Chrysalis Consortium Ltd

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 1 Chrysalis Consortium Ltd Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 48 Wolstenholm Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield S7 1LL Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

This privately owned independent fostering agency provides therapeutic foster placements for children who have experienced trauma and/or abuse and may have attachment difficulties.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency offers short- and long-term placements. It also offers emergency, bridging, task-focused, child and parent, and respite placements.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency currently supports 24 children in 24 fostering households, with 43 approved foster carers.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The manager was registered in December 2014.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020. An assurance visit was carried out on 24 and 25 November 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The independent fostering agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 27 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individual needs are met to a high standard. They are making exceptionally good progress and continue to thrive. Children have secure and trusting relationships with their foster carers, which promotes their sense of safety and well-being. Unplanned endings are rare. Children benefit from living in stable and well-supported foster homes, some of which have led to permanence. Ten children have lived with their foster carers for more than five years, and two children have lived with their foster families for 10 years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel loved and cared for by their foster carers. They feel treated as part of the family. Comments from children about life with their foster carers include:  ‘They love me and they care for me every day.’  ‘Life is good. I’m enjoying it and if [foster carers] lost their jobs and even in the toughest of times, they will provide for me.’  ‘They do what is best for the child and think about their needs.’  ‘I’m grateful for my room.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s interests, talents and hobbies are supported by foster carers and the agency. Although these have been limited by the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, foster carers have done what they can to engage children in activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are valued. The children and their achievements were celebrated at the recent annual awards event that was facilitated by the agency by video link. The surprise pizza delivery to each foster family on the day of the event with compliments from the agency and the box of treats for the children with their awards added a special touch to the successful and memorable evening.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency supports foster carers to meet children’s physical, emotional and mental health needs. The agency uses approved models of therapy with children, and these are tailored to meet the children’s individual needs. The agency works with a range of professionals effectively, which provides a protective and motivated team around the child. Foster carers use the agreed methods of therapeutic parenting and nurture to care for the children. The agency’s extensive work on mental health and well- being helps the children, foster carers and staff to seek advice and support without judgement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers promote the importance of education in the children’s lives, which helps the children to prosper. As a result, children experience high levels of school attendance, which is 95% and above. Children are making good progress from their starting points, and some children are exceeding expectations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency’s education consultant has very good partnerships with the schools and other agencies. The education consultant offers an exceptionally good, broad range Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 3 of informal, formal and creative support to ensure that children continue to learn. She ensures that any barriers to children’s learning are overcome without delay, so that children can learn and achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency supports foster carers to help children to grow up into independent young adults, while at the same time protecting their vulnerabilities. The ‘Staying put’ and ‘Shared lives’ arrangements are actively promoted by the agency, which support children after they reach 18. This provides the young adults with a strong message that they remain valued members of the family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers promote and facilitate the time that children spend with their families and other significant people. This supports children’s cultural heritage and keeps them connected to their friends and important people in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The engagement and inclusion work that the agency has engaged fostering families in has gained in momentum. This has been led by the inclusion and engagement manager to an exemplary standard. This provides a stronger connection between the agency, children, foster carers and birth children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An abundance of resources has been shared with the fostering households by the agency. The bright, colourful and child-friendly information raises awareness about equality matters, mental health, competitions and book-club and includes entertaining material to stimulate children’s thoughts about topical issues. A social media platform that some children are piloting for the agency is a particularly creative and safe way for children to communicate with the agency through the agency’s electronic recording system.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency welcome new foster carer applicants. They are supported through the timely assessment process. Careful matching of foster carers with children contributes significantly to the stability of children with their foster carers.

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

Children can identify trusted adults whom they can talk to about any worries or concerns that they may have. Their concerns are taken seriously and they are responded to appropriately.

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

Children benefit from having foster carers who work with many different agencies to keep children safe from harm. Foster carers implement the agreed safeguards effectively to protect children from the risks of social media, bullying, self-harm and missing from care. Individualised risk assessments and safer care plans are up to date. They provide clear strategies that help foster carers to care for the children safely.

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

The internet safety work that the agency introduced several months ago is fully embedded in children’s risk management plans. Some really good work has been Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 4 done to ensure that open discussions take place with the children about internet safety to ensure that they understand the risks and stay safe on line.

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

On the rare occasions when children have gone missing, they experience a well- coordinated response. This includes in-depth return home interviews that have been carried out by the children’s and the agency’s social workers. This ensures that the reasons for children leaving home without authority are understood, and the measures taken prevent children from going missing again.

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

Foster carers have a very good knowledge and understanding of trauma, attachment and adverse childhood experiences. They have a clear grasp of the children’s past trauma and how this can affect their complex behaviours. The relevant therapeutic parenting training, clear strategies and support to foster carers is highly effective. This is helping the children to regulate their emotions. This leads to children feeling safer and more settled.

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

Physical intervention is hardly used, but when it has taken place the records are properly scrutinised by the agency. This ensures that the interventions are safe and proportionate.

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

The agency has delivered safeguarding training to foster carers, helping them to recognise and respond to the concerns and safeguard children. This includes topics such as child sexual and criminal exploitation and radicalisation. Health and safety checks at foster carers’ homes are carried out at regular intervals. This ensures that children live in safe homes. Unannounced visits are carried out by the agency social workers remotely and by video link, which provide additional safeguards for children.

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

Allegations against foster carers are referred promptly to all relevant agencies, including the designated officer and Ofsted. Safeguards are implemented promptly to protect children from making allegations of harm. Alongside the agency, an independent organisation provides foster carers with impartial guidance and support, should they need it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are highly aspirational for children and they promote a nurturing and a child-focused culture. The agency is an exceptionally good advocate for foster carers, who in turn act as strong advocates for the children. Overall, the agency has made significant improvements since the last full inspection and is on an upward trajectory of improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency continues to promote a supportive and learning environment for everyone who is involved with the agency. The leaders and manager’s presence at provider meetings enables good practice to be shared. The therapeutic parenting model is embedded within the agency and foster carers’ practice. Tried and tested therapeutic models are promoted by leaders, managers and staff, who share their Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 5 vast knowledge and experience combined. This ensures that children’s progress and experiences continue to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency’s commitment to promoting anti-racism and equal opportunities has gathered momentum within the culture of the organisation. The manager’s involvement as the chairperson of the anti-racist working party is going from strength to strength. The work of the group was listed recently in the report on anti- racism in social work activities across the UK. It has elevated the agency’s involvement in the group as one that role models good practice that is worthy of dissemination to other organisations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Significantly improved monitoring and quality assurance systems help the agency to have a clearer oversight of the support to foster carers and the impact that the service delivery has on the children’s progress and experiences. Leaders and managers have a firmer grip on the strengths and areas of improvement of the agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A weakness in the management oversight of the recruitment practices exposes a vulnerability for the agency. A gap in a social worker’s employment history has not been identified and explored by managers. The agency has not evidenced that it has seen the copies of professional qualifications. The full start and leaving dates are not recorded in the application forms consistently. The managers carrying out staff recruitment tasks would benefit from safer recruitment training. This is an issue that the provider has undertaken to address.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Foster carers praised the quality of training, supervision and support from the agency. Foster carers reported that the agency has a family feel, describing the support from the agency as ‘very good’, and ‘they are absolutely brill’. Some foster carers have missed the face-to-face support groups, but they understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has been the cause of this limitation. All foster carers were sent ‘self-care kits’ in the post that consisted of face masks, hand cream, tealights, coffee, tea and chocolate. These acts of kindness serve to remind foster carers about how much they are valued by the agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The social workers are very knowledgeable and confident practitioners. They have a very good insight into the fostering families. The social workers confirmed that they hold manageable caseloads, have regular supervision, including external therapeutic supervision as appropriate, attend meetings and keep up to date with current knowledge and research. They champion aspects of the agency’s work, which focuses on their skills. One social worker said, ‘I have really learned a lot… It has been a big learning curve.’ The agency will be recruiting new staff to replace the staff who are due to leave soon. The impact of the staff changes on children and their foster carers has been minimal.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The fostering panel is experienced and decisive and operates effectively. The panel process promotes safe, secure and stable placements for children. The reasons for panel recommendations are clearly recorded, and the next steps are explained to Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 6 applicants accurately. The recommendation that was made at the assurance visit has been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals, including commissioners, spoke very highly about the services provided by the agency. Professionals said that the agency has, ‘absolutely fantastic foster carers’ and is an ‘absolutely superb provider’ that has ‘upped their game’. Most rated the communication highly and confirmed that effective working practices take place to meet the children’s needs and plans. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 7

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a person is not fit to work for the purposes of a fostering service unless that person—

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Requirement Due date

(c) is physically and mentally fit for the work they are to perform, and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to that person in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that documentary evidence of any relevant qualification is maintained for all employees and a full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment. (Regulation 20(c)) 02/08/2021

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Requirement Due date

(4) The fostering service provider must ensure that all persons employed by them—

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Requirement Due date

(a) receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers involved in staff recruitment receive safer recruitment training. (Regulation 21(4)(a)) 02/08/2021

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 8

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 48 Wostenholm Road, Sheffield S7 1LL

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: admin@chrysalisconsortium.co.uk

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 9 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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