Concerns over shortage of foster places in Western Isles

A report by the Care Inspectorate has said that there is a shortage of available foster placements for children and young people in the Western Isles.

It also said that the recruitment and retention of caregivers “must be an area of priority” for Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s fostering service.

The finding came as the care watchdog published reports on short-notice follow-up inspections of the Comhairle’s fostering, adoption and continuing care services, all carried out earlier this year.

Across all three services, inspectors found that requirements previously set by the watchdog had not been met within the deadlines, and that “staffing challenges” had “hindered” progress on improvement work.

All three reports contain identical findings on staffing issues.

Following a review and restructure, the number of staff working across the services had increased. A new manager had been appointed and had been in post for only eight weeks at the time of the inspections. A relief social worker had also recently been appointed to “add resilience to staffing arrangements, which is important given the small size of the service.”

The reports say that the Comhairle has confidence that “the service was now equipped with the necessary staffing arrangements to carry out all tasks, responsibilities and improvement work required.”

All three reports add that at the time of the inspections, “there were no staff available to provide consistent support to caregivers due to long-term staff absence and lack of resilience in the service.”

The reports on the Comhairle’s fostering and continuing care adult placement services state that staff absence meant that “for significant periods of time” support for caregivers was “reactive rather than proactive,” with caregivers “often having to ask for help rather than being able to expect this as part of a planned package of support.”

Inspectors identified “situations where a lack of support and oversight contributed to an escalation of risk within fostering households,” leaving caregivers under “significant strain.”

But noted that the Comhairle was in the process of “building resilience into the staffing of the service to ensure this area of practice is urgently addressed.” When supervision visits were carried out these were “well recorded,” and caregivers “valued the skills and knowledge of their supervising social worker.”

The adoption service inspection found that the service lacked a record or overview of the support currently being provided to adoptive families, and no information was available outlining what adopters can expect from the service in relation to “assessment, support or processes.”

The continuing care inspection found that “there was an improved approach to planning for continuing care, and young people were better informed about their rights,” with a continuing care policy now in place ensuring “a seamless and supported transition” for young people remaining with their foster carers past the age of 18.

The most recent example of ‘life story work’ with children in the adoption service was found to be “of a very high quality,” reflecting “compassionate and considered practice based on warm and enduring relationships between the service and the child, their birth family, adoptive family and caregivers.”

Examples of “enduring and long-term connections maintained by caregivers with adopted children and their families” were found by inspectors, who noted caregivers’ “commitment to supporting children’s sense of identity as children grew older and as their needs and development changed,” and “a culture and ethos of inclusion, compassion and respect between caregivers, birth families and adoptive families.”

The Care Inspectorate extended the deadlines for completing the outstanding service improvements until later this year.

A Comhairle spokesperson said: “The Care Inspectorate has acknowledged that increased senior management oversight across fostering, adoption and adult placement services provides assurance that there is a coordinated approach to improvement planning.

“Following the publication of these inspection reports, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar will work closely with the Care Inspectorate to implement this improvement, continuing work towards meeting existing areas for improvement and the requirements outlined in the three reports.”