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, short-break and ‘staying put’ placements.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

At the time of the inspection, the agency had 39 fostering households providing care for 39 children and young people.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2014.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: 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 are supported to build trusted and secure relationships with their foster families. Foster carers know the children well and are committed to providing high- quality care that helps children to recover from their childhood trauma. This enables children to have positive experiences and make significant progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cherished by their foster carers and are an integral part of their foster family’s lives. Foster carers speak very proudly of the children in their care and are proactive in celebrating children’s achievements. Children are involved in family celebrations and activities. This helps children to develop a strong sense of belonging and of feeling valued, and most children experience increased placement stability due to this. When children have had to move, this has been managed by the carers and the agency in a sensitive and child-centred way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is careful consideration and planning by the agency before a child is welcomed into a new foster family. Management oversight of decisions relating to whether a foster carer can provide a child with the care they need is robust. Foster carers, along with the supervising social worker and the placing social worker, are consulted as part of the decision-making process. This helps to prevent children from moving in with foster carers who cannot meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s right to receive education is highly valued by the agency and foster carers. There are strong working relationships between the agency and education providers, and this helps children to access appropriate education and make progress with their learning. One headteacher described a particular child’s education journey and how, with support from the agency and collaborative working, the child’s school attendance is now ‘excellent’. The child is proud of their work, has made friendships with peers and has enjoyed attending school residential stays and trips to the theatre. When children are struggling with education due to the trauma they have experienced, the agency’s education consultant and clinical lead will help to support education providers to view the child’s needs and behaviours through a therapeutic lens. This helps to put strategies in place to support the child with their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of children’s physical health and emotional well-being is deeply championed by everyone in the agency. Foster carers ensure that children have access to universal and specialist health services, and they support children to attend all appointments. Foster carers and children have access to the agency’s therapeutic service, which helps children to make progress with their emotional needs. Moreover, the supervising social workers and foster carers receive training in the models of therapeutic care employed by the agency. One foster carer said that through the training and support the agency has provided they have been ‘empowered to provide the therapeutic care my foster children need, creating an environment where they can heal and grow’. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 3 Children have opportunities to take part in a range of activities organised by the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

agency. This not only helps children to experience fun activities but also helps them to develop new friendships. In addition, the agency hosts an annual award ceremony. This is a well-organised event where the agency staff, foster carers and children come together to celebrate children’s achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by their foster carers to stay connected with their parents and siblings in line with their care plan. When children wish to resume contact with their parents, the agency works alongside the child, foster carer, supervising social worker and placing social worker. This is to assess whether this is in the child’s best interests, and if so, how the relationship between the child and their parents can be safely promoted. This supports children to maintain or rebuild relationships with those who are important to them.

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

The relationships between the children and their foster carers are strong and help children to feel safe. In addition, children have access to a range of trusted adults they can talk to outside of their foster family about any worries they may have. This includes supervising social workers and an independent advocate.

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

Children’s individual safe care plans and their risk assessment and behaviour support plans are easy to understand and detail children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. They are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain accurate and are updated in response to any changes. These plans help foster carers to understand how to manage risks effectively and safeguard children in their care.

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

The number of incidents of children going missing from home is low. When a child goes missing, the agency and foster carers follow the child’s individual missing-from- care plan to ensure the safe return of the child. Foster carers are proactive in searching for children until they are found. For one child, close partnership working between the agency, the foster carers and the placing social worker has resulted in the child no longer going missing from home.

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

Children are physically held as a last resort and only when necessary to keep the child or others safe from harm. Foster carers are trained in de-escalation techniques and how to hold children safely. When children are held, foster carers contact the out-of-hours service and complete an incident report. This helps to promote transparency. There is good management oversight of these incidents, and this helps to support learning and identify any additional support the child or foster carers may need.

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

The agency’s response to allegations made in respect of foster carers is good. All allegations are responded to quickly, and appropriate steps are taken by the agency to ensure that the child is safeguarded and supported. The agency ensures that relevant professionals and agencies, including Ofsted, are notified. Alongside this, foster carers who are subject to an allegation are provided with appropriate support. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 4 Following the conclusion of an allegation of harm being made or concerns being raised about standards of care, foster carers are returned to the fostering panel in a timely way. Where appropriate, foster carers are deregistered, and referrals are made to the Disclosure and Barring Service. This prevents unsuitable adults from being able to care for children.

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

Annual health and safety assessments of foster carers homes, along with unannounced visits by the supervising social workers, ensure that children live in safe, well-maintained and nurturing home environments.

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

The process for the recruitment of foster carers, staff and panel members meets regulatory requirements. The assessment of prospective foster carers is thorough and subject to quality assurance checks by the fostering panel advisor and the fostering panel. The fostering panel holds detailed discussions about the approval of carers, which are clearly recorded. Both the panel chair and agency decision-maker are suitably qualified and experienced. This helps to ensure that adults who have the right skills and motivation to care for children are recruited by the agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide an ethical organisation that is focused on providing high-quality care that results in positive outcomes for children. The registered manager and responsible individual know the service well and are ambitious for children. They have high expectations of themselves, their staff and the foster carers and have a clear vision for the agency. They have good oversight of the agency, know the children and foster families well and can identify the progress that children are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have made positive improvements to the service. For example, they have taken a proactive approach to promoting equality and diversity within the agency. Through a program of racial equity work, they have embedded this by raising awareness through training, newsletters and diversifying the books provided to foster carers and children. This not only helps to promote tolerance but also assists staff and foster carers to support children with their cultural identity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The therapeutic model employed by the agency is embedded across the organisation. Leaders and managers ensure that staff and foster carers complete training in the model of care provided and have access to training in respect of the therapeutic models used. This has created a genuinely therapeutic community where everyone recruited by the agency works cohesively to make a positive difference to children’s lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The training offer for staff and foster carers is substantial and is in line with the statement of purpose. In addition, bespoke training is available, sometimes at short notice, to staff and foster carers to enable them to understand and meet the specific needs of individual children. Staff and foster carers spoke positively about the quality of training provided. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 5 Staff are very proud to work for the agency and feel supported by the registered manager and responsible individual. The staff work cohesively as a team and have a sense of shared ownership about their practice and the ethos of the agency. They said that they have confidence in the leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The relationship between the foster carers and the agency is exceptional. Feedback received from foster carers about the support and training they receive from the agency is overwhelmingly positive. One fostering household said that the support they receive ‘leaves us feeling confident, educated, safe, respected, valued and capable’. Another foster carer stated that the support their foster child and they have received has ‘resulted in a scared, angry boy becoming a confident, wonderful, well-achieving young man’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak very highly of the agency and describe a close and collaborative working relationship. One social worker described the agency offer as ‘top tier’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers regularly review the quality of care provided to evaluate the impact the service is having on children’s lives. However, they have not provided the regulator with full information in respect of such reviews. This prevents the regulator from having oversight of the safety and well-being of children and of the agency’s discharge of its regulatory responsibilities. Furthermore, the statement of purpose and children’s guide are kept under review by leaders and managers. However, they have not been sent to the regulator in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, case records reflect children’s lives and the work that is carried out with them. However, not all records are written in a manner that is meaningful or helpful for children. In addition, more could be done by leaders and managers to ensure that children, where appropriate, are supported to contribute to their records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not consistently notified the regulator of significant events in a timely manner. Although this has had no impact on children’s safety, it prevents the regulator from being able to assess in a timely way if the actions taken by the agency to safeguard children are appropriate. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 6

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 at appropriate intervals, and

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Requirement Due date

improving the quality of foster care provided by the fostering agency.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide the Chief Inspector with a written report in respect of any review conducted for the purposes of paragraph (1) and, on request, to any local authority. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)) 1 February 2025

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Requirement Due date

keep under review and, where appropriate, revise the statement of purpose and children's guide, and

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Requirement Due date

notify the Chief Inspector of any such revision within 28 days.

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that information about the child is recorded clearly and in a way that will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future. Children are actively encouraged to read their files, other than necessarily confidential or third-party information, and to correct errors and add personal statements. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 26.6)  The registered provider should have a system in place to notify, within 24 hours, persons and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with regulation 36. The system should include what to do when a notifiable event arises at the weekend. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 29.1) Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 7

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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.

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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, Nether Edge, Sheffield S7 1LL

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: admin@chrysalisconsortium.co.uk

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Inspector

Shirin Khan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Chrysalis Consortium Ltd 8 regulates and inspects 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 looked-after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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