Young People At Heart

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 1 Young People At Heart Young People At Heart Limited 40 Rural Enterprise Centre, Vincent Carey Road, Rotherwas Industrial Estate, Hereford, Herefordshire HR2 6FE Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Young People At Heart is a privately owned independent fostering agency that is registered as a limited company. The agency was registered with Ofsted on 3 October 2019.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency offers short- and long-term, sibling, parent and child, and emergency placements. At the time of this inspection, there were 28 fostering households caring for 63 children. There is a permanent registered manager in post. He holds the level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers form close and trusting relationships with children. These relationships underpin the good progress that children make. In particular, children make excellent progress in developing their communication skills. One child has been able to disclose by text to their foster carer a traumatic event. As a result, this has enabled them to begin their journey of recovery. Another child who was unable to talk when he moved in with his foster carers is now able to do so. This is because of the support the foster carers have provided to him. This child has recently been able to tell his foster carers that he loves them for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Supervising social workers and managers are relentless when advocating for children. As a result, some children receive specialist support after waiting a long time. For one child, due to delay, the agency funded a mental health assessment for them. As a result, this child now has a diagnosis for which they receive specialist care. The fostering agency has continued to fund their aftercare and support. This is crucial for this child’s mental well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The fostering agency consults with children about their day-to-day experiences. Staff regularly complete a ‘day in your life’ form with them. This helps supervising social workers to understand children’s experiences. The agency then uses this information to make improvements in consultation with foster carers. Children take part in the training for foster carers. One child who contributed to the training said: ‘I felt really important.’ As a result, children feel they have a purpose, and this increases their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The fostering agency ensures that children receive equal opportunities. It funds swimming lessons for every child until they are able to swim. It also gives each child a bike when they first move in with their foster carers. This encourages children to develop healthy lifestyles through physical activity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support to remain living with their foster carers post-18. This has been a natural progression supported by the fostering agency. As a result, children develop strong attachments to their foster carers. They feel wanted and achieve stability. One social worker said: ‘There is genuine wraparound support for foster carers and children, I wish I could duplicate them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in education and employment. Foster carers provide highly individualised care to support children to reach their potential. For example, when one child moved in with his foster carers, he could not read. He is now expected to work towards his GCSEs at school. Foster carers also support children’s aspirations. One child wants to join the armed forces. Their foster carer has arranged for the child to visit their local military careers officer. This is to enquire about work experience with the armed forces. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 3 In general, placement stability is good. However, some matching of children to their foster carers has been poor. The agency does not always consider children’s ethnicity and cultural needs; nor are the skills and abilities of foster carers always fully considered. As a result, some children experience unplanned endings to their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

placements. The agency is taking action to improve their matching process. It has also undertaken coaching and reflection work with the staff team. This has helped the fostering agency to consider the impact of poor matching. However, the effectiveness of this is not yet known.

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

Staff and foster carers understand their safeguarding responsibilities. Foster carers report safeguarding concerns to the fostering agency in a timely way. They implement effective measures to keep children safe. When necessary, the fostering agency makes referrals to the designated officer, for example if there is an allegation.

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

Foster carers develop safer-care practice. They have safer-care plans which help everyone in the household to remain safe. These are thorough and updated when necessary. Children also have individual safer-care plans. Staff record these in a child-friendly format. As a result, children understand risk and what their foster carer will do to keep them safe.

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

Foster carers and staff work well with other professionals. For example, one foster carer discovered that their home address was known by a birth parent. This identified significant concern for a child’s safety. The foster carer immediately reported this to the child’s social worker and school. This coordinated approach ensured that the child remained safe.

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

Staff use a form of child and family therapy to help children and foster carers to feel connected. This is an excellent resource. During these sessions, staff video the interactions between foster carers and children. The video is then used to help foster carers reflect on how they engage with children. This valuable work helps foster carers to understand children’s needs. It also develops their understanding of how trauma can affect the children they care for.

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

Dedicated social work assistants complete life-story work with children. This work involves, when safe to do so, children’s parents and foster carers. This important work sensitively helps children to understand their journey into care. It also helps them to repair and strengthen relationships that are important to them.

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

Staff undertake unannounced visits to foster carers and children. However, it is not always clear in their recording whether staff speak to children alone. It is important that this is the case, so that children feel safe to talk about how they are being cared for. This includes feeling able to disclose any worries they may have. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 4 There are shortfalls in the safe recruitment of staff. As a result, managers do not know whether all staff employed by the fostering agency are safe to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The fostering agency places children’s welfare at the forefront of everything it does. The service helps children to achieve stability. Children make progress in all aspects of their development. This is because managers and staff have a good understanding of children’s needs. One foster carer said: ‘The agency is more like an extension of our family. That is key to us being able to self-care, enabling us to give our best care.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff provide foster carers with appropriate skills and knowledge. This includes a comprehensive training programme which staff update to support their development. Foster carers value this training and support. As a result, they are able to provide children with care pertinent to their needs. One foster carer said that their supervising social worker attended a course with them. This guidance and support enhances the good-quality care children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervising social workers meet regularly with foster carers. They also facilitate group support. This gives foster carers an opportunity to share with each other their experiences. Foster carers feel that this time is invaluable. Staff provide foster carers with supervision. These meetings provide foster carers with space to reflect on their practice. Staff record these sessions to a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Agency staff receive regular and good-quality supervision. However, the manager does not. He mainly attends peer supervision with other registered managers in the organisation. This does not help to inform his practice and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend social work practice forums facilitated by a team leader. The forums encourage staff to explore different topics of practice, such as annual reviews. They also provide staff with opportunity for reflection. The team leader incorporates learning from serious case reviews to encourage professional curiosity. As a result, staff know children and their foster carers well, including their vulnerabilities. This helps staff to identify and take any appropriate action to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers know and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the service. They have good monitoring systems in place. These include peer audits, which are very effective at identifying shortfalls in practice. However, leaders and managers do not have an effective development plan to address these shortfalls, nor to prevent them. For example, there is no structured analysis of unplanned endings; nor do they have an effective recruitment strategy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The fostering panel provides a high level of scrutiny and challenge. There is a high level of independence. Panel members are diverse in respect of skills and gender. However, there is a need to develop cultural diversity throughout the fostering service. The agency decision-maker provides clear, timely and reasoned decisions. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 5 This means that decisions are made without delay and in the children’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have not ensured that the foster carer agreement complies with regulation. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 6

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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

The registered provider and the registered manager must, having regard to—

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Requirement Due date

the size of the fostering agency, its statement of purpose, and the numbers and needs of the children placed by the fostering agency, and,

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Requirement Due date

the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children placed by the fostering agency,

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Requirement Due date

carry on or manage the fostering agency (as the case may be) with sufficient care, competence and skill. (Regulation 8 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that the skills and abilities of foster carers are fully considered when matching children to their placements. 26 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must not—

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Requirement Due date

employ a person to work for the purposes of the fostering service unless that person is fit to do so, or

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Requirement Due date

allow a person to whom paragraph (2) applies, to work for the purposes of the fostering service unless that person is fit to do so.

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Requirement Due date

This paragraph applies to any person who is employed, other than by the fostering service provider, in a position in which that person may in the course of their duties have regular contact with children placed by the fostering service.

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Requirement Due date

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

is of integrity and good character, 26 January 2022 Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 7 has the qualifications, skills, and experience necessary for the work they are to perform,

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Requirement Due date

is physically and mentally fit for the work they are to perform,

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Requirement Due date

and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to that person in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 1. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all staff who are employed by the agency are subject to the required recruitment checks.

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Requirement Due date

If a fostering service provider decide to approve X as a foster parent they must—

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Requirement Due date

enter into a written agreement with X covering the matters specified in Schedule 5 (the “foster care agreement”). (Regulation 27 (5)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that the foster carer agreement provided to foster carers by the fostering service meets regulation. 26 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that every effort is made to recruit foster carers who are able to meet children’s cultural and ethnic needs, as well as ensuring that the agency overall develops its knowledge and understanding of what it means to be culturally diverse. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 2.1)  The registered person should devise a development plan to address and prevent shortfalls in the service. This should cover how they intend to use consultation with children, foster carers and staff to drive forward improvement, as well as how they will recruit foster carers who can meet the needs of the children being referred to the agency. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 18.2)  Leaders should ensure that the registered manager receives clinical supervision by a qualified social worker to help inform his practice and development. ‘(Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 24.3)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 8

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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: Young People At Heart 9

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Young People At Heart Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 36 Rosslyn Park, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 9QZ

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: hello@youngpeopleatheart.org

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Inspectors

Sarah Berry, Social Care Inspector Suzanne Young, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Young People At Heart 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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