Agenda item

The Executive Director of Children’s Services and Head of Service for Future for Families will be in attendance to present the Panel with information relating to foster carers, including recruitment and retention initiatives.

J Rowan, Fostering Team Manager, was in attendance at the meeting to provide the Panel with further information in relation to its current scrutiny topic, focussing on foster carers in Middlesbrough.

 

The Panel was informed that the Fostering Service was required to provide an annual dataset to Ofsted in relation to foster carers and placements.  The latest data showed that in quarter two of the 2020/21 financial year, Middlesbrough had 156 approved foster care households creating 263 placements.  These figures had increased from quarter one – 149 foster carers with 243 placements.  For 2019/20 the annual return figure was 141 foster carers and 261 placements.  There had been a net increase of foster carers but not of fostering placements, therefore, it was crucial to utilise foster placements as effectively as possible.

 

A breakdown of the types of foster placements available was provided to the Panel and it was noted that in quarter two of 2020/21, of the 156 foster carers:-

 

·        89 - short term foster carers

·        38 – fully approved connected persons carers

·        17  - long term foster carers

·        11 – respite care

·        1 – fostering to adopt

 

There had been an increase of four short term foster carer approvals from quarter one and an increase of five approved connected persons carers from quarter one.  There was a decrease of two long term carers during the same period.  Work was ongoing to identify the resources needed to try to increase the number of short term foster carers.

 

In terms of the number of foster carers that were approved, Members were informed that a total of 41 foster carers were approved during 2019/20 (22 mainstream and 19 connected persons).  During quarter one of 2020/21, a total of 10 foster carers were approved (five mainstream and five connected persons) and a total of 12 foster carers were approved during quarter two (five mainstream and seven connected persons).

 

In 2019/20, a total of 24 foster carers were de-registered – 16 mainstream carers and 8 connected persons carers.  In 2020/21 during quarter one, a total of four carers were deregistered – two mainstream and two connected persons carers – and during quarter two connected persons carers were deregistered.  The reasons for de-registration included retirement, health reasons and other work commitments.  There had been initial concerns that some carers might be moving to Independent Fostering Agencies but it was confirmed that only one carer had moved to an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) since March 2020.  However, three or four IFA carers had moved across to become carers with Middlesbrough Council, this was mainly due to improvement in practice.  Middlesbrough had a good conversion rate in terms of turning initial enquiries into fully approved foster carers and also had a good rate of children in long term foster placements.

 

The Panel was advised that Children’s Services was improving at better utilising in-house fostering placements with appropriate matching.  In 2019/20, 163 children were placed with in-house foster carers.  In 2020/21, 145 children were placed with in-house carers during quarter one and 174 children were placed with in-house carers during quarter two.  As at quarter two there were 15 vacant places and this was also the average for 2019/20.  In quarter two, 56 places were not available due to foster carers being on hold.  This could be due to a variety of reasons including Covid, however, best efforts were being made to manage risk.  On hold carers would be supported back into fostering if they wished to continue and the support offer included improved training and development, regular monthly consultation meetings and a foster carers Facebook page.

 

Of those places unavailable, a breakdown of the reasons was provided as follows:-

 

·        Carer taking a break/pending resignation

·        Needs of the child currently in placement

·        Only available if sibling group placed

·        Used by CYP Staying Put after turning 18

 

There were 18 carers taking a break/pending resignation as of quarter two in 2020/21 and reasons for this were broken down as follows:-

 

·        7 – personal/health reasons

·        2 – pending resignation

·        2 – investigation into standard of care provided.

·        2 – post adoption (foster carers that had gone on to adopt).

·        2 – fully approved as connected persons carers (to be closed).  (Once relevant legal orders had been granted it took a period of 28 days for them to be deregistered).

·        3 – updated assessment required (this linked to standards of care, where information obtained in relation to the carers required a further assessment to be undertaken before children could be placed).

 

29 placements were not available due to the needs of the child currently in place, therefore, it was important to ensure that matching was appropriate so that the child’s needs were the priority and that the ability of foster carers was carefully considered. 

 

During the course of discussion, the following issues were raised:-

 

·        It was queried whether feedback was recorded from foster carers leaving the service in an attempt to identify any common themes.  It was confirmed that feedback was sought on the carers’ experience as a whole through a satisfaction survey.  The survey was being developed further for use with all carers throughout the year, rather than using only at the point they left the service.  This would help to focus attention on support and communications.

 

·        Reference was made to the seven carers currently not available to provide placements as they provided sibling only placements and it was queried whether they would be likely to take a single child placement if needed.  Clarification was provided regarding registration approval and it was highlighted that, for example, a foster carer(s) may be approved to care for two children or three children if they were siblings.  This was usually due to the fact that ‘single’ children were required to have their own bedroom, but a sibling group of two could share a bedroom (if appropriate).  The Service tried to keep those foster carers that were able to care for more than one child to take placements of related siblings although this was not always possible, but it was part of the matching considerations when placing children.

 

·        In response to a query as to whether any gaps in fostering provision could be/had been identified, the Panel was informed that the key areas were:-

 

-        Parent and child placements – A foster care couple had recently transferred to Middlesbrough from an IFA and were experienced in providing parent and child placements and would be supporting the fostering service to develop this area of expertise.  The couple would be speaking to the foster carer consultation group in February about their role in more detail and the service would consider the types of support required to develop those skills.  It was hoped that three or four specialist parent and child placements could be created with their own support network.

 

-        Sibling group placements – this was an area where more foster carers were needed and this was being focussed upon as part of the fostering recruitment campaign.  There was currently a light-touch campaign ongoing.  Covid had impacted on recruitment nationally.

 

-        Teenage (11 plus) placements – this was also an area for further development and work was ongoing with Futures for Families.

 

·        In response to a query, it was clarified that the numbers referred to in relation to placements that were not available related to the number of fostering households that were unable to offer a placement and not to the total number of placements that were unavailable, however, the Fostering Team Manager agreed to obtain this information for the Panel.

 

In relation to recruitment, the Panel was informed that in 2019/20, 123 initial enquiries were made in relation to fostering.  In 2020/21, quarter one, 12 initial enquiries were made and 19 initial enquiries were made in quarter two.  In response to a question, it was stated that the conversion rate from initial enquiry to the stage two assessment process was good in Middlesbrough and was usually around 20%.  There was a steady rate of enquiries and these were comparable with IFAs.  In terms of conversion rates for previous years it was highlighted that colleagues who had worked in other local authorities or with IFAs had stated their conversion rates to be 10% or less so Middlesbrough was performing well.

 

A Panel Member commented that we should not be aiming for a 100% conversion rate as not all enquirers would be suitable.  It was queried whether the service was aware of how many initial enquiries were not progressed due to the fostering service considering them to be unsuitable.  The Fostering Manager agreed to look into this and inform Panel Members of how many enquiries were progressed to stage two.

 

In  terms of recruitment, it was acknowledged that IFAs were at the forefront of recruitment strategies and the Fostering Service was trying to utilise practices that had been tried and tested, for example by using Google ads, various social media platforms and of course word of mouth which was a great way of bringing people into the fostering service.

 

The following issues were raised by Panel Members:-

 

·        A Panel Member queried how foster carer preparation training was being managed during Covid.  The Panel was informed that virtual group training and induction skills for fostering, pathways in fostering were being provided.  It was highlighted that both mainstream and connected persons foster carers needed to be provided with the same support and the service was trying to be as responsive as possible in terms of providing training at different times/days.

 

·        Reference was made to working alongside North Yorkshire Council who shared good practice and provided support and it was queried whether they had provided feedback in relation to Middlesbrough’s service.  The Panel was advised that initial feedback was that Middlesbrough knew its own service well and knew what was required to improve and develop its staffing structure in order to implement its plans.  Development of Middlesbrough’s finance procedures and offer to foster carers, including training and development, was well underway.  Policies and procedures were the main areas of focus.  North Yorkshire was impressed with the progress Middlesbrough had made during the last nine months particularly in going from having a significant amount of unallocated to work to having no unallocated work.  Staff also had more clarity and confidence around their roles.

 

·        The Panel was encouraged to hear about the positive feedback and it was queried what assurances could be provided to the Panel that those areas would be constantly monitored and how this would be done.  The Panel was assured that performance monitoring would be ongoing via monthly performance management clinics and regular supervision of staff and foster carers.  A culture of high support and high challenge was being embedded into the service and it was important to have clear expectations of staff.  Following the implementation of practice mainly through supervision of social workers, a positive impact was now being seen.

 

In terms of what was working well within the fostering service, the following was reported:-

 

·        A more robust initial screening process had been developed.  This encouraged greater and ongoing dialogue with fostering applicants early in the process.  It was anticipated that this would reduce the number of initial home visits that did not progress to assessment stage. 

 

·        Plans had also been developed to streamline the initial enquiry process to reduce the time taken between initial enquiries and home visits.

 

·        A foster carer recruitment campaign was underway with staff being encouraged to contribute to the planning and consultation with the Marketing Team.  Meetings were held every two weeks with the Marketing Team.

 

·        A team of Independent Social Workers had been recruited to complete Form F assessments to ensure any surge in demand as a result of the recruitment campaign could be met. 

 

·        There had been a reduction in the number of requests for connected persons foster carer assessments due to the greater scrutiny on the range of placements available for children.  This had helped to alleviate pressure across the service.

 

·        Supported Lodgings provision was being developed to ensure that potential providers were robustly assessed, and that subsequent supervision and monitoring was in line with mainstream foster carers.  Supported lodgings places were for young people over the age of 18 that were at risk and still required support towards independence.  It was essential to ensure providers had the right skills.

 

During the course of discussion, the following issues were raised:-

 

·        A Member of the Panel made reference to the reduction in the number of connected persons foster carers assessments and queried the difference between a connected persons carer and a mainstream foster carer and any issues that had been identified.  It was explained that the main difference was that connected persons carers had some level of personal connection, usually a family member, to the child, and mainstream foster carers had no prior to connection to the child.  The support offer should be the same for connected persons carers as for mainstream carers and all carers were offered the same level of training and development standards, induction and supervision in line with their needs. 

 

·        A Panel Member asked what the difference was between staying put and supported lodgings.  It was explained that when a young person was already in a foster care placement and reached the age of 18 and remained with the same fostering household, this became a Staying Put arrangement.  Supported Lodgings was when a young person needed support but did not want to remain within the foster care household and was more of a semi-independent placement.

 

·        In response to a question regarding training expectations for connected persons carers, it was explained that the service was transparent about its expectations in terms of training for all foster carers and support was provided accordingly.  Development of the training offer was currently underway to look at providing training at different times of the day and weekends, one to one training etc to be more responsive to people’s needs.  It also needed to be acknowledged that connected persons carers had had their lives turned upside down as they had taken additional children into their homes, and had been assessed and become involved with social services and required support throughout the process from the point of temporary approval.

 

·        A Panel Member made reference to the Pathways (Leaving Care) Team and asked about the current staffing levels.  It was acknowledged that there had been an issue with staffing levels within the team and caseloads.  Ofsted had found the caseload numbers of personal advisors as being too high (approximately 36 at the time of inspection), and some staff had left or moved teams.  A member of staff was due to return from maternity leave which would bring staffing levels back to an adequate level.

 

·        It was queried whether there was an age limit in relation to foster carers.  It was confirmed that there was no age limit and that potential carers were assessed on their individual suitability and skills.

 

·        A Member asked whether any specific work was being undertaken to recruit BAME foster carers and whether there were children who were waiting to be matched specifically to BAME groups.  It was acknowledged that it could be challenging to specifically match children culturally, however, a number of carers had expressed an interest in learning more about different faiths and cultures and the service was looking to involve a diverse range of foster carers in its marketing campaign.

 

·        A Member commented that a BAME foster carer was working with Adoption Tees Valley to encourage recruitment from minority groups.

 

·        In response to a query as to whether Middlesbrough had foster carers that specifically provided placements for children with disabilities and complex health needs, it was explained that the service would look at the child’s individual needs and use a strength-based approach to supporting the child and mainstream foster care placement as there were currently no carers with that specialism.

 

It was confirmed that there were no further questions and the Chair thanked the Officer for her attendance and the information provided.

 

AGREED that the information provided be noted and considered in the context of the Panel’s current scrutiny topic.