Ofsted!

Guidance on the registration of an independent fostering agency branch Introduction 1. The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) originally published guidance on the registration of a branch of an independent fostering agency. Ofsted is now responsible for registering and inspecting fostering agencies and we are issuing guidance as one of our publications. It restates the CSCI guidance to provide a consistent approach. 2. The Care Standards Act 2000 defines a fostering agency as: n an undertaking which consists of or includes discharging functions of local authorities in connection with the placing of children with foster parents or n a voluntary organisation which places children with foster parents under section 59(1) of the 1989 Act. 3. The definition of an independent fostering agency that we have adopted is: ‘an office(s) that is independently undertaking the majority of the key day-to-day activities of a fostering service’. Branches and registration 4. All independent fostering agencies must be registered with Ofsted. Each branch of an agency must be registered separately. The Care Standards Act 2000 states that: n ‘where the activities of an agency are carried on from two or more branches, each of those branches shall be treated as a separate agency for the purposes of this part’ and that n ‘a person who carries on or manages, or wishes to carry on or manage, more than one establishment or agency must make a separate application in respect of each of them’. 5. Our aim is to use a fair and consistent definition for a branch of an independent fostering agency. This only affects independent fostering agencies as the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 treat a local authority’s fostering services as a single entity. 6. We use the term ‘office base’ to mean a place of work. We have criteria to decide if an office base is a branch or just an office that is on a different site to the agency’s main office. 7. All our decisions must be based on what we find out from our inspections and we must take into account any day-to-day fostering activity that an office base is carrying out that is independent of the main office. How we decide if an office base is a branch 8. The key issues to consider are: n what are the day-to-day activities of a fostering service n how we decide that an office base is operating independently and therefore requires registration as a branch. The key activities of a fostering service 9. The core business of a fostering service is to recruit, assess, approve, train, supervise, support and review foster parents who care for children looked after by local authorities. 10. The Fostering Service Regulations list these key activities: n support, training and information for foster parents Regulation 17 (includes supervision) n establishment of a fostering panel Regulation 24 n assessment of prospective foster parents Regulation 27 (includes recruiting foster parents) n approval of foster parents Regulation 28 n reviews and terminations of approval Regulation 29. This is a branch 11. The functions of an independent fostering agency may be carried out from several office bases. 12. However, if an office base undertakes four or more of the key activities independently of its main office then it is a branch. Such an office base: n must have its own registration as a branch of the agency n will need its own manager and inspection regime. 13. A group of office bases can be a branch if they are working together independently of the main office to carry out fostering activities that equate to the majority of an agency’s key activities. 14. The criteria we use to consider if a group is a branch is listed below. n Is there a single statement of purpose for the group – that accurately and usefully describes the functions that the office bases undertake – or does each office base have its own statement? n Do the members of the group have: − the same policies, procedures and guidelines? − _common record keeping and administrative systems? − a common training plan for staff and carers? n Do the members of the group: − operate as one service or separate services? − self direct their own activities, or are their activities directed by another office? n What is the operational span of each member of the group? _We look for evidence that the members depend on each other. We take into consideration: − size of the geographical area that an office base covers − the number of placements that an office base supervises and the number of care staff – support workers, social workers and so forth – that it manages. 15. We use all the above criteria when considering if an office base or a group is a branch. It is possible that a decision can be made on the basis of only one of the criteria; for example, a large geographical coverage is likely to indicate independence of the main office. Branches and inspection 16. We inspect a fostering agency as one entity: we include the agency’s branches in its inspection. This is because a branch inspection will impact upon the judgements made upon all the agency’s branches. We will develop our fostering inspection methodology to take this into account. Question and answer Q: Why is Ofsted changing the policy towards independent fostering agencies operating from more than one site? A: We are not changing the policy. The policy we are adopting is the same policy operated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). Q: If Ofsted is not changing policy, why have you written to providers about it? A: We have written to inform fostering agencies of our intention to consistently apply this policy. Q: When will Ofsted begin applying the policy? A: We began applying the policy on 1 November 2008 for new registrations. For existing registrations we will seek to work with providers to achieve compliance by 1 September 2009. Q: What will happen next? A: Where we have evidence that office bases may require registration as a branch, we will undertake an inspection to assess the fostering activities undertaken by each one. Where an office base undertakes four or more of the activities of a fostering agency, the agency will be required to submit an application to register it as a branch. Q: Will I be charged a fee? A: We have no legal power to waive fees and so we will charge the full manager’s application fee and registration fees. Q: What will happen if I do not comply by the 1 September 2009? A: We will issue a notice of proposal to impose conditions on your registration that enable you to comply with our policy.