News Headcorn club
is restarting HEADCORN Local History Soci- ety will restart meetings on Wednesday, September 30, with a quiz night in Headcorn Village Hall commencing 7.30pm. SThe meeting will be subject to
government regulations in opera- tion at the time.
Full details will be available on the village noticeboard and the local history newsletter, closer to the date.
Teston blaze
FIREFIGHTERS were called to a shed fire in Teston. Two fire engines were sent to
the scene in Courtlands at about 5pm on August 20 where the shed was fully alight. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used hosereel jets to tackle the flames and prevent fur- ther fire spread. No casualties were reported, and the cause of the blaze is be- lieved to be accidental.
downsmail.co.uk
Safety concerns force foster agency to close
A FOSTERING agency in Snod- land has been forced to shut after a damning Ofsted report. Attachments Fostering Ltd, an independent group based in East Street (pictured), was described by inspectors as “inadequate” across the board with “significant short- falls in leadership and manage- ment”.
The report states some carers
were put in situations where they had to look after children in “un- manageable and unrealistic” cir- cumstances.
In one case, a foster carer had re- peatedly described concerns about a child being at risk of sexual ex- ploitation, and another reported a child had gone missing.
In both cases, no written audit trail was completed about what had been done by staff to prevent it from happening again. The report states: “Poor match- ing practice has resulted in some children being placed with foster
carers who do not have the rele- vant skills or knowledge to meet their needs or to keep them safe. “The staff and managers respon- sible for making these judgements and decisions lack the relevant ex- perience and qualifications. “This practice has also
con-
tributed to some foster carers re- signing from the agency and children having to move. “In instances where children’s placements have broken down, managers have failed to learn lessons from this. The agency does
not operate within a culture of safety.”
Registered manager Dorothy King was also found to have been absent for a significant amount of time last year.
She assured inspectors “she was able to complete certain tasks re- motely while abroad”, such as the quality assurance of assessments. Inspectors disagreed and did not
find any evidence to support that this ever happened in practice. Kent County Council confirmed
the foster carers and children at At- tachments Fostering Ltd had been transferred to another agency. A spokesman said: “KCC takes its responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of children in its care very seriously. “All children remained with their foster carers, minimising disrup- tion and providing consistency of care and stability.” Attachments Fostering Ltd were not available for comment.
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