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London Borough of Waltham Forest

Private Fostering Annual Report

April 2018 – March 2019

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Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3

Legal definition of a privately fostered child ......................................................... 4

The legal duties and functions of the Local Authority .......................................... 6

National Minimum Standards .................................................................................. 6

Performance Data..................................................................................................... 7

Awareness Raising About Private Fostering ......................................................... 9

Notification Arrangements .................................................................................... 10

Advice and Support ............................................................................................... 10

Safeguarding and promoting welfare…………………………………………………12

Action Plan 2019/2020…………………...………………………………………………13

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2.Introduction

2.1 Private fostering (PF) is a statutory duty underpinned by the Children Act 1989.

Sections 66-70, Children Act, 1989 defines private fostering and makes clear the

duty of the Local Authority to safeguard the welfare of young people subject to these

arrangements and give advice to carers as required.

Schedule 8 of the 1989 Act sets out the role of the Local Authority in more depth,

updated by Schedule 8 of the 2004 children Act, making clear the duty to promote

public awareness of private fostering.

2.2 The National Minimum Standards for private fostering were published in 2005,

under the Children Act, 2004. These set out the duties of the local authority in their

arrangements for Private Fostering.

The Department has policy documents covering Private Fostering which includes a

Statement of Purpose, updated in July 2018. This Annual report should therefore be

read in conjunction with the Waltham Forest Statement of Purpose 2018.

2.3 Within the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the Multi Agency Safeguarding

Hub (MASH) in the Referral & Assessment Team, and the Fostering Team in

Corporate Parenting Placements Service are jointly responsible for private fostering

arrangements in the Borough.

2.4 Private Fostering Assessments and the monitoring of the arrangements are

undertaken by a dedicated Private Fostering Social worker within the Fostering

Service. This person assesses the suitability and safety of these placements and

supports children and young people subject to these arrangements.

Within the London Borough of Waltham Forest, the Fostering Service is responsible

for assessing, regulating and supporting private fostering arrangements in the

Borough, once they have been identified by The Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub

(MASH) as a Private Fostering notification. These services are all located at the

following address and referrals should be made here:

Waltham Forest Children’s Services

Willow House

Forest Road

Walthamstow

E17 4UH

Tel: 0208 496 2310

Email MASHrequests@walthamforest.gov.uk

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All services are fully committed to maintaining high standards in relation to private

fostering provision and to review this on a regular basis.

2.5 The Assistant Directors for Corporate Parenting and Safeguarding are

responsible for ensuring good practice and will review practice bi-annually at senior

management meetings (CSLT). The review of service will be the responsibility of the

Divisional Director of Children’s Social Care Service in conjunction with the Assistant

Director for Corporate Parenting Services. London Borough of Waltham Forest

Private Fostering service is regulated by OFSTED. This year, OFSTED visited

Waltham Forest in January to February. Inspection results were good. OFSTED

commented that

“Services for children in Waltham Forest are good and have significantly improved

since the last inspection in the year 2015.” (Inspection of children social care

services, February 2019).

Privately Fostered children and young people will come from a diversity of

backgrounds and circumstances. All professionals should take account of the

specific needs of each privately fostered child/young person including that of

ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, class and disability. The

Council is committed to ensuring that services are provided in a manner that does

not discriminate at organisational, family or individual levels. In Waltham Forest,

children, young people and their families receive the right level of service through

well developed multi agency working. This was corroborated by OFSTED in their

2019 inspection. This contributes to achieving good outcomes for children.

3. Legal definition of a privately fostered child

3.1 A child under the age of 16 (18 if disabled), who is cared for or proposed to be

cared for, and provided with accommodation by someone other than: -

A parent

A person who is not a parent but has parental responsibility

A close relative, i.e. aunt/uncle/step-parent/grand-parent/sibling but not a

cousin or great aunt/uncle.

Cared for or accommodated by that person for 28 days or more, or the period

of actual fostering is less than 28 days but the foster carer intends to foster

him/her for more than 28 days

The arrangement is seen as private fostering if it meets the criteria above

whether for reward (monetary or otherwise) or not.

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A child is not privately fostered if the person caring for him/her;

- Had done so for a period of less than 28 days

- Does not intend to do so for any longer period

3.2 Common situations in which a child/young person may be privately

fostered

3.1 In the past year there has been a transformation around the nature of referrals.

While historically, many of the children who were privately fostered were from West

African families, this is no longer the case. Increasingly referrals are made about a

wide range of situations and vary enormously. Below are some examples of the

origins and the route of current referrals;

Referrals are made about local teenage children living in private fostering

situations.

Children and young people with parents and family who live overseas – where

parents have sent them to live with relatives or other acquaintances in the

hope that they will have better life experiences. In such cases parents who

remain in their country of origin are unable to exercise Parental responsibility.

Children and young people with parents who are studying in the UK –such

children may be babies or toddlers whose parents have demanding study or

careers. These parents may arrange for them to be cared for by extended

family members (but not relatives as defined in the Children Act 1989), or by

other people within the community.

Asylum seekers/refugees – these children and young people may have

travelled to the UK with other adults and may have experienced great trauma

and torture. Because they have entered the UK with an adult they may not

have been seen as unaccompanied at the time but later live with strangers.

The same can apply to children and young people who have acquired refugee

status.

Trafficked young people – such children and young people are generally

young teenagers who do not attend school and are at risk of exploitation.

Local young people living apart from their families- these may be adolescents

estranged from their family and may be living with former neighbours or

friends. Some children whose parents are drug abusers can be left with other

people for extended periods of time.

Children and young people who are attending language schools or who are at

Independent boarding schools.

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Children and young people brought into the country for adoption – children in

this situation would be seen as privately fostered until formal notification of

adoption has been made.

4. The legal duties and functions of the Local Authority

4.1 The London Borough of Waltham Forest has a duty to act on notifications about

private fostering arrangements in their area and satisfy themselves that the welfare

of privately fostered children is being safeguarded and promoted and give advice to

those caring for them and to their parents. The Children’s Act 1989 (Section 67(1))

outlines three duties:

Giving and receiving notifications

Ascertaining the suitability of private foster carers and their households

Monitoring placements through visits and written records of visits

5. National Minimum Standards

5.1 The National Minimum Standards for Private Fostering (2005) Standard 7

requires the local authority to have in place an effective system for monitoring its

duties and functions in relation to private fostering and to improve practice.

The local authority provides a written report each year, for consideration by

the Director of Children’s Services, which includes an evaluation of the

outcomes of its work in relation to privately fostered children within its area.

The local authority reports annually to the Chair of the Area Child Protection

Committee (or its successor body, the Local Safeguarding Children Board) on

how it satisfies itself that the welfare of privately fostered children in its area is

satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted, including how it co-operates with

other agencies in this connection.

5.2 Additional measures under the Children Act 2004 and the Private Fostering

Regulations 2005 are intended to strengthen the notification scheme. Local

Authorities are also required to raise public awareness in their area of the

requirements regarding notification. Notifications must now be made to the authority

when it is proposed that a child will be privately fostered and when he/she is privately

fostered.

The purpose of these measures is to focus the authorities’ attention on private

fostering and requires a proactive approach with partners and other professionals in

identifying arrangements in the area and in improving upon notification rates and

compliance with legislation.

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5.3 The named person within the local authority with expertise in private fostering is

the dedicated Private Fostering Social Worker within the Fostering Team.

The named managers, who sign off decisions about the overall suitability of private

fostering arrangements, are the Head of Service for Placements, Corporate

Parenting, the Head of Service for MASH and the Team Manager of the Fostering

Team.

5.4 All Private Fostering Assessments are presented to a Private Fostering Panel

which meets every 8 weeks. Panel members are senior representatives from MASH

and Fostering. This panel oversees all new Private Fostering Assessments to offer

advice and support . The panel also reviews the open cases annually as and when

the need arises.

6. Performance Data

6.1 The Local Authority monitors, through the Performance Team and the inclusion

of Private Fostering performance in the Children’s Services dashboard, the

performance measures which used to be required for the year and the Government

annual returns. Whilst the government no longer collects these figures, the service

continues to monitor to ensure continued service delivery.

6.2 There is a duty to visit and begin the assessment of any Private Fostering

notification within 7 days. The assessment process regarding the suitability and

safety of the arrangement should be completed within 42 days from the time of the

notification and will be signed off by the Team Manager of the Fostering Team

before being considered by the Head of Service for Placements, Corporate

Parenting Service, and where appropriate, in consultation with the Head of Service

for MASH.

6.3 In 2018/19, there were 7 notifications of privately fostered children. All but one,

received an initial visit from a social worker within 7 days of notification of the

arrangement. This is in line with private fostering regulations.

6.4 Whilst the initial timescales were not fully met for assessments in 2018/19,

children who were in private fostering arrangement during 2018/19 received ongoing

visits from a social worker. There were couple of cases where the ongoing support

visits were out of time scales mainly as a result of social worker and foster carers

unable to make a mutually convenient time due foster carers employment /work

pattern.

Not more than 6 week intervals during the first year of the arrangements

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In the second or subsequent years not more than intervals of 12 weeks

Number of notifications of new Private Fostering arrangements

received during the year 7

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

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Number of cases where action was taken within 7 working days

of receipt of notification 6

Number of new arrangements that began during 2018/19 2

Number of notifications of private fostering arrangements

coming to an end during the year 7

Number of children under private fostering arrangements at any

point in 2018/2019 10

6.5 Country of Origin

The Table below shows the origin those newly Privately Fostered during 2018/19–

Age Groups

Black or Black British

Asian or Asian British

White Mixed Not recorded

Total

1 - 4 yrs 0 0 0 0 0 0

5 - 9 yrs 0 0 0 1 0 1

10 - 15 yrs 0 1 0 0 0 1

16 & Over 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 0 1 0 1 0 2

6.6 In previous years it was identified that the poor performance in initial visits was

due to time taken to transfer cases from MASH to Fostering, alongside difficulties in

contacting families to arrange visits within 7 days. However, this year, following

OFSTED inspection, inspectors have identified significant progress in this area.

Inspectors commented that;

“The Waltham Forest Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), provides a timely and

effective response to referrals by professionals and members of the public to help

ensure that children needs are met at the earliest opportunity.” (OFSTED – report

Feb 2019, pg 3)

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This is certainly a positive outcome because, in our annual report 2017/18 it was

indicated that we would be looking to improve the working relations between MASH

team, the fostering team and families. With this objective having been achieved, the

council can work towards maintaining meeting the time scales in line with Private

Fostering Regulations 2005. During 18/19, the private fostering worker staffed a bus

tour campaign along with other services to raise awareness of Private fostering.

Throughout the year publicity materials were circulated to other partner agencies

including health and education.

Following a gap of around six months, Waltham Forest were able to recruit a

specialist Private Fostering social worker in February 2019 whose responsibilities

include creating and raising awareness of private fostering arrangements across the

partnership, internally within the Council and externally, with partner agencies and

the public. The worker takes responsibility for all private fostering arrangements,

undertaking initial visits, assessments and subsequent supervisory visits. During

18/19, plans were developed to initiate awareness sessions with a variety of sectors,

did not progressed as effectively as was originally hoped, due partly to the absence

of the PF worker. However, a number of preparatory actions were completed.

A number of LSCB training events have been held raising awareness of

safeguarding in general, but also includes reference to Private Fostering. Individual

agency and multi-agency briefings will be included in the action plan to raise

awareness in the forthcoming year

During the absence of a private fostering worker, as an interim arrangement,

fostering social workers provided continuity around visits and assessments of

ongoing cases. This arrangement has now been seized and all work related to

private fostering has now been taken over by the specialist private fostering worker

following joint visits to the families.

7.Awareness Raising

7.1 Waltham Forest suspects that private Fostering continues to be underreported;

meaning that the focus on raising awareness remains crucial. This resonates with

many local authorities attending Private Fostering Special Interest Group (PFSIG)of

which the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a member. Underreporting is

thought to be as a result of poor professional and public awareness and

disinclination of those participating in private fostering to invite official scrutiny of the

arrangement.

7.2 From December 2015, the DfE stopped collating data on Private Fostering

arrangements, instead collecting additional data within the children in need census to

better identity the types of arrangements posing most risk of harm to children.

However, this did not remove the requirement of each local authority to continue to

collect their own data on private fostering arrangements. With this in mind, we can

no longer compare with our statistical and geographical neighbours as a measure of

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our own performance. However, we receive anecdotal evidence from the PFSIG

which allows us to keep abreast of issues and themes.

Waltham Forest however continues to have the following objectives in relation to

promoting awareness of private fostering:

• To raise awareness and understanding about private fostering among the

general public;

• To raise awareness of the need to notify among private foster carers, parents

of privately fostered children and the children who are privately fostered;

• To enable local agencies, faith and community organisations, schools, health

centres and other professionals to gain awareness of private fostering notification

requirements;

• To see an increase in private fostering notifications.

8. Notification Arrangements

8.1 The Children’s Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), based in Safeguarding

Families Service receives all new enquiries and referrals regarding proposed or

existing Private Fostering arrangements. Once it has been confirmed that a child’s

circumstances fit the criteria for private fostering, and the child is considered to be

adequately safeguarded in such an arrangement, the case is transferred to the

Private Fostering Social Worker based in Fostering Services. The current

arrangements aim to ensure there is a timely and coordinated response to all Private

Fostering arrangements notifications to the Department.

Appendix 1 illustrates the above process.

9. Advice and Support

The Private Fostering Social Worker ensures that private foster carers, parents and

children receive appropriate advice and support. Where appropriate the Private

Fostering Social Worker will direct people as to how best to resolve any Legal or

immigration status issues that arise for the children or young people subject to

Private Fostering arrangements.

10. Safeguarding and promoting welfare

10.1 As stated above, notifications are currently processed through MASH before being

passed on to the manager in Private Fostering and the Private Fostering Social Worker. The

Private fostering Social worker will pursue a formal safeguarding route under the remit of

safeguarding. Once it is established that it is a viable private fostering arrangement, six

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weekly statutory visit, undertaken by the Private social worker, to monitor the welfare for the

child are put in place. Statutory visits include support for the private carers ensuring the

following;

• The household is compliant under Health and Safety regulations.

• The Private carers are kept up to date with changing laws and regulations.

• The child’s needs are met.

11. Action Plan 2019/2020

1. The Local Authority Statement of Purpose in relation to the Private Fostering

continues to be reviewed annually, every July.

2. The Local authority has successfully appointed the private fostering worker in

February 2019 following a gap of six months. With manpower now available, Local

Authority intends to host a private fostering conference in the autumn to bring the

experience and good practice under one roof. Practitioners and experts will be invited

to share and learn from the conference. The outcome will be shared with other

interested groups for them to utilise it in their area of work.

3. As part of strategic planning, private fostering joined up the with foster care

recruitment team in January 2019 to share their resource for all public events and will

use the opportunity to create awareness on Private Fostering service. The joint up

work has been in place for over 3 months and is progressing well.

4. We have further collaborated with MASH to utilise their existing training schedules for

the year 19/20 and will deliver joint training to local hospitals, education and police for

this year.

5. To re-establish and strengthen links with local agencies, faith and community

organisations, schools, health centres and other professionals to create awareness

on private fostering. We intend to build on the work from last year in identifying these

organisations within Waltham forest and expand to include organisations based on

the periphery of Waltham forest.

6. The Private Fostering social worker will continue to participate in the Fostering

Specialist Interest Groups ((PFSIG) run by CoramBaaf and use this as mechanism

for shared learning.

7. We will reinstate links with LSCB and share their training platform to raise awareness

on private fostering.

8. The Local authority will continue to deliver tailor made training packages to

education, health, Police and social workers where need arises.

9. Bespoke training will also be aimed at children centres and voluntary advice

providers within the borough. The Private Fostering social worker will continue to

work with partner agencies and children workforce practitioners to deliver training as

part of raising awareness on the service.

10. As part of the Safe and Well month, in June 2019, we intend to get involved as part

of corporate initiative. This will give us a platform to interact with agencies’ and

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individuals who are looking after other people’s children through a personal

arrangement.

11. Build on established links with Citizens Advice Bureau, local youth, football clubs to

offer training and support.

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APPENDIX 1- PRIVATE FOSTERING WORKFLOW

Referral Process

Information needed by Fostering

Initial contact to MASH as single point of referral from the public/

professionals by telephone, e-mail or other contact source. Screening/

Checks on Carer and Child undertaken to include safeguarding risks

from the referral.

Child’s Name, D.O.B. Parents address, Carers address and

relationship to the child. Siblings any other involved

authority/agency

If the child is living with a blood

relative i.e. grandparents or

significant other with P.R.

If the child is under the age of

16 (18 if disabled). Refer to

Private Fostering Criteria

If the child is living with or going to live with a friend of the family or someone with no connection to the child’s immediate family. If the period of stay is going to be for a period of 28 days or more.

It is unlikely that this is a private

fostering arrangement, refer to

private fostering criteria

TM/Case discussion with MASH Manager/ LADO in the event safeguarding issues identified. Tasked back to MASH for Child & Family Assessment

Possible Private Fostering

Arrangement. Allocate to PF

Social Worker to be completed

within 42 days

Private Fostering Episode

completed and ‘tasked’ to

Fostering Team Manager for

case allocation

PF Social Worker then

completes PF Regulatory Visits.