Inspection of Services for CYP
Perth and Kinross Council · 29 August 2022
Back to Executive Sub-Committee of the Learning and Families Committee — 29 August 2022 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SUB-COMMITTEE OF LEARNING & FAMILIES COMMITTEE 29 AUGUST 2022 INSPECTIONS OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE BY THE CARE INSPECTORATE Report by Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) (Report No 22/196) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report sets out the key findings following inspections and evaluations of Services for Children and Young People undertaken by the Care Inspectorate, namely the Fostering Service, the Adoption Service and the Adult Placement Service. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee: • Considers and comments as appropriate on the contents of the report. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Recently Published Reports • Section 6: Conclusion • Appendices 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 The Care Inspectorate was created by the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010. The Act sets out general principles for the Care Inspectorate’s inspection and improvement functions. These are: • The safety and wellbeing of all persons who use, or are eligible to use, any social service is to be protected and enhanced; • The independence of those persons is to be promoted; • Diversity in the provision of social services is to be promoted with a view to those persons being afforded choice; and • Good practice in the provision of social services is to be identified, promulgated and promoted.
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4.2 The Act places duties on the Care Inspectorate to make arrangements which will secure continuous improvement, to ensure user focus, and to co-operate with other specified scrutiny bodies. 4.3 Since 1 April 2018, the Health and Social Care Standards have been used across Scotland to describe what people should experience from a wide range of care and support services. Since then, the Care Inspectorate have been rolling out a revised methodology (quality framework) for inspecting these services. 4.4 The quality framework is framed around six key questions. The first of these is: • How well do we support people’s wellbeing? To try and understand what contributes to wellbeing, there are four further key questions: • How good is our leadership? • How good is our staff team? • How good is our setting? • How well is care and support planned? The final key question is: • What is our overall capacity for improvement? This requires a global judgement based on evidence and evaluations from all other key areas. Under each key question, there are a small number of quality indicators. These have been developed to help answer the key questions. Each quality indicator has a small number of key areas and short bullet points which make clear the areas of practice covered. 4.5 Where appropriate, selected key questions are graded overall on a 6-point scale in which 1 = unsatisfactory, 2 = weak, 3 = adequate, 4 = good, 5 = very good and 6 = excellent. 4.6 Following an inspection, the Care Inspectorate may set out requirements or recommendations. Care service providers must submit an action plan to the Care Inspectorate addressing these. Progress against the action plan is monitored by the Care Inspectorate through annual return and self- assessment forms submitted by the care service provider, and through subsequent inspection. 5. RECENTLY PUBLISHED REPORTS 5.1 This report presents the findings of inspections of the Fostering Service, the Adoption Service and the Adult Placement Service by the Care Inspectorate.
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5.2 Fostering Service 5.2.1 The Care Inspectorate carried out an inspection of the Council’s Fostering Services on 31 May 2022. The inspection was announced at short notice. This level of inspection is carried out when the Care Inspectorate is satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care. 5.2.2 The Fostering Service provides a family placement service for children and young people aged 0 to 18 years old who are looked after by the Council and whose needs are best met through foster care. The Service recruits and supports family-based carers within Perth and Kinross and surrounding areas. Foster carers are approved and reviewed by the Fostering and Permanence Panel. They provide respite and short breaks, emergency, temporary and/or permanent care for looked after children and young people. 5.2.3 The Care Inspectorate identified the following important key strengths and highlighted them in the report attached as Appendix 1: • Children and young people in the service experienced positive and enduring relationships with their carers. • Care was seen to be individualised to need and we saw many positive examples of children and young people succeeding in education and living full lives. • Carers felt supported by the service and had positive relationships with their social workers within the family based care team. Carers felt included in service development via a consultation group and had access to regular support groups. • Children and young people benefitted from continuity of short break care. The service was piloting assessments of support carers within caregiver families own network at the time of approval to provide further stability and provide children and young people with a more natural experience of short breaks. • The service was committed to keeping brothers and sisters together and had a steering group to review practice in this area. We saw examples of creative practice to keep brothers and sisters together and a commitment to maintaining relationships. Children and Young People had access to supports from lifelong links with the aim create a connections plan for all looked after children to maintain important relationships. • Young people moving to continuing care and adult services had clear information about their rights and discussions around transition begun at an appropriate stage with engagement from the Throughcare Aftercare service. We saw positive outcomes of young people experiencing continued support from their fostering families after the age of 18. 5.2.4 The inspection evaluated the key questions “How well do we support people's wellbeing?” to be Good and “How well is our care and support planned?” to be Good. The “How good is our leadership?”, “How good is our staff team?” and “How good is our setting” key questions were not evaluated. 5.2.5 The inspection report sets out four Areas for Improvement which relate to further enhancing the quality of performance and practice within the service. A copy of the inspection report is provided in Appendix 1.
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5.2.6 The last inspection of the Fostering Service was completed in October 2017 and reported to the Executive Sub-Committee of Lifelong Learning Committee on 29 January 2018 (Report No. 18/19 refers). The Fostering Service was first inspected in September 2008 and Figure 1 below shows the inspection and grading history using the previous inspection model. The most recent inspection cannot be shown here as it was carried out using the new model with new key questions. Figure 1: Grading History, Fostering Service – Sep 2008 to Oct 2017 5.3 Adoption Service 5.3.1 The Care Inspectorate carried out an inspection of the Adoption Service on 31 May 2022. The inspection was announced at short notice. This level of inspection is carried out when the Care Inspectorate is satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care. 5.3.2 The Adoption Service provides a service for children and young people from birth and aims to recruit and support adoptive parents to provide permanent families for children who cannot live with their birth parents or extended family members and whose needs are best met through adoption. 5.3.3 The Care Inspectorate identified the following important key strengths and highlighted them in the report attached as Appendix 2: • Children experienced meaningful and trusting relationships and lived in stable and predictable home environments. • Children were supported to maintain meaningful relationships with extended family members, and significant birth family members. • Caregivers provided nurturing, trauma informed care, supported by staff who were skilled, knowledgeable, and responsive. • Staff's knowledge of children and their needs enhanced their ability to 'match' them with potential adopters. • Children's experiences and the potential impact this would have on their development and future needs was fully explored with caregivers.
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• Children's placement moves prioritised them and their needs and were progressed at a pace they were comfortable with. • Regular children's reviews ensured that children's holistic needs were regularly reviewed and updated within a multi-agency forum. 5.3.4 The inspection found the “How well do we support people's wellbeing?” to be Very Good and the “How well is our care and support planned?” to be Good. The “How good is our leadership?”, “How good is our staff team?” and “How good is our setting?” were not inspected. The inspection report does not set out any Areas for Improvement. 5.3.5 A copy of the inspection report is provided in Appendix 2. 5.3.6 The last inspection of the Fostering Service was completed in October 2017 and reported to the Executive Sub-Committee of Lifelong Learning Committee on 29 January 2018 (Report No. 18/19 refers). The Adoption Service was first inspected in September 2008 and Figure 2 below shows the inspection and grading history. The most recent inspection cannot be shown as carried out using the new model. Figure 2: Grading History, Adoption Service – Sep 2008 to Oct 2017 5.4 Adult Placement Service 5.4.1 The Care Inspectorate carried out an inspection of the Adult Placement Service on 31 May 2022. The inspection was announced at short notice. This level of inspection is carried out when the Care Inspectorate is satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care. 5.4.2 Supported Lodgings is an adult placement service run by Perth and Kinross Council, based at Scott Street. It recruits and supports carers to provide adult placements for young people leaving care from their local authority area and Children Alone Seeking Asylum. The service also supports carers providing Continuing Care to young people who they have previously looked after on a fostering basis.
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5.4.3 The Care Inspectorate identified the following important key strengths and highlighted them in the report attached as Appendix 3: • Young people experienced nurturing and supportive relationships with carers providing individualised care appropriate to their needs. Young people were living full lives, engaged with community resources and had access to a range of activities and learning opportunities, including group activities run by a youth resource hub. • Young People's health needs were comprehensively assessed and they had access to appropriate health resources. Young people had access to counselling services and health and wellbeing workers within the Throughcare Aftercare Service supported positive mental health. • Staff in the service demonstrated high levels of knowledge and skill in supporting carers and young people within the supported lodgings service. Staff had access to external Fostering Across Borders training which they delivered to carers coming forward to support Children Alone Seeking Asylum (CASA). • We received positive feedback from carers in relation to the quality of support provided and saw evidence of good joint working within the service. Staff received regular supervision to support them in their role and had access to annual appraisals to explore development and future learning opportunities. 5.4.4 The inspection found the “How well do we support people's wellbeing?” to be Very Good, “How good is our leadership?” to be Good, “How good is our staff team” to be Very Good and the “How well is our care and support planned?” to be Good. The “How good is our setting?” question was not inspected. 5.4.5 The inspection report sets out four Areas for Improvement which relate to further enhancing the quality of performance and practice within the service. A copy of the inspection report is provided in Appendix 3. 5.4.6 This inspection, completed on 31 May 2022, is the first time an inspection by the Care Inspectorate of the Adult Placement Service has been undertaken. 6. Conclusion 6.1 This report sets out the outcomes of the Care Inspectorate reports of Services for Children and Young People inspected and published since 29 January 2018. Inspection reports provide information on the standards and quality in our Fostering, Adoption and Adult Placement settings.
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Author Name Designation Contact Details Linda Richards Service Manager (Looked After Services) ECSCommittee@pkc.gov.uk 01738 475000 Approved Name Designation Date Sheena Devlin Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) 28 July 2022
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes/None Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement None Corporate Plan None Resource Implications Financial None Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance None Risk None Consultation Internal None External None Communication Communications Plan None 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the delivery of the Perth and Kinross Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement in terms of the following priorities: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to Objective No. (i). Corporate Plan 1.2 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the achievement of the Council’s Corporate Plan Objectives: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to Objective No. (i).
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1.3 The report also links to the Education & Children’s Services Vision, Values and Priorities in respect of the following key Priority area: • Care and Equity 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 N/A Workforce 2.2 N/A Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 N/A 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties. The proposals have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. However, no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report. This is because the Committee are requested to note the contents of the report only and the Committee are not being requested to approve, adopt or agree to an action or to set the framework for future decisions. Sustainability 3.3 N/A Legal and Governance 3.4 N/A
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3.5 N/A Risk 3.6 N/A 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 Service Managers within Education and Children’s Services have been consulted in the preparation of this report. External 4.2 N/A 5. Communication 5.1 N/A 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 No background papers, as defined by Section 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (and not containing confidential or exempt information) were relied on to a material extent in preparing the above report. 3. APPENDICES 3.1 Appendix 1 – Fostering Services Care Inspectorate Report Appendix 2 – Adoption Services Care Inspectorate Report Appendix 3 – Adult Placement Services Care Inspectorate Report