider (Regulation 12.2.c) 30 April 2008 ensure that appropriate necessary measures are in place to protect children placed with foster parents following an allegation. In particular ensure that strategy meetings are held promptly and that investigation of allegations against foster carers are undertaken without delay (Regulation 12.2.e) 30 April 2008 ensure that full and satisfactory information as specified in Schedule 6 is in place prior to staff commencing employment (Regulation 20.3) 31 August 2008 provide a written guide which shall include all aspects of the regulation (Regulation 3.3.a.b.c) 31 May 2008 ensure that foster carers receive appropriate supervision in line with their individual supervision agreements (Regulation 21.4.a) 30 June 2008 ensure that a review is conducted at intervals of not more than

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Due date Action Standard

one year which takes into account any previous placements and that a written report is prepared (Regulation 29.2.3.4) 30 April 2008 ensure where concerns are raised, refer reviews to panel for consideration. (Regulation 29.5) 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure that foster carers have basic training on health and hygiene and first aid (NMS 12.5) • provide guidelines to be followed for when carer to carer respite is arranged to ensure that carers remain in line with approval and that accommodation can meet needs and that children are assessed when they have to share (NMS 6.4.5) • provide safe caring guidelines for each foster home (NMS 9.3) • ensure that Criminal Records Bureau checks are renewed every three years (NMS15.4) • develop further the children’s guides to make it suitable for all ages and if necessary in different formats (NMS1.5) • ensure that foster carers receive an unannounced visit at least once a year (NMS 22.6) • develop a system to monitor and evidence the training that carers receive to develop their

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Recommendations

skills and tackle any weakness (NMS 23.5) • ensure records are signed and dated by the author. (NMS25) 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 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) 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 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. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Essex Local Authority Fostering Services, 31 March 2008

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