A fostering agency has been criticised by inspectors for “widespread failures” which have put the welfare of children at risk.

Three legal notices have already been served on Kaleidoscope Therapeutic Child Care, in Tunstall, near Sittingbourne, by Ofsted, which condemned the lack of progress in its latest report.

It singled out the group’s inadequate leadership, inconsistent pre-employment checks and poor practice in storing medicine and warned it must make major improvements.

A report stated: “The quality of service provided to children and young people has been negatively impacted through inadequate leadership and management arrangements over a prolonged period.

“The safety of children and young people is impacted through poor practice around the storage of medication in foster homes and contradictory information in safeguarding policies, procedures and guidance.

“Pre-employment checks relating to panel members lack rigour and consistency... appraisals of staff do not accurately assess performance.

“Delays persist in taking foster carers to annual reviews and at times, information presented to the panel is inaccurate.”

The report comes after the privately-owned agency, which accepts referrals of children and young people with complex and challenging needs,was served three legal compliance notices after an Ofsted visit in April 2014.

During the latest inspection, it was responsible for eight children and young people who were being placed in 13 approved fostering households.

Chief executive of Kaleidoscope Angela Thorne, who has been at the helm of the agency since it opened 16 years ago, said: “Our foster carers have achieved some marvellous results in providing long-term family homes for children who have suffered early life traumas and abuse.

“For this reason, we were deeply disappointed and saddened that Ofsted judged the management and administration of our services to be inadequate in April 2014 and then again in November 2014.”

She added the rating was unexpected and, following it, the agency submitted an action plan for immediate improvement to Ofsted. At the beginning of this month, a new managing director was appointed to implement the necessary changes.