The good and not so good in Borders fostering and adoption

EXCLUSIVE by DOUG COLLIE

A team of inspectors has given Scottish Borders Council until the end of September to carry out improvements to the region's fostering and adoption services while also listing the strengths of the local regime.

Separate reports published by Scotland's Care Inspectorate today followed visits to the Borders between June 8th and June 29th this year. The inspection resulted in 'adequate' ratings for those aspects of fostering and adoption which came under the watchdog's spotlight. This equates to a 'score' of 3 on a 1-6 scale ranging from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 6 (excellent).

The fostering report explains that in 2021, there was an overall reduction in the number of available foster carers households in the Borders, as three new fostering households were recruited but nine carer households were deregistered. 

This resulted in an overall reduction from 81 to 67 approved places available for children and young people. In recent years, a high proportion of foster placements have converted to continuing care placements as young people have been able to 'stay put' in their foster families, changing the overall profile of the service.

According to the inspectorate the key messages resulting from the investigation were: " Relationships between children and their carers, and carers and the service are strong. Young people are supported to reach their potential in all areas of life. 

"The service needs to bring the language used by the service in line with The Promise, to move away from the use of stigmatising terminology. The service is committed to helping young people maintain connections with their families. The provider [SBC] needs to develop a more robust system for the recording and analysis of incidents and accidents, including child protection concerns and allegations against carers.

"As a matter of urgency, the local authority must ensure that all children in need of permanent care have their assessments completed and plans carried out without unnecessary delay. The provider must ensure that even when a move to a foster family is unplanned, that there is clear identification that the fostering family has the capacity to meet the needs of the child. The service and local authority have embraced the ethos of continuing care, with a large proportion of young people 'staying put' beyond the age of 18.

When it comes to supporting people's wellbeing, the report says: "We have evaluated this key question as adequate, where there were some significant weaknesses which impacted on outcomes for a number of children and young people, but these were just outweighed by important strengths that were found. Many children and young people living in fostering families experienced positive and enduring relationships with their foster carers. Young people felt they were part of their foster families and were valued as individuals."

The council is told: "The service should stop the use of terminology that we know care experienced young people experience as offensive or stigmatising. In particular the service needs to begin to use the national placement descriptor, 'short break' and stop using the term 'respite'"

There were plenty of positives in the report too. Young people experienced continuity in short break provision through the use of friends and family. The service has a clear vision for the provision of short break support for children and carers and is recruiting specifically for this role to provide a pool of carers who can provide consistency to young people who require this service. Carers benefit from a full and varied programme of required training, which supports a therapeutic approach to parenting. Carer progress with training was reviewed in supervision and at the fostering panel.

However, the inspectors also state: "Children in need of permanent care often experience drift and delay in planning and assessment, although we saw some recent examples of good practice. Delay was particularly apparent for children who were older at the time of coming into foster care, and children who were part of large groups of brothers and sisters, but this also applied to some babies and younger children."

The Borders council has permanence monitoring processes in place and supervising social workers and the family placement managers were strong advocates for plans to be progressed, offering knowledgeable support to their children and families team colleagues.

But this had minimal impact on outcomes for many children who remained in temporary care placements, sometimes for many years. As a matter of urgency, the local authority must ensure that all children in need of permanent care have their assessments completed and plans carried out without unnecessary delay.

"Some children and young people experienced moves to foster care that were not well planned and had a destabilising effect on carers and their families. We also noted an example of a carer being outside of statutory limits. The service should improve its referral and matching process, and this will form a requirement. Young people are made aware from an early stage of their right to 'stay put' in continuing care beyond the age of 18, and this ethos has clearly been embraced by the local authority resulting in excellent outcomes for those young people who stay in placement in all areas of wellbeing."

The inspection report says that by 30 September 2022, the provider must ensure that all children in need of permanent care have their assessments completed and plans carried out without unnecessary delay. To do this the provider must, at a minimum, ensure: a) All children in need of permanent fostering have their plans reviewed by managers. b) Managers maintain an overview of all timescales taken when planning for children in need of permanent foster care and address and resource any delays. c) Assessments are carried out and children are presented at permanence panel within timescales. 

And also by 30 September 2022, the provider must ensure that there is clear identification that the fostering family has the capacity to meet the needs of the child. To do this the provider must, at a minimum, ensure: a) There is a clear referral process which outlines the needs to children needing alternative care. b) The strengths and vulnerabilities of carers in relation to meeting the needs of individual children are clearly identified. c) Any carers going over approval are returned to panel for discussion within a short period of time.

The report on the adoption service inspection also makes recommendations aimed at bringing about improvements.

In this case the key messages are: * Relationships between children and their carers, and carers and the service are strong. * Young people are supported to reach their potential in all areas of life. * The service needs to bring the language used by the service in line with The Promise, to move away form the use of stigmatising terminology. * The service is committed to helping young people maintain connections with their families. 

"*The provider needs to develop a more robust system for the recording and analysis of incidents and accidents, including child protection concerns and allegations against carers. * As a matter of urgency, the local authority must ensure that all children in need of permanent care have their assessments completed and plans carried out without unnecessary delay. * The provider must ensure that even when a move to a foster family is unplanned, that there is clear identification that the fostering family has the capacity to meet the needs of the child. * The service should take a more proactive approach to post adoption support."

Requirements - By 30 September 2022, the provider must ensure that all children in need of permanent care have their assessments completed and plans carried out without unnecessary delay. To do this the provider must, at a minimum, ensure: a) All children in need of permanent fostering have their plans reviewed by managers. b) Managers maintain an overview of all timescales taken when planning for children in need of permanent foster care and address and resource any delays. c) Assessments are carried out and children are presented at permanence panel within timescales.