Fosterplus

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 1 Fosterplus Fosterplus Limited Jubilee House, 31 to 33 Meadow Lane, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 2FE Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency registered with Ofsted in 2008 and is owned by a private company. It offers a range of placements for children. These placements include respite, bridging, emergency, long- and short-term foster care placements and permanency for children. The agency also supports foster carers in providing placements for sanctuary-seeking children.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

At the time of this inspection, 54 children were being cared for in 46 fostering households.

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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: Fosterplus 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff, manager and foster carers prioritise children’s needs. They demonstrate a strong commitment to providing children with nurturing, family-centred care. Children are fully integrated into their foster families and quickly feel at home. This sense of belonging helps children feel safe and valued. One professional highlighted that foster carers are ‘fantastic’. Another said, ‘Carers go above and beyond.’ Consequently, children benefit from highly stable placements and make sustained progress in their foster homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are helped to remain with their foster carers in long-term placements, whenever possible. When children experience difficulties in their homes, there is strong multi-agency collaboration with a team of professionals around the child to identify and implement appropriate support strategies. When placements end unexpectedly, the foster carers and the agency advocate on behalf of the children. This ensures that their needs and views remain central to the decision-making process. The agency carries out a comprehensive, reflective review to analyse the reasons for the unplanned endings and ensure that any learning is used to strengthen practice and prevent reoccurrence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are ambitious and aspirational about their futures. The children engage in education. They are working towards achieving academic qualifications and actively exploring options for further education, including university. This reflects the high expectations and support provided by their foster carers and the fostering agency. Children engage in numerous after-school activities and hobbies. Foster carers understand the importance of these in developing a child’s social network and their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers and the agency are strong and proactive advocates for the children. They appropriately and confidently challenge other professionals to ensure that children receive the right support and services to help them make progress. Their determination helps secure positive outcomes, enabling children to thrive and reach their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s needs are accurately assessed before they are placed with foster families. The agency ensures that all necessary documentation is in place and has effective systems to follow up on any delays. Careful processes are followed to ensure that children are placed with carers who can meet their specific needs. Carers are actively involved in placement decisions. This helps them feel prepared and confident in welcoming children into their homes. Foster carers are confident that their views are heard if they do not feel the match is right for them or the child, and they feel this is something that is respected by the agency.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers feel well supported and valued by the agency. New carers, in particular, report that they have received a high level of guidance and assistance when joining the agency, which helps them feel confident and prepared for their role. Many carers Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 3 remain with the agency long term, reflecting the strong support, commitment and dedication provided by the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Support groups for foster carers provide a reflective and supportive space where carers feel safe to openly discuss their experiences. Carers value these sessions, and they say they feel heard, supported and appreciated. The agency seeks feedback from carers so that they can shape how these meetings support them to the maximum. Feedback from foster carers highlights the positive impact of these sessions in developing a sense of community among foster carers. However, not all carers are able to attend on a consistent basis. This is due to their location, meaning some miss out on valuable opportunities for support and peer connection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers report that the training available is beneficial. The feedback from some carers, who have been with the agency for a significant period, highlights that they feel the training programme is more tailored to newer carers.

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

When children raise concerns about foster carers, appropriate and timely action is taken. The fostering agency carries out a thorough standards of care investigation when required, and carers are subject to fostering reviews and fostering panel meetings. Children are provided with age-appropriate information about the actions taken in response to their concerns. This helps them feel heard and valued. However, on one occasion, concerns about a foster carer were not reported to Ofsted as required by regulation.

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

Children’s risks and vulnerabilities are understood by foster carers who take appropriate action to ensure their safety. Foster carers receive targeted training to assist them in caring for children effectively and managing potential risks. However, for one child with a known risk of ligature, the carer was not offered timely training on ligatures, meaning they may not know how to respond safely and appropriately should this risk present.

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

Children’s online safety is well understood and recorded by foster carers. However, for one child, the risk assessment was not robust enough to guide the foster carer on expectations around monitoring and recording the use of a tablet computer. Unfortunately for this child, it has meant they have been able to access inappropriate websites for their age. The foster carer did not record sufficient details about the monitoring taking place around internet safety.

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

The manager and social workers have a good understanding of the risks faced by children and the care required to keep them safe. The manager maintains a strong oversight of safeguarding incidents. This oversight is further strengthened by scrutiny from the quality assurance and safeguarding lead. Incidents of concern are widely shared across the service, developing a culture of learning and continuous improvement. This ensures that care practice consistently prioritises the safety and well-being of children. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 4 Foster carers do not regularly hold children. When children have been held by their carers to ensure everyone’s safety, these holds are low level and proportionate. Good managerial oversight has supported reflections about what could be done differently to prevent incidents from escalating. Foster carers are given the opportunity to meet again with the trainer to look at how to support the child at

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

When children go missing from their homes, foster carers take prompt and appropriate action to ensure their safety. Foster carers are supported by the agency in efforts to locate children and contact anyone who may have information about the child’s whereabouts. Relevant professionals and family members are informed as necessary. On return, children are spoken to about their reasons for going missing, ensuring that their experiences are understood and informing future safeguarding measures. Relevant documents are updated to ensure that they remain current to the children’s evolving needs.

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

Children’s voices are valued across the service. There is a clear and purposeful approach to promoting children’s participation in a range of activities and decision- making processes. The flexibility of a child participation officer allows children a safe and informal space to share their views outside of the traditional social work relationship. Children feel listened to by the agency and their foster carers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency has an efficient system for the recruitment of foster carers. A dedicated team can be creative in how it targets potential foster carers but also retains those already working for the agency. Foster carers are provided with a realistic picture of the potential challenges while celebrating them embarking on this journey.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has cultivated a culture of high aspirations for children, foster carers and staff. Staff consistently report feeling well supported, valued and encouraged in their roles. This reflects the manager’s commitment to professional development and positive outcomes for children. Staff are committed to the best outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The fostering panel functions effectively and applies proportionate, well-reasoned scrutiny before making its recommendations. Panel members are well trained and demonstrate a strong understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The central list reflects good diversity, with members bringing a range of backgrounds and professional experiences that enhance the quality of discussion and decision-making. Overall, assessments presented to the panel are of consistently good quality.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency benefits from an independent and highly diligent agency decision-maker, who carefully considers each panel recommendation and demonstrates a commitment to challenging decisions if this is appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals is overwhelmingly positive. They consistently praise the agency’s child-centred ethos, its strong commitment to supporting children, and its Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 5 effective collaborative approach with the wider team around the child. The agency will advocate on behalf of children and carers, which helps to promote good outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management implements robust monitoring and auditing systems. Strong oversight highlights where there are areas for development to strengthen practice, and this is cascaded to the wider team for its ongoing learning and development. Shortfalls raised during the inspection were addressed, and steps were taken to mitigate them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision and team meetings that prioritise the experiences of children and carers, which supports effective reflective practice. Training opportunities ensure that staff possess the necessary skills for their roles, and there is a strong focus on continuous professional development. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 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, The 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 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.

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Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must take all reasonable steps to ensure that foster parents are familiar with, and act in accordance with the policies established in accordance with regulations 12(1) and 13(1) and (3).

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Requirement Due date

The fostering service provider must ensure that, in relation to any child placed or to be placed with a foster parent, the foster parent is given such information, which is kept up to date, as to enable him to provide appropriate care for the child, and in particular that each foster parent is provided with a copy of the most recent version of the child’s care plan provided to the fostering service provider under regulation 6(3)(d) of the Care Planning Regulations. (Regulation 17 (1) (2) (3))

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Requirement Due date

The agency must provide specific training to foster carers in line with children’s needs. Training should be offered to foster carers in timely manner to ensure that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to support the children they are caring for. 5 January 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that support and training are made available to foster carers, including hard-to-reach carers, to assist them in meeting the specific needs of the children they are caring for or are expected to care for. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 20.8)  The registered person should have a system in place to notify, within 24 hours, individuals and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with regulation 36. The system should include what to do when a Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 7 notifiable event arises at the weekend. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 29.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff, volunteers, panel members and fostering households understand the nature of records maintained and follow the service’s policy for the keeping and retention of files, managing confidential

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Recommendations

information and access to files (including files removed from the premises). There should be a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record- keeping and action taken when necessary. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 26.2)  The registered person should ensure that the service implements a proportionate approach to any risk assessment. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 4.5)

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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: Fosterplus 8

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Saxon Business Park, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Independent fostering agency details

Responsible individual: James McGarrigle

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Inspectors

Jess Baines, Social Care Inspector Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Fosterplus 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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

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