Indigo Fostering

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 1 Indigo Fostering Indigo Fostering Limited 23 Weatherill House, Whitestone Way, New South Quarter, Croydon CR0 4WF Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

Indigo Fostering is an independent fostering agency based in Croydon, South London. The service provides foster care for individual children and sibling groups. It provides emergency, respite, short-term and long-term placements.

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Information about this independent fostering agency

The agency and manager registered with Ofsted in March 2025. At the time of this inspection, the agency had one approved fostering household and was providing care for one child. The inspector spoke with this child.

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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: Indigo Fostering 2

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Summary of findings

This service is judged good in all outcome areas. The child has good experiences and is making steady progress from their starting points. Their identified health and educational needs are well met, and they enjoy living with foster carers they trust.

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Summary of findings

Systems are in place to promote the safety and wellbeing of the child against neglect, exploitation and abuse. Managers and staff work in close partnership with other safeguarding professionals to promote the safety of children.

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Summary of findings

The leadership and management of the agency is effective, and there are good monitoring systems in place that support the service’s further development. Staff and foster carers receive good support, supervision and training opportunities. Foster carer assessments are detailed and analytical, and the fostering panel functions efficiently. Areas identified for improvement include the review of the quality of some key records and to increase the current pool of foster carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child in placement is making steady progress from their original starting points. Their overall experiences are positive, and they develop strong attachments to their foster carers. The child feels well cared for and listened to by their foster family and the agency staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child said, ‘My foster carer is great. She’s very welcoming, and I’m comfortable here. If I feel sad or depressed, she calms me, she talks to me; she doesn’t judge me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child receives personalised care that meets their needs. They live in a stable environment and enjoy sound relationships with their foster families. The fostering service’s matching process is effective and well considered. This helped the child to settle quickly in a fostering household that meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and foster carers work hard to secure school and college placements for children not yet in education. Staff and foster carers are strong advocates for children’s educational success, and they are very much involved in promoting this ethos.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The agency understands the importance of supporting children to develop skills for independence. The child receives support to develop practical living skills to help prepare them for adulthood. Typically, this support is focused on carrying out household chores, developing an understanding of internet safety and attending to their personal care. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 3 The agency ensures that children’s identity needs are well met. For example, the child is supported to practice their faith in the manner that they wish, and the foster family promotes an open and inclusive culture that helps the child to feel safe to explore and develop their own sense of self.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Foster carers and staff ensure that there is good promotion of their physical, emotional and social wellbeing. The child attends primary healthcare appointments and receives advice and support from specialist services as needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has fun and enjoys a range of leisure activities that they choose for themselves. These include going to the gym, playing in the local football team and attending youth groups.

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

The child benefits from nurturing care from well-trained foster carers who are well supported by agency staff. This is a significant contributory factor that helps the child feel safe, secure and engaged with the care that foster carers provide to promote their wellbeing and safety. The child says that they feel safe with their foster carers, who work hard to protect them from harm.

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

The agency has clear and robust child protection policies and procedures, which staff and foster carers are familiar with. Foster carers receive training in safeguarding and other bespoke training that is relevant to the protection of children in their care.

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

Staff provide support to foster carers to ensure that they provide care that adapts to and addresses the changing needs of children. Staff carry out individualised risk assessments soon after placements start. These help to identify known and potential risks to children’s safety and highlight strategies to help reduce risks. Foster carers devise protective/safe care policies. This ensures that children receive safe care in their homes.

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

There have been no safeguarding incidents, including child sexual or criminal exploitation, self-harm incidents, suspicion of radicalisation or any missing-from-care episodes. Therefore, the agency’s response to such incidents is untested in practice. However, there are good systems and policies in place to manage safeguarding concerns, and agency staff and managers demonstrate good knowledge in relation to how to keep children safe from harm and promote their wellbeing.

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

There have been no complaints or allegations made against any adult. Managers ensure that there is regular and effective communication with the professional network and that formal professional meetings are convened as required.

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

A local authority social worker said, ‘The service met [name of child]’s needs well. The foster carer took appropriate steps to safeguard the child and helped her to access safe and appropriate community services.’ Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 4 The vetting and recruitment of staff are robust and in line with safer staff recruitment practices. This confirms that staff are suitable for working with children.

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

There are good systems in place to ensure that foster carers’ homes are safe and secure. Staff carry out checks to ensure that homes are comfortable, well maintained and that there are no health and safety concerns. Unannounced visits to fostering households take place at least once a year.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are ambitious and strive for continual improvement; many aspects of the agency’s leadership and management are sound. The registered manager is a qualified social worker with extensive work experience in the fostering field.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers’ and leaders’ monitoring and reviewing systems are largely effective, which helps to drive improvement. For example, leaders meet on a regular basis to explore the functioning of the service and to review any placement issues. Managers carry out a comprehensive quality of care review that highlights the strengths of the service and areas requiring improvement. This leads to action planning that establishes priority targets to support service development and improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Currently, the fostering service has one approved foster carer. Leaders and managers have failed to establish an effective foster carer recruitment strategy to increase the pool of foster carers to meet the diverse needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The monitoring of some key records is not consistently effective. For example, some children’s local authority care plans have not been obtained. Some supervisory visit records are not focused on discussions and findings of home visits but include extensive duplicate information that is recorded elsewhere on children’s files. This makes understanding the discussion and outcome of supervisory visits unclear. In addition, records of 2 separate announced and unannounced visits are sometimes recorded as one; again, making it difficult to establish what event or discussion took place when.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency provides foster carers, staff and panel members with effective training that is relevant to their specific roles. Foster carers receive bespoke training that enhances their skills to provide children with safe, high-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Members of the fostering panel and staff team are positive about the management of the agency. Staff say that managers are strong leaders, are very supportive and make themselves readily available to offer advice and guidance. Staff inductions prepare staff well for their roles, and they receive regular supervision, which they find reflective and meaningful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The service’s fostering panel operates effectively and efficiently. The fostering panel undertakes clear and appropriate analysis of the work presented at panel meetings. The administration of the fostering panel is effective, and members of the fostering Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 5 panel have expertise in key relevant areas. The quality of foster carer assessments is good; they are detailed and analytical, and they highlight how applicants are suitable to be approved as foster carers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers communicate with professional networks effectively, which supports the child to have positive experiences and make progress. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘The carer provided a lovely home environment and encouraged the child to be respectful of house rules. There was a high level of support provided by the fostering agency for the foster carer and numerous visits by the supervising social worker during her placement.’ Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 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 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 (3)) 1 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

improving the quality of foster care provided by the fostering agency. (Regulation 35 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that placement planning meetings are consistently held; that announced supervisory visits and unannounced visits are recorded separately and that records of supervisory home visits focus on discussions held during these visits and do not include other general information that is available elsewhere on children’s files. 1 July 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the service has an effective strategy in place to secure a sufficient number of foster carers to meet the current and predicted future demands of the service. (Fostering Services: national minimum standards’, 13.1) Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 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. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 8

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Indigo Fostering Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: 23 Weatherill House, Whitestone Way, New South Quarter, Croydon CR0 4WF

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Independent fostering agency details

Responsible individual: Nicola Acheampong

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: Contact@indigofostercare.co.uk

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Indigo Fostering 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 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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