Vineyard Fostering

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 1 Vineyard Fostering

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Hart House, Kimpton Road, Luton, Bedfordshire LU2 0LB Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Vineyard Fostering is an independent fostering agency based in Luton. The agency was registered in December 2020. At the time of this inspection, the agency had two fostering households and was providing care for one child.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

There has been no registered manager since January 2022.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency was registered in December 2020. At the time of the inspection, the agency was supporting two fostering households and one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers ensure that referrals are carefully considered. They obtain up-to-date information about children’s needs and interests and match these with the foster carers’ skills and experience. They place a strong focus on how foster carers will meet children’s cultural and religious needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers feel well supported by the agency. They receive regular supervision that assists them to provide good-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers have established a positive relationship with the child and provide them with a sense of belonging in their family. The local authority social worker said that the child ‘is flourishing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers support the child’s education and learning. They have successfully advocated for additional tuition to support the child’s aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers have a good knowledge of the child’s physical and emotional health needs. They have supported the child to access the health services that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has been helped to maintain friendships and to take steps to rebuild family relationships. Foster carers encourage new friendships by supporting the child to access activities that they enjoy, such as football and attending church.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers are supporting the child to make good progress with learning English. The agency has ensured access to an interpreter when needed. This included giving the child an explanation of the complaints process.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers are supported to access training relevant to the needs of the child. This includes undertaking training to understand the trauma unaccompanied asylum seeking children may experience.

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

There have been no safeguarding incidents since the agency registered.

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

Foster carers have worked with other professionals to agree appropriate boundaries for the child to spend time outside of the home alone. This allows the child to enjoy some independence and offers the opportunity for conversations with the child about keeping themself safe. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 3 The manager has established a clear missing-from-home protocol. A detailed profile provides clear guidelines if the child goes missing. This ensures that important information is shared quickly with other professionals if needed.

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

An individual risk assessment is in place for the child. However, this does not identify the presenting risks related to road safety or online safety for the child. Consequently, there are no clear actions in place to reduce these risks.

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

The agency has implemented suitable processes for the safe recruitment of staff and panel members. However, one application form lacked the information required to enable full exploration of gaps in previous employment. Some recruitment files do not evidence that applicants’ Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates have been verified.

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

The agency carries out additional visits to foster carers when the carers have visitors staying at their home. They speak to the child and the family’s birth child alone. This provides an additional safeguarding measure.

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good

The previous registered manager left in January 2022. A manager has been in post since March 2022 and has applied to register with Ofsted. The acting manager brings relevant experience of fostering and children’s mental health and is undertaking the required level 5 qualification.

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good

The agency is suitably staffed for the number of registered households at the time of inspection. The agency is actively recruiting foster carers and is growing steadily. Recruitment of a supervising social worker is under way to help manage the increasing workload.

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good

Assessments of prospective foster carers are adequate. However, management decisions and the rationale for proceeding with assessments when important information is not available is not recorded on case files. The lack of case management during the assessment process increases the risk of poor decision- making.

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good

The agency has made recent changes to its foster panel. The panel now includes a diverse range of members with relevant experience. This offers additional scrutiny of new applicants. However, the panel minutes do not always clearly outline the rationale and recommendations from individual panel members. The agency decision-maker provides challenge and contributes to quality assurance of practice.

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good

The agency has established a programme of mandatory training for foster carers to complete in the first year of approval. Foster carers have training in safeguarding children and first aid. Foster carers have personal development plans. However, these plans do not prioritise training. As a result, foster carers have not undertaken all relevant training, such as radicalisation, in a timely way. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 4 Due to the small size of the agency, the supervision of the manager has been undertaken by the agency decision-maker. This arrangement does not ensure the agency decision-maker is objective when deciding an applicant’s suitability to foster. Supervision records for the manager are brief and unsigned. This adds to the overall lack of case management recording.

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good

The managers have a clear vision for the agency and a good understanding of areas for development. Management oversight of the service has been variable. Lessons have been learned from some earlier gaps in practice. As a result, managerial monitoring has recently improved and continues to embed as the service grows. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s safety and welfare are promoted in all fostering placements. In particular, risk assessments should identify the presenting risks and provide guidance for foster carers on how to reduce these. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 4.1)  The registered person should ensure that the written report on a person’s suitability to be approved as a foster carer sets out clearly all the information that the fostering panel and decision-maker need in order to make an objective approval decision. This specifically relates to ensuring that the agency decision- maker remains objective and does not have oversight of assessments prior to the outcome of fostering panel. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 13.7)  The registered person should ensure that records of panel meetings are accurate and clearly cover the key issues and views expressed by panel members and

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Recommendations

record the reasons for panel recommendation. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 14.7)  The registered person should demonstrate, including in written records, that they consistently follow good recruitment practice. In particular, ensure that an applicant’s history of employment contains the detail required to enable exploration of gaps in employment and that there is a record of DBS verification. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 19.2)  The registered person should ensure that foster carers’ personal development plans set out how they will be supported to undertake ongoing training and development that is appropriate to their development needs and experience. This specifically relates to ensuring plans are clear on the expectations of when training will be completed and to help foster carers prioritise relevant training. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 20.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a written record is kept by the fostering service detailing the time, date and length of each supervision held for each member of staff. The record should be signed by the supervisor and the member of staff at the end of the supervision. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 24.5)  The registered person should ensure that entries in records, decisions and reasons for them are legible and clearly expressed. In particular, the provider should ensure that decision-making by managers is clearly recorded on children’s and foster carers’ files. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 26.5) Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 6

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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: Vineyard Fostering 7

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: Hart House, Kimpton Road, Luton, Bedfordshire LU2 0LB

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Independent fostering agency details

Responsible individual: Henrietta Abraham

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: enquiries@vineyardfostering.co.uk

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Inspectors

Paula Edwards, Social Care Inspector Miquette Novella, Ofsted Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Vineyard Fostering 8 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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