To consider the report and note the update.

The Associate Director for Provider Services for Achieving for Children introduced the item and outlined the current fostering arrangements provided for the Council on behalf of Achieving for Children. Members were told that the fostering team at the Royal Borough had been incorporated into an Independent Fostering Association following instructions from Ofsted, and that it was felt this new arrangement was an opportunity to refresh the way fostering services were operated and create a foster-friendly atmosphere. A five day inspection of services provided by the new IFA was due to take place later in the year.

The Associate Director for Provider Services for Achieving for Children told Members that carers had said there needed to be a greater effort to ensure the right information was given at the point of a new fostering placement, explaining the needs of the child and the skills of a particular foster carer and why they were viewed as being a good match. Carers had stated that they wanted to be more involved in the placement process, as they perceived themselves as being more familiar with the children compared to the fostering team. The Associate Director for Provider Services for Achieving for Children said improvements in this area following the implementation of the IFA would help retain existing carers. The IFA also allowed the opportunity for gaps in provision to be filled, and also the possibility for the Royal Borough, Richmond and Kingston to develop areas of expertise that they could share with other local authorities. There had been a drive to develop an expertise in training and development, in order to enable potential carers the possibility of receiving training within two months of their initial enquiry. Looking at greater provision for parent and child fostering – where the parent continued to live with their child due to complex needs – was also being investigated. A supported lodging scheme, where a young person would live with a family without formally being fostered, was being developed. This scheme had the added benefit of allowing families to test to see if providing foster care was suitable for them.

Responding to a question from the Chairman, the Associate Director for Provider Services for Achieving for Children stated that in the case of a child being placed in the care of another family member, that family member would receive the same level of specific training, support and remuneration as a regular foster carer.

Members were told that there was a focus on keeping at-risk children within the Borough as much as possible, rather than far away. There were 45 fostering households in the Royal Borough, but in order for demand to be sufficiently met 82 were needed. Retention rates of carers was stabilising, although morale was sometimes low where a carer had to support a child with particularly complex needs. Cllr Hollingsworth stated that concerns had been raised previously at Panel and at the Corporate Parenting Forum about changeover in staff, workers and management, and how this impacted on carers. The Associate Director for Provider Services for Achieving for Children accepted that providing continuity to carers was a challenge, but it was felt that the current situation was stable. The Director of Children’s Services said the proportion of agency staff used had reduced from 23 per cent to 10 per cent, and that this had been done in order to provide greater continuity of support for carers. Members were informed that all carers received the same level of training for helping children with complex needs, whereas before only a limited number of carers had been provided with specialist training. The training also enabled carers to provide care for children across all age ranges from 0-18. All of this, along with the transition to an IFA, had enabled fostering services provided in the Royal Borough to be rated as outstanding, whereas before it had been rated as requiring improvement.

Members noted the improvements to services that were being reported. The contents of the briefing paper were noted.