Torbay Council (18 018 203)

Category : Children's care services > Fostering

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 13 Dec 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s actions while she was a foster carer for a looked after child. She complains the Council did not provide her with appropriate support during the placement and failed in its duty of care to safeguard her and protect her from harm. We do not find fault with the Council.

The complaint

  1. Miss X was a foster carer with an agency. The Council placed a child in her care. Miss X complains about the following:
  • The fostering agency did not provide her with appropriate support during the child’s placement.
  • The fostering agency failed in its duty of care to safeguard her and protect her from harm.
  • The fostering agency did not complete an internal review of the incident as requested by the local authority designated officer

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
  3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I spoke to Miss X and considered the information she provided.
  2. I made enquiries with the Council and the fostering agency and considered the information they provided.
  3. I sent a draft decision to Miss X and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

What happened

  1. Child A is a looked after child. In January 2018, the Council commissioned a foster placement for A through Miss X’s fostering agency. The Council provided the agency with some information about A’s needs and behaviours. Miss X accepted the placement after reading this information.
  2. Before the placement started, Miss X met with A’s current foster carer and a Council duty social worker. A did have an allocated social worker. However, her social worker was on extended leave. In this meeting, more information came out about A’s behaviours and needs which had not been included in the information the Council had circulated when it was looking for a placement.
  3. A’s placement with Miss X started in January 2018.
  4. In February 2018, Miss X reported an incident with A where she needed to use physical intervention. Four days later, Miss X reported another incident where A had become physical and violent towards her.
  5. Miss X’s supervising social worker visited Miss X following these incidents to discuss the incidents. The supervising social worker also gave Miss X advice on various techniques and strategies she could use in the future. The supervising social worker also asked how Miss X was feeling and reassured her that her use of techniques were good.
  6. In March 2018, another incident occurred where A was physically violent towards Miss X. A hurt her thumb and fell over during the incident. Miss X’s supervising social worker visited Miss X following the incident. The social worker noted there were no safeguarding issues, but that Miss X needed training for how to safely manage situations and keep them both safe when A was violent. It was noted Miss X was booked on for managing behaviours training the following week.
  7. Two days after, another incident occurred where it was recorded Miss X needed to use physical intervention. Miss X says she held A’s hand and did not consider this a physical intervention. Miss X called the fostering agency during the incident to get help and support with A. The fostering agency arranged for another foster carer to visit Miss X and to help with A. The fostering agency also arranged for respite care for the weekend to help Miss X.
  8. The respite care arranged by the fostering agency did not go ahead as it was cancelled by the Council's social worker. The Council’s social worker said she had cancelled the respite as A had refused to leave.
  9. The fostering agency made the Council aware of the recent incidents and asked it for a stability meeting. A professionals meeting was held but a Council social worker did not attend. It was agreed the placement was not stable and for the fostering agency to support Miss X.
  10. Miss X attended two days training which covered managing behaviours. Following the training, her supervising social worker visited to discuss A and whether Miss X felt she could safely care for her. They discussed Miss X’s experience of controlling behaviour and physical abuse from a past relationship. Miss X and her supervising social worker also discussed Miss X’s mental and emotional wellbeing. Miss X said the training she had attended help and had given her some more strategies to use.
  11. Near the end of March 2018, Miss X disclosed to her supervising social worker A had kicked her twice and she had kicked A back. Miss X accepted she had kicked A on two occasions. The fostering agency told the Council what had happened, and the placement ended the same day. The Council social worker visited A to discuss the incident and confirmed A had not sustained any physical injuries.
  12. The Council held a local authority designated officer (LADO) meeting to discuss the incident. It was agreed the fostering agency would complete a full internal investigation into the matter and consider what further actions need to be taken regarding Miss X’s role as a foster carer.
  13. The fostering agency completed a review of approval report which covered what had happened in the weeks leading up to the incident where Miss X kicked A. The fostering agency recommended Miss X was de-registered as a foster carer.

Analysis

  1. The Council commissioned the fostering agency to provide a foster placement for A. This means the fostering agency was working on behalf of the Council.
  2. The evidence shows Miss X’s supervising officer visited Miss X after most incidents to discuss what had happened and how Miss X felt. On the occasions the supervising officer did not attend, Miss X had support from someone over the phone. It is also clear the supervising social worker discussed various strategies and techniques Miss X could use in the future. This support was appropriate.
  3. Appropriate support was further evidenced by the fact the supervising social worker arranged for another carer to help Miss X with A after an incident. The supervising social worker also arranged respite care for the weekend following an incident. This shows the fostering agency did consider Miss X’s wellbeing and feelings during the placement.
  4. Miss X also attended training on managing behaviours. This was appropriate as the supervising social worker had identified Miss X needed more support on managing difficult behaviour. The records also showed Miss X felt the training had been useful and had given her more techniques to use.
  5. Therefore, based on the evidence, I do not find fault with the Council for the support provided to Miss X during the placement. The evidence shows Miss X had support from her supervising social worker after every incident she reported. If Miss X felt the support provided was not enough, she should have raised it with her supervising social worker. There is no evidence she did this.
  6. Given the support provided was appropriate, I do not find the Council at fault for failing to safeguard and protect Miss X from harm.
  7. Miss X said the fostering agency did not complete an internal investigation as asked at the LADO meeting. However, the fostering agency did complete this as it prepared a review of approval report. This report detailed what had happened leading up to when Miss X kicked A. It also covered in detail what happened on the day Miss X disclosed she had kicked A.

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Final decision

  1. I do not find fault with the Council for the support it provided to Miss X during the placement, or for failing to safeguard and protect Miss X from harm.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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