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PRIVATE FOSTERING ANNUAL REPORT

2016 – 2017

Date Published as final version and labelled as draft until that point

Maxine Clark, Service Manager, Northamptonshire Social Work Academy

Phil Bradley, Strategic Manager

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1. Foreword

2. Introduction/context/background

2.1 In December 2015, the Department of Education (DfE) ceased the Private Fostering data collection which had previously required all Local Authorities to submit a report on their privately fostered children by 31st May each year. The DfE were clear that Local Authorities were expected, however, to continue to collect appropriate data and provide and circulate a report to the Director of Children's Services and Local Safeguarding Children Board.

2.2 This report provides an overview of activities in relation to Privately Fostered children in Northamptonshire from April 2016 to March 2017. The report details how Northamptonshire County Council have complied with its duties and functions in relation to private fostering and includes how the welfare of Privately Fostered children has been satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted over the past 12 months, benchmarked alongside the National Minimum Standards.

2.3 The report includes a summary of the statistics relating to the number of new notifications,

arrangements and visiting patterns.

2.4 The Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Board plays a vital role in helping protect children who are privately fostered by raising awareness of the requirements and issues around Private Fostering.

3. Governance and Accountability, including statutory and legislative context, statutory KPIs

3.1 In Northamptonshire County Council during the 12 month period of March 2016 – March 2017, there were 9 new Private Fostering cases started. We are aware of 10 new international students entering into Private Fostering arrangements during this period of time. In September 2017, 6 Young People were opened as Private Fostering cases. September was the arrival time for our international students and therefore 6 were recorded correctly and the remainder were not recorded correctly at the start of our involvement. It has been highlighted that our MASH workers are not correctly categorising cases at Initial Contact. To reduce this problem information sessions have been held with MASH practitioners to raise their awareness of Private Fostering. Additionally, prior to the expected time of arrival for International Students, the Private Fostering lead has reminded the Team Managers within MASH to ensure their practitioners are categorising these cases correctly.

Definition of a Private Fostering Arrangement

A private fostering arrangement is one that is made privately for the care of a child under the age of 16 (or under 18 if disabled) by someone other than a parent or close relative with the intention that it should last for 28 days or more. Private foster carers may be from the extended family, such as a cousin or a great aunt. A private foster carer may be a friend of the family, the parent of a friend of the child, or someone previously unknown to the child’s family who is willing to privately foster a child. However, a person who is a close relative under the Children Act 1989, i.e. a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt or a step-parent will not be a private foster carer. The period for which the child is cared for and accommodated by the private foster carer should be continuous, but if a child receives an occasional short break this is not considered to break that continuity.

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3.2 Regulation 8 visit timeliness for these cases stands at 67% which is an increase from the

previous year where it was recorded as 61.1%. In order to help mitigate against missed visits the administrator linked to the Social Work Academy sends reminder emails to allocated Social Workers to remind them that a visit is due. If there is no confirmation that a visit will be taking place, this is escalated to the relevant Practice Manager and Team Manager. An impacting factor on data has also been where Young People have turned 16, Private Fostering no longer applies. Team Managers are required to close down a Private Fostering screen in Carefirst, however this is not always being undertaken and therefore these young people remain categorised as Privately Fostered but not receiving the required visits. To mitigate against this all Team Managers have been informed of the correct way to close down a case and receive reminder emails to close cases correctly once the Young Person turns 16.

3.3 The data for Northamptonshire's Privately Fostered children can be broken down further as

follows. 3.4 Item 1: Number of Initial Contacts for which the presenting issue was Private Fostering 3.5 4 children were recorded as Privately Fostered at Initial Contact in comparison to 2 for the

previous year.

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013- 2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

1 Number of Initial Contacts for which the Presenting Issue was Private Fostering (Local measure)

14 27 28 20 43 02 04

2 Number of notifications of new private fostering arrangements received (Regulation 3(1) and Regulation 5(1)) during the year

16 21 15 28 42 02 0

3 Number of cases where action was taken in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 4(1) and Regulation 7 (1) of the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering ) Regulations 2005 for carrying out visits:

16 19 08 10 29 01 0

4 Of these, the number of cases where this action was taken within 7 working days of receipt of notification of the private fostering arrangement

03 06 01 02 20 01 0

Point 2 in this chart documents that the number of new notifications received within this 12 month period was 0. Notifications for all the International Students were received from the

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placing agency Gateway, however these notifications were not processed correctly by MASH and therefore did not appear on the stats. The impact of this incorrect recording is also seen in points 3 and 4.

Item 2: Number of notifications of new Private Fostering Arrangements received during the

year

3.6 4 new notifications were received in the year. This is an increase from 2015-2016, however it

is a significant decrease from data produced in 2014/2015 which recorded 42 new

notifications.

Item 3: Number of cases where action was taken in accordance with the requirements of

Regulation 4(1) of the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005 for

carrying out visits

3.7 Following the notification, there is a requirement for an initial visit to be undertaken within 7

days. In 0 case’s, this visit took place on time. This again is attributed to the incorrect data

recording by MASH.

Item 4: Of these, the number of cases where this action was taken within 7 working days of

receipt of notification of the Private Fostering Arrangement

3.8 The initial list referenced in Item 3 above should be undertaken within 7 working days from

notification. This only occurred in 1 case. The reason for the data in Items 1-4 is due firstly to

a new recording system introduced in January 2015 and because workers at the front door

taking the initial referral were not correctly recording the case as Private Fostering. This then

altered all of the subsequent data. In many cases it was not until the case had transferred that

it was then correctly recorded. This is a clear training need and has already been discussed

with the relevant Service Manager.

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013- 2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

5 Number of new arrangements that began during the year

15 20 14 26 29 18 9

6 The number and percentage of private fostering arrangements that began on or after 01/04/YYYY where visits were made at intervals of not more than six weeks (Scorecard Indicator L20)

26.7%

40%

02 14.3%

0 0.0%

11 37.9%

11 61.1%

6 67%

7 The number of private fostering arrangements that began before 01/04/YYYY that were continuing on 01/04/YYYY

28 15 33 17 20

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Item 5: Number of new Private Fostering Arrangements that began during the year

3.9 9 new arrangements began during the year, a decrease from 18 last year. It is unclear why

this is, although nationally there continues to be a slight decrease in privately fostered

children.

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013- 2014

2014-2015

2015-2016

2016-2017

8 The number and percentage of private fostering arrangements that began before 01/04/YYYY where visits were made at intervals of not more than twelve weeks (Scorecard Indicator L20)

38.2%

32.1%

17.9%

13.3%

16 48.5%

15 88.2%

14 70%

9 Number of private fostering arrangements that ended during the year:

19 11 18 16 49 20 20

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Number of children under private fostering arrangements at year-end:

29 29 24 25 13 15 9

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Of which, No. And % where all visits were timely (Local in-year measure)

- 10 66.7%

5 55.6%

Item 6: The number of Private Fostering Arrangements that began on or after 1 April in the

current year where visits were made at intervals of not more than 6 weeks

3.10 6 children began their Private Fostering Arrangement within the year, of these, the recordings

in CareFirst show visits being undertaken on time in 67% of cases. The national average for

2014/2015 was 63% (national data has not been collected since this date).

Item 7: The number of Private Fostering Arrangements that began before 1 April in the

current year that were continuing on 1 April in the current year

3.11 20 Private Fostering Arrangements were open and ongoing as at 1 April 2017, 4 more than the

previous year.

Item 8: The number of Private Fostering Arrangements that began before 1 April in the

current year that were continuing on 1 April in the current year, where scheduled visits were

completed in the required timescale.

3.12 14 children were open as being Privately Fostered at the end of the previous year and

remained in a Private Fostering Arrangement at some point during the current year.

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3.13 Of these 14, 70% had visits recorded at the appropriate intervals. This indicates that Social

Workers are better at visiting in a timely manner once the visiting pattern reduces from 6

weekly to 12 weekly after the first year.

3.14 70% is a decrease from the previous years performance but continues to be above the national

average for 2014/2015 which was 68% (no new data collected nationally since 2014/15)

Item 9: Number of Private Fostering Arrangements that ended during the year

3.15 In total, 20 children’s Private Fostering Arrangements ended in the year.

Item 10: Number of children under Private Fostering Arrangements at year end

3.16 There were a total of 9 children in Private Fostering Arrangements at the end of 2016/17, a

decrease of 6 from previous year.

4. Objectives, Progress/services/provision

Standard 1 (National Minimum Standards)

The Local Authority has a written statement or plan, which sets out its duties and functions

in relation to Private Fostering and the ways in which they will be carried out.

4.1 Northamptonshire County Council’s Statement of Purpose was updated in February 2016. The

aim of the Statement of Purpose is to ensure awareness of Northamptonshire County

Council’s duties and functions in relation to Private Fostering and how these will be carried

out. The document aims to provide a clear guide in relation to Private Fostering for

professionals, other agencies and members of the public. The Statement of Purpose should

be read in conjunction with the procedures for Private Fostering.

4.2 Private Fostering procedures were updated in February 2016 and can be accessed via the links

below

http://northamptonshirechildcare.proceduresonline.com/chapters/p_private_fost.html

Northamptonshire Children’s Procedures

http://northamptonshirechildcare.proceduresonline.com/chapters/p_cin_plans_rev.html

NSCB website inter-agency Private Fostering Procedures available on link below

http://www.northamptonshirescb.org.uk/health-professionals/taking-action/private-

fostering/

4.3 A flow chart has been produced to assist practitioners to ensure they understand the process

and timescales. Templates have also been produced to enable practitioners to complete

assessments. This includes consent from parents, medical consent forms and reference

checks. These templates and process maps have been reviewed as part of the Private

Fostering working group work. Relevant forms have also been translated for non-English

speaking families.

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4.4 A range of Private Fostering documentation is available on the child's record which includes a

Private Fostering Assessment Record, Regulation 8 Visit Template and an Agency Decision

Maker template. These tools aim to ensure the quality of Private Fostering Assessments is

good and they are quality assured at Strategic Management level.

4.5 In December 2016 all of the current Private Fostering cases were audited. This highlighted

that there was some confusion amongst practitioners in terms of the current process for

Private Fostering cases. The audits also highlighted the quality of assessments undertaken was

variable. In 2015 the Workforce Development team were asked to provide some e – learning

following audits in 2015. The Audits undertaken in 2016 identified that there are still issues

with workers understanding of the Private Fostering processes and their responsibilities,

therefore some workshop training has been devised between the Social Work Academy and

Learning and Development, these workshops are being delivered in the North and South of

the county to practitioners to further improve practice.

4.6 As part of the wider policy review that has taken place, the Private Fostering policy has been

reviewed and updated. Bite size training sessions have been arranged to uplift practitioners

understand of Private Fostering and the processes surrounding it. Take up of these sessions

has been limited.

Standard 2

The Local Authority is notified about Privately Fostered children living in its area.

4.8 Team Managers and Practice Managers are aware that the Service Manager,

Northamptonshire Social Work Academy is the named Lead for Private Fostering matters and

is contacted for casework discussions to determine whether an arrangement meets the

criteria for Private Fostering. In addition, she is available for advice on process and

procedures. The Strategic Lead for Private Fostering is Phil Bradley, Strategic Manager and

sign off is located with him.

4.9 As noted in the 2015- 2016 Annual report, A MASH automated email has been produced

reminding other agencies about Private Fostering when they send in a referral. The purpose

of this is to raise awareness of notification requirements, this continues to be implimented.

4.10 The Statement of Purpose was updated in February 2016 and sets out the procedures to be

followed. This is available in the Procedures Manual. During 2016-17 updates have been

undertaken in relation to our policy and procedures around Private Fostering. This has

included a review of policy and updated policy being added to Tri-X

4.11 The NSCB undertook a further exercise at the end of 2016, asking all schools to identify

Privately Fostered Children. Within this exercise 29 potential new cases were identified. The

Service Manager responsible for Private Fostering contacted each school to establish more

information about every case identified by schools. Once further information was gathered,

no new Private Fostering cases were identified as a result of this process. Attempts have been

made for the Service Manager to attend a training session for all school Safeguarding Leads,

however this has not been achieved. This continues to be pursued through Learning and

Development who facilitate the Safeguarding leads training.

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4.12 The NSCB continue to raise awareness of Private Fostering on their website.

4.13 Visits to Private Schools within our County have been undertaken to raise awareness.

4.14 In July 2017 a local media campaign was undertaken to raise the general public’s awareness of Private Fostering as it was identified that without public awareness we are not informed about private arrangements. The only arrangement we become aware of are those of International students and situations where there is a safeguarding concern. The Media campaign included social medial, local press and local radio. It has also included publicity through posters.

4.15 Meetings have also taken place with Health Safeguarding leads to raise their awareness of Private Fostering and ensure they are aware of their responsibilities to report these arrangements.

Standard 3

The Local Authority determines effectively the suitability of all aspects of the Private Fostering Arrangement in accordance with the regulations

4.16 Private Fostering guidance highlights that if a child or young person is receiving care for 28

days or more, this should be considered a Private Fostering Arrangement. There is no upper

limit to determine how long it could be for, which means some children and young people

could be subject to this arrangement for many years. In cases where this appears to be a

permanence plan, legal advice is ascertained in order to determine whether a legal order i.e.

Special Guardianship Order, may be more appropriate. Once a young person reaches the age

of 16, Private Fostering regulations no longer apply. As identified earlier within this report,

there have been situations where the Private Fostering category has not been ended on

carefirst correctly. This is monitored and information is shared with Team Managers in

relation to correctly closing cases.

4.17 Once a case has been allocated, the Social Worker is required to undertake a Private Fostering

assessment which will conclude following reference checks, DBS checks and assessment of

the carers, whether they are a suitable and viable option for the child/young person.

Recommendations will be required to be signed off by the Team Manager and then presented

to the Agency Decision Maker (ADM) for Private Fostering for consideration and a final

decision to be made. The procedures can be accessed via the link below

http://northamptonshirechildcare.proceduresonline.com/chapters/p_private_fost.html

Standard 4 The Local Authority provides such advice and support to private foster carers and

prospective private foster carers as appears to the Authority to be needed 4.18 All Privately Fostered children and young people in Northamptonshire have an allocated Social

Worker. Within the assessment that is undertaken by the Social Worker, consideration will be given as to what support the carers may need i.e. training or practical, and a plan will be put in place accordingly in order to meet identified needs.

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4.19 Letters sent out to Private Foster carers include a statement in Spanish, French, Portuguese,

Chinese and Russian, advising that information can be made available in another format or

language if necessary.

4.20 Considering the large amount of International Student we have within the County from China,

a more detailed letter and consent form have been translated into Chinese.

Standard 5

The Local Authority provides advice and support to the parents of children who are privately fostered within their area as appears to the Authority to be needed

4.21 Within the Private Fostering assessment, due consideration will be given to the views of the parents and the Social Worker will ensure that parents are provided with relevant information in the appropriate language. The Social Worker will also ensure that the parents are aware of the assessment they will be undertaking and will provide their contact details to the parents.

4.22 Parents will be encouraged by the Social Worker to maintain regular contact with their child and the Private Foster carer. If the arrangement is deemed inappropriate by the Local Authority, parents will be provided with support from the Social Worker to make alternative arrangements.

Standard 6

Children who are privately fostered are able to access information and support when required so that their welfare is safeguarded and promoted. Privately fostered children are enabled to participate in decisions about their lives.

4.23 All children known to be living in a Private Fostering Arrangement in Northamptonshire County Council are supported and monitored by an allocated Social Worker in Children’s Social Care.

4.24 Some children who are Privately Fostered are also subject to Child in Need Plans which are reviewed at regular intervals as per Child in Need processes. Changes and updates to the Private Fostering policy have made this process and requirement clearer for practitioners.

4.25 Each child in Northamptonshire living in a Private Fostering Arrangement is provided with a

copy of a leaflet for carers and young people to help them understand what Private Fostering means. These documents can be accessed via the link below

Northamptonshire Children’s Procedures Manual - Document Library - Prevention and

Family Support (Private Fostering)

4.26 The allocated Social Worker visits the child at least in accordance with the minimum statutory requirements and completes the Private Fostering Arrangement record (visit under Regulation 8) after each statutory visit. The child is seen alone during each visit unless this is thought to be inappropriate in which case the Social Worker records the reasons for not seeing the child alone. A process has been implimented since the 2015- 2016 report to monitor visits recording and offer allocated workers reminders of upcoming visits to uplift this practice.

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4.27 The allocated Social Worker has dual responsibility for ensuring that the Privately Fostered Child is safeguarded and adequately protected, and for supporting carers to help them meet the needs of the Privately Fostered child. The Social Worker is also responsible for offering advice, support and information to parents.

Standard 7

The Local Authority has in place and implements effectively a system for monitoring the

way in which it discharges its duties and functions in relation to private fostering. It

improves practice where this is indicated as necessary by the monitoring system

4.28 Each Privately Fostered child in Northamptonshire has their own separate electronic file.

Within this are contained all of the relevant checks on the carers i.e. DBS, references and

health checks.

4.29 Within the Tri-x procedures, there are templates for any prohibitions or requirements

imposed on Private Foster carers. In addition, when the assessment has been completed by

the Social Work team and signed off by the Team Manager, there is a further Quality

Assurance check undertaken by the ADM who signs off the Private Fostering arrangement.

This ensures that all of the relevant documents have been completed and uploaded to the

child’s electronic record. The Tri-x procedures have recently been reviewed and updated.

4.30 Northamptonshire’s safeguarding procedures around Private Fostering, make it very clear the

expectation of the home visits undertaken by Social Workers, the need to ensure that the

child is seen alone, their bedroom is seen and their views are ascertained.

4.31 As can be seen in previous sections, Northamptonshire County Council capture a significant

amount of data in relation to Privately Fostered children in order to ensure they are being

visited in a timely way and that assessments are undertaken within relevant timescales. In

addition, daily data is produced which flags any young person who has turned 16 hence no

longer privately fostered, and any overdue or imminently due visits in order to allow for these

to be progressed.

4.32 Privately Fostered children in Northamptonshire are visited as per the procedures i.e. the

assessment is undertaken within 40 days and the children then seen every 6 weeks for the

first year and every 12 weeks subsequently. If however, concerns are raised at any stage,

relevant safeguarding procedures will be considered. A recent review of policy and process

has clarified this for practitioners as through audits and dip samples this was identified as an

area of confusion.

4.33 Northamptonshire Local Safeguarding Children’s Board will be provided with a copy of this

Annual Report.

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5. Challenges/issues/developments/opportunities

The recent Ofsted Inspection (February 2016) made the following recommendation;

Review the assessment and planning for those children and young people subject to private fostering arrangements to improve identification of such children and young people, and ensure that they receive appropriate services to support their needs.

5.1 The 2015 -2016 Annual report made the following recommendation which have been undertaken:

Establish a Private Fostering Working Group who will undertake actions to promote multi-

agency awareness of Private Fostering

5.2 A Private Fostering working group has been established and involves representation from

Safeguarding and Care Planning, MASH, Early Help, BIPI, Policy and Procedure officer and

Northamptonshire Social Work Academy. The Working group has met and identified tasks

which improve the service provided in relation to Private Fostering.

Attempt to increase the number of new notifications through improved identification of

Private Fostering cases at the point of referral, and continue to liaise with Gateway to

ensure foreign students are adequately supported

5.3 Training has been delivered to MASH to improve early identification of Private Fostering cases

at point of referral. Regular liaising with Gateway has been undertaken by the Private

Fostering service lead, this has included an offer to ‘Host Families’ for information sharing of

our statutory responsibilities and what to expect from social workers.

Raise awareness of Private Fostering amongst Social Workers.

5.4 Training has been devised in the form of workshops for Social Workers, this has been delivered

in the North and South of the County and further workshops are being planned. Training has

also been incorporated into the Social Work Academy training programme to all NQSWs

around Private Fostering.

Improve quality of assessments of Private Fostering Arrangements.

5.5 In December 2016 The Quality Assurance Audit programme undertook themed audits on

Private Fostering cases. The information gathered from these audits has informed the training

being delivered to practitioners to improve assessments.

5.6 In addition to the 2015-2016 recommendation being undertaken, the following has also been

implimented:

Face to face meetings with Private schools within our county have taken place. Focus was

paid to the intake school of international students to increase their awareness of Private

Fostering and to build positive relationships with a dedicated link person (Service

Manager).

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Attendance at lead safeguarding professionals within Health meeting to raise awareness.

Local media campaign, including social media, local press releases, local radio interviews

and poster campaign.

Improved working links with Gateway Education agency. Gateway Education are the

agency who provide Host families for international students.

6. Next steps/plans/priorities/actions

6.1 Private Fostering Working Group to continue.

6.2 Work to raise awareness within the community around Private Fostering to continue. We have

a low number of Privately Fostered children/Young People in Northamptonshire. Nationally

there is also a lower number than expected. The only situations we become aware of on a

regular basis are those of International Students who come to Northamptonshire to study and

those private arrangements where there are safeguarding concerns. It is anticipated that

there are a larger number of children and Yung People who would meet the criteria within our

county and there is a need to raise the general public’s awareness of our responsibilities to

ensure we supporting all Privately Fostered children within our communities.

6.3 Continue work within the service around raising standards of practitioners work within the

area of Private Fostering.

6.4 Media campaign to continue.