Ofsted visits fostering service

The council’s fostering service has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted inspectors.

Inspectors rated Worcestershire Children First’s fostering agency as ‘good’ overall based on a five-day inspection in February.

Ofsted said Worcestershire Children First, which is run at arm’s length on behalf of Worcestershire County Council, had made good progress on upping its ‘requires improvement’ rating since its first ever – and most recent – inspection in September 2021.

Ofsted rated the ‘overall experience’ of children and young people in the fostering service as ‘good’ with WCF receiving the same grade for the level at which those same children and young people are helped and protected.

However, inspectors were less impressed with managers and the leadership at WCF saying their effectiveness ‘required improvement.’

Ofsted said it had found that children were happy, settled and felt safe when living with foster carers and children were now improving in areas – particularly at school – where they had struggled in the past.

Inspectors also said carers were “overwhelming positive” about the support they received from social workers – who would go “the extra mile” – and staff worked well together, alongside other professionals, to monitor and reduce the risks for the children and responded well to any incidents.

However, the fostering service was criticised by Ofsted for not having a registered manager for the last six months – having appointed two new people into the role only to see them drop out before taking up the position.

Inspectors said a manager must be put in place before its rating could improve.

Tina Russell, chief executive for Worcestershire Children First, said: “We are delighted that Ofsted have recognised the significant improvements in our fostering service and the positive impact it is having on the children and young people that are cared for.

“I am proud of the whole service and the leadership team.”

Ofsted singled out one “ambitious” member of staff who had taken on an interim lead in managing the fostering service with a “stable team of staff” and “clear vision for the future, whose approach was praised by WCF’s chief executive.

“This reflects the hard work and commitment I have seen in practice and I would urge anyone thinking of fostering to join us in our Worcestershire family,” she said.