Time out Fostering

Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Time out Fostering 1 Time out Fostering Time Out Fostering Limited Unit 17, Oaklands Business Park 64-68, Elm Grove, Worthing BN11 5LH Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this independent fostering agency

This privately owned agency registered with Ofsted in 2005. It provides a range of fostering services including emergency, short-term, long-term, and parent and child placements. Included in its fostering services is also the provision of care for unaccompanied children seeking asylum. At the time of this inspection, the agency was providing care for 36 children in 33 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

Date of last inspection: 9 December 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from stable, nurturing relationships and individualised care that promotes a sense of belonging and sustained progress. They achieve positive outcomes in education, health and independence through effective partnership working. Safeguarding practice is effective, with carers confident in managing risks and responding appropriately to concerns. Leadership has strengthened since the previous inspection, improving support, direction and consistency for staff and carers. A positive, child-centred culture underpins practice. The fostering panel provides effective scrutiny and challenge. Leaders and managers recognise that there are some areas of management oversight and quality assurance that need to be strengthened, and they have begun taking steps to address these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from individualised care and strong, trusting relationships with carers who know them well. This helps them to develop a sense of belonging, negotiate challenges and make progress. Children speak positively about their carers and the support they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships are at the heart of what the agency does well. There are strong, respectful communication and collaboration between carers, staff and partner agencies. Staff are actively involved in children’s lives, providing flexible hands-on support to children and their carers. This underpins a culture of respect and shared responsibility with a clear focus on children. One child said, ‘Time Out is a good community where everyone looks out for each other. They have each other’s back.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to prepare for adulthood. Carers and staff actively help children to navigate barriers and pursue their goals, for example when managing complex legal proceedings for unaccompanied children seeking asylum. Active consideration of ‘staying put’ arrangements is embedded and helps to provide continuity and stability for children. Several children continue to live with adult brothers and sisters as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well met. The agency ensures that carers are helped to understand and respond to children’s health needs and that children have access to specialist medical services if needed. In one example, a foster carer completed bespoke training regarding the complex health needs of one child. This allowed them to be fully attuned to changes in the presentation of the child and to seek urgent medical intervention when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational needs are prioritised. All children are supported to access education that is appropriate to their needs. Carers and staff work effectively with education colleagues to address obstacles. As a result, children make good progress Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Time out Fostering 3 with learning and achieve positive outcomes. One child who experienced very disrupted early education is now sitting their GCSEs, and another was awarded ‘Star of 2026’ by their college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s participation is developing well. The participation lead organises events and opportunities for children to give feedback that influences the service. For example, a group of children recently gave feedback on support when moving into foster homes, which led to changes to the foster care handbook. Children are also involved in interviewing prospective foster carers. While practice in obtaining children’s voices is generally strong, one child was not given the opportunity to share their views about an issue in their home that impacted on them.

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

Carers have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and of how to respond to safeguarding concerns. The agency supports carers to manage risks by ensuring that children have clear, relevant safety plans and through providing accessible advice and guidance to carers, including outside of office hours. As a result, concerns about children’s safety are addressed effectively.

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

Carers respond promptly to incidents of concern, such as worries about sexual exploitation or children going missing from home. Staff and carers work well with partner agencies to review safety plans and coordinate follow-up work with children to help them learn. Managers take action to address any areas where there is learning or improvement needed, such as in the timeliness of reporting concerns.

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

Carers are guided to take a positive approach to behaviour management, with the emphasis on understanding children’s experiences and the meaning of behaviour. The agency provides training and support tailored to the needs of individual children if required. For one child, training, support and close joint working have helped achieve a reduction in physical interventions.

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

Allegations are taken seriously. Managers share concerns promptly and openly with professionals, such as the local authority designated officer, to inform actions and investigations. Support is provided to carers who are the subject of allegations and, where appropriate, managers and staff work with carers to support them to reflect and learn.

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

Managers ensure that practice concerns are addressed promptly through standards of care investigations and that carers are returned to panel for a review of their approval. Staff work closely with partner agencies and carers to address concerns and closely monitor children’s wellbeing. While standards of care investigations completed since the last inspection were timely, they were completed by the carer’s supervising social worker, which is not in line with the organisation’s policy and may compromise objectivity and support to carers.

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

Managers carry out comprehensive checks when recruiting new staff, including panel members. There is an effective system in place to oversee suitability checks for Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Time out Fostering 4 foster carers and household members, with close oversight of any delays. This ensures that, as far as possible, risks to children from unsafe adults are minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers demonstrate commitment and high aspirations for children, which underpins a positive, child-centred culture. Leaders recognised the need for change following the last inspection and took purposeful steps to address shortfalls. A new manager was appointed who is now registered and has had a positive impact on the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Support for staff works well. Supervising social workers receive regular, reflective supervision, which includes a focus on their wellbeing and workloads. Staff speak positively of the support that they receive from colleagues and managers, which allows them to provide responsive support to carers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Foster carers feel well supported and valued. They benefit from regular, good-quality supervision and accessible, ad-hoc support from their social workers. The introduction of a foster carer representative role strengthens peer support and helps ensure that carers’ views are represented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Foster carers and staff complete mandatory training required by the agency, which is up to date for all. Managers are creative in their training offer to ensure that it is relevant to children and that carers and staff remain interested and feel inspired to enhance their knowledge and skills. One foster carer said about training, ‘It is customised to exactly what I need when I need it.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers do not have a fully established process to monitor and quality assure assessments of prospective foster carers. As a result, there have been some instances where information presented to panel has been incomplete. Managers responded positively to feedback about this from the panel and the agency decision- maker and made plans to strengthen this area. A new system has been developed, but the process is not fully implemented. Therefore, the impact of this is not yet known.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers consider complaints thoroughly with independent oversight where appropriate. Leaders demonstrate a strong commitment to learning and using complaints and challenges to improve practice. For example, an independent person has been commissioned to review practice in relation to 2 children who experienced an unplanned ending to their time with foster carers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The fostering panel and agency decision-maker provide robust scrutiny of foster carer assessments and reviews, as well as helpful feedback about how practice can be improved. The panel members bring relevant professional and life experience to their roles. They and the agency decision-maker demonstrate a clear focus on children. Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Time out Fostering 5

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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 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. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to oversight and quality assurance of assessments of prospective foster carers and decisions that children should come and live with foster carers. 5 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the views of children in relation to all aspects of their care are sought and considered. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 1.4)  The registered person should ensure that concerns about standards of care are investigated in accordance with the organisation’s policy. (‘Fostering services: national minimum standards’, 25.3)

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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: Time out Fostering 6

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider: Time Out Fostering Limited

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Independent fostering agency details

Registered provider address: Unit 17, Oaklands Business Park 64-68, Elm Grove, Worthing BN11 5LH

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Independent fostering agency details

Email address: office@timeoutfostering.co.uk

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Inspectors

Jacob Robson, Social Care Inspector Kelly Marchmont, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for independent fostering agency: Time out Fostering 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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