We inspect Fostering, Adoption and the Continuing Care Adult Placement Services using our Quality framework for fostering and adoption and adult placement services. Depending on the regulatory history of the service and our intelligence we carry out a “type 2” (Key Questions 1 and 5) or “type 3” inspection (Key Questions 1,2,3 and 5) using the following quality indicators:

Key Question 1: How well do we support children and young people’s wellbeing

QI 1.1 - Children, young people and adults and their caregiver families experience compassion, dignity, and respect.

QI 1.2 - Children, young people and adults get the most out of life.

QI 1.3 - Children, young people and adults’ health and wellbeing benefits from the care and support they experience.

QI 1.4 -Children, young people and adults and their caregiver families get the service that is right for them.

Key Question 2: How good is our leadership

QI 2.2 – Quality assurance and improvement are led well.

Key Question 3: How good is our staff team

QI 3.2 – Staff have the right knowledge, competence and development to support children, young people, adults and their caregiver families.

Key Question 5: How well is our care and support planned

QI 5.1 - Assessment and care planning reflects the outcomes and wishes of children, young people, and adults.

Following the Covid pandemic we will have inspected all adoption, fostering and linked adult placement services by 31 March 2025. We appreciate that these inspections require agencies to provide us with significant information, so in an attempt to reduce the regulatory burden, we are making some changes to how we inspect agencies next year (2025-26). We are also carrying out a methodology review, with the first stage having been to seek the views of the sector on the current inspection approach. Further consultation will take place as the review progresses.


2025/26 inspection changes

We have agreed that, to ensure continuity of inspection across the three service types, proportionate regulation, and to meet frequency rules, we will adopt a more flexible approach to regulation in the 2025-26 inspection year. Where the provider’s services all meet the criteria for inspection, the current methodology (outlined above) will apply. Where there are differences in evaluations, as stated in the following examples, a more flexible approach will be applied:

  • If the provider’s adult placement service is evaluated as good or above, the inspector will ask if there have been any changes to that service and then undertake an assurance inspection, validating the outcome of the last inspection and making contact with one young person, their carer and social worker.
  • If the adult placement service meets the criteria for inspection but evaluation of the provider’s fostering and adoption services is good or above, only the adult placement service will be inspected. We will not inspect the fostering and adoption service.
  • For services that have been evaluated as weak or less in any quality indicators they will have a number of requirements. We will consider undertaking a follow-up inspection to assess improvement in relation to requirements and report accordingly.
  • If a provider’s fostering or adoption service is evaluated as less than good, but the associated (fostering or adoption) service is evaluated as good or better, we will inspect the poorer performing service in line with our current methodology. For the better performing service we will inspect Key Question 1, QI 1.4, focusing on:

Discussions with:

  • people living in caregiver families
  • caregiver families
  • the manager and staff
  • child/young person/ social worker
  • parents
  • other professionals (if appropriate)

Information we will ask for:

If services have been inspected within the last 24 months we will ask the manager to send us any updated policies and procedures and any new information that highlights the development or improvement of the service.