Kasper

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 1 Kasper

p.1

Kasper Fostering, 79 Nelson Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1DX

p.1

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this independent fostering agency

This is a privately owned, not-for-profit fostering service. At the time of this monitoring visit, the agency provided support and supervision to 59 approved foster care households and 70 children in care. The provider states in the statement of purpose that the agency provides each child with the experience of a stable, caring and nurturing family environment, offering both short-term and long-term homes for children, including specialist provision for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, preparing children for adoption, and parent and child homes.

p.1

Information about this independent fostering agency

The current manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2020.

p.1

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.

p.1

This monitoring visit

This announced monitoring visit took place following a safeguarding incident being notified to Ofsted. The nature of the information provided raised concerns about shortfalls and missed opportunities in safeguarding practice. This was specifically with regard to the agency’s response to concerns relating to one child.

p.1

This monitoring visit

The monitoring visit focused on the child’s experiences while living with carers recruited by the agency, and any associated child protection incidents. Inspectors also reviewed the support and training provided to the child’s carers, and how new learning has been taken forward to improve safeguarding practice in the agency. This visit was conducted virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 2 The requirement made at the last full inspection in February 2019 was not assessed at this visit because of the specific focus of this monitoring visit.

p.1

This monitoring visit

The new registered manager has implemented a development plan to improve safeguarding practice, although this plan does not address all of the safeguarding shortfalls identified regarding the care of this child. A compliance notice has been issued for a review of management oversight of the placement, to identify learning from all safeguarding incidents during the time that the child lived with foster carers in the agency.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Safeguarding shortfalls date back to 2016, when concerns about the child’s behaviour began to emerge. An incident occurred involving the child presenting with problematic sexual behaviour (PSB) towards another child. This was not reported to the host local authority and was not escalated as a child protection incident. Although additional protective actions were put in by the agency, no specialised support was provided to the children involved in the incident.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The provider-led investigation found that the child’s behaviours had been regarded as normal, and seen as part of a range of complex behaviours. In hindsight, the managers accept that the incident in 2016 should have been reported as a safeguarding incident. This was a missed opportunity to protect the child and other children; had effective support been put in place, a further child protection incident might have been prevented.

p.2

This monitoring visit

In March 2020, a further safeguarding incident occurred involving the same child. As with the first incident, this was not reported to the host authority. Thus, no multi- agency strategy meeting was convened, and no subsequent investigation took place.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Managers and supervising social workers did not ensure that care plans provided the child’s foster carers with clear guidance to minimise risk; for example, arrangements for sleepovers and for unsupervised time in the local park were not robust. This means that the child, the carers and others were left vulnerable and at risk.

p.2

This monitoring visit

In July 2020, a child psychotherapist submitted an assessment report about the child’s PSB. The report contained a disclosure made by the child of further sexual contact relating to the incident in March 2020. The registered manager failed to notice this disclosure until she re-read the assessment in October 2020. This shortfall was identified by the registered manager during the monitoring visit.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Managers did not send the associated safeguarding notification to Ofsted within the required timescales. As a result, there was a delay in Ofsted’s scrutiny of the agency’s safeguarding actions in this case.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The registered manager and the supervising social workers generally assess how their foster carers can meet a child’s needs before a child is matched to a family. However, for one child’s placement, planning and matching documents for an in- house agency move failed to show sufficient attention to gaps in the foster carers’ Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 3 experience or any training requirements in order to meet the child’s specific needs. The assessing therapist provided some guidance to the carers. However, this lack of other important information hindered the foster carers in providing an environment that enabled them to keep the child, and others, safe. In addition, the child’s new foster carers had not completed PSB training or training around the child’s specific learning difficulties before joining the family.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Foster carers who spoke to inspectors said that they felt well supported by the agency. There were high levels of communication, including daily telephone calls between the carers and the supervising social workers when required. However, supervision records indicated a lack of professional curiosity about the lived experience of the child. Furthermore, some records reflected punitive care-giving, indicating a significant gap between the therapeutic model advocated and described in the agency’s statement of purpose and the care that the child actually received.

p.3

This monitoring visit

A secondary foster carer rarely attended supervision meetings, despite increasing risks and the emerging relationship breakdown between the carers and the child. The registered manager acknowledged a failing in the standard of care, but this has not been addressed.

p.3

This monitoring visit

The foster carers installed two sensor cameras within the home to provide an extra level of supervision. This did not form part of the foster carers’ safer care plan, nor does the agency have a policy around CCTV or camera use. This means that the managers cannot be confident that the camera’s use is within regulatory guidelines and that the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s right to privacy. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 4

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

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

p.4

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

p.4

Requirement Due date

the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children placed by the fostering agency, carry on or manage the fostering agency (as the case may be) with sufficient care, competence and skill. (Regulation 8 (1)(a)(b)) 20 February 2022

p.4

Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must provide foster parents with such training, advice, information and support, including support outside office hours, as appears necessary in the interests of children placed with them. (Regulation 17 (1)) 20 February 2022

p.4

Requirement Due date

If any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 7 takes place in relation to a fostering agency, the registered person must without delay notify the persons or bodies indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 36 (1)) 20 February 2022

p.4

Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must take all reasonable steps to ensure that no child placed with a foster parent is subject to any measure of control, restraint or discipline which is excessive or unreasonable. (Regulation 13 (2)(b))

p.4

Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that foster carers record episodes of the restraint of children and young people in sufficient detail, so that the fostering agency is assured that the restraint practice was reasonable and safe. 20 February 2022

p.4

Requirement Due date

*This requirement is subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 5

p.4

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each approved foster carer has regular meetings with a qualified social worker and that this also includes secondary approved foster carers at regular intervals. Meetings should have a clear purpose and provide the opportunity to supervise the foster carer’s work, ensure that the foster carer is meeting the child’s needs, taking into account the child’s wishes and feelings, and offer support and a framework to assess the carer’s performance and develop their competencies and skills. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 21.8)  The fostering service should only suggest foster carers to local authorities as a potential match for a child if the foster carer can reasonably be expected to meet the child’s assessed needs. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 15.1)

p.5

Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor agency practice in response to recent safeguarding concerns.

p.5

Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 6

p.5

Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 79 Nelson Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1DX

p.6

Inspectors

Anne-Marie Davies, Social Care Inspector Stephen Collett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Kasper 7 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.

p.6

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7