Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Blackburn with Darwen

Unique reference number SC467268 Inspection date 30/01/2014 Inspector Elaine Clare Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 29/09/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Brief description of the service

The home is registered to provide care for six young people, of either gender, with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned by a private company.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be inadequate .

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Overall effectiveness

This is the home’s first inspection since it opened in October 2013. Although the home has been registered for less than three months, Ofsted made a decision to undertake an early full inspection, following information received which identified serious concerns in relation to the safety and well-being of young people living at the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Management is poor. Despite most staff having little or no experience of residential childcare, the home has chosen to admit complex and very challenging young people. This does not support staff to adapt to their new roles or develop as a team. Problems caused by the inappropriateness of admissions are exacerbated by the fact that young people have significant histories of risk-taking behaviours. The expectation that a new staff team could effectively address such complex needs demonstrates a lack of understanding around the potential behaviour of these young people and the ability of their staff team to care adequately for these young people. It also demonstrates shortfalls around admission and risk assessment procedures at the home and by the organisation.

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Overall effectiveness

The scale of damaging behaviours is a reflection of the failure of the home to make proper provision for the care of its residents. There are routine restrictions to physical movement around the home that are not acceptable. For most young people, outcomes are poor because poor behaviour not only continues, but increases following admission to the home. Consequently, there is a higher risk of young people not achieving positive outcomes. Staff do not have the confidence or capacity to enforce boundaries consistently. The home is not able to keep young people safe because it cannot limit their risk-taking behaviours. One young person said, 'I hate it here, I'm just trying to keep my head down so I can return to (home city)'.

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Overall effectiveness

Because most young people do not attend school or other education provision, they are not able to gain qualifications or experience that might lead to employment. The health needs of young people are not met because medication is not being issued as prescribed and the home is not able to overcome resistance to engagement with specialist drug, or smoking cessation clinics.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are not currently sufficiently skilled or experienced to meet the needs of young people, and subsequently, the home is not making proper provision for the welfare, care, education and supervision of young people. The Registered Manager is not currently managing the home with competency and skill and is not informing professional bodies of notifiable events. Records are not being completed professionally.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) manage the home with sufficient care, competence and skill (Regulation 9(1)) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) promote and make proper provision for the care, welfare and supervision of children accommodated there (Regulation 11(1)(a)) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) implement a written policy, (“the behaviour management policy”) the means whereby appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the home (Regulation 17B(1)(b)) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) promote the educational achievement of children accommodated in the children's home in particular by ensuring that the routine of the home is organised so as to further children's participation in education, including regular attendance at school and participation in school activities of children of compulsory school age or regular attendance at college where applicable (Regulation 18(1)(b)) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) promote and protect the physical health of children, in particular take action to reduce or cease smoking by children (Regulation 20(1)(d)) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in 20/03/2014 column 2 of the table (Regulation 30(1)) *

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that people employed to work at the children's home unless that person is fit to work at a children's home (Regulation 26 (1) (a) ) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the person who carries out visits to the home in line with Regulation 33 shall interview with their consent and in private such of the children accommodated there their parents relatives and persons working at the home as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home. (Regulation 33 (4) (a) 26/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure prescribed medication is only given to the child for whom it was prescribed and in accordance with the prescription (NMS 6.14)  ensure the home's location and design promotes children's health, safety and wellbeing and avoids factors such as excessive isolation; this is with particular regard to identifying where the home is (NMS 10.2)  ensure that any risk reduction does not lead to an institutional feel; remove locks from communal areas and food cupboards (NMS 10.3)  ensure information about the child is recorded clearly and in a way which will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future (NMS 22.5)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are inadequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have not taken steps towards achieving good outcomes. Although they have lived at the home for a very short period, their prospect of achieving success and positive outcomes is reduced. This is because the inexperienced staff team and the Registered Manager are not able to address entrenched patterns of antisocial behaviour. The majority of young people do not make a positive contribution to their home or the wider community. Damaging behaviours and hostility towards staff mean that the home is not a nurturing or enriching environment in which young people can develop.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are not encouraged to develop their own identity or a positive self- view through individualised care planning. For example the homes social care plans contain standard phrases. The Registered Manager explained this was because there are common similarities between the young people. Care plans do not encapsulate the views of the young people, and when asked about care plans, they knew nothing about them. The Registered Managers uses a tracker system which monitors young people's progress against the outcome judgements of the Ofsted grade descriptors. They are not child centred and serve to confuse the reader to their purpose. The information is not shared with the young people's social worker and therefore they have no way to monitor any progress the young people are making. Relationships with staff are more about having a friendship and are not sufficiently firm enough to promote the young people's identity and encourage positive social and emotional

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have not sustained good attendance at education despite the employment of an on-site tutor. For example, prior to placement, young people did attend some education with a plan for one young person to attend a main stream school. However since arriving at the home young people have opted to abstain from education and stay in bed. Young people are embarking on a phased programme of school days in order to return to the routine of full time education. However, it is too soon to see the benefits to young people's educational outcomes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Behaviours of young people mean that the home has not been a calm environment that would enable young people to focus on homework and personal study. The home is not registered as a school; education is provided by the on-site tutor who is employed by the organisation. Very limited progress has been made towards encouraging young people to recognise the value of education. Consequently, there is little prospect of young people achieving educational success.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Where young people are admitted to the home with concerning levels of drug misuse, they make no progress towards addressing these issues. The Registered Manager explains that due to the remoteness of the home young people are unable to access harmful drugs. There has been no professional help to address the cause of the drug misuse and therefore there has been no effective intervention to prevent such behaviours reoccurring. The staff team’s inability to manage medication effectively means that medicines have not been issued as prescribed. As a result, young people have poor health outcomes.

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Quality of care

The home has an inadequate approach to the planning and delivery of young people's care. Placement plans outline their needs but these are often similar to those of other young people in the home. They detail specific aims for the month in bold however progress judgements that have been made by the Registered Manager are often unrealistic. Key-work sessions are often just conversations staff have had with young people, handwritten and of poor quality. There are not planned and do not always enable young people and staff to explore recent concerns or events that have happened in their lives. For example, young people damaging the property with an iron bar have not been addressed within a key-work session. This shortfall prevents young people from exploring the issues that were around for them at a particular time and help them learn from their experience. The whole staff team takes responsibility for supporting the young people, and all issues pertinent to the

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Quality of care

young people are discussed at weekly team meetings.

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Quality of care

At times young people behave well and have positive relationships with staff. Staff members enjoy playing on the games console with young people or taking them to watch football. Other times the home is not a nurturing environment for young people and the home is chaotic. Young people have been involved in or witnessed violence, aggression and hostility towards care staff and the home. Police have been called to the home to assist staff members in managing the poor behaviour in the home. On occasion, staff have been threatened to the extent that they have felt they had to lock themselves in an office while waiting for support from the police. As a result young people are not afforded the opportunity to grow and develop in a pleasant or stable household.

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Quality of care

Young people reside in a home which does not strongly demonstrate a commitment to their health. Staff support young people to access local primary health care services; however, young people rarely utilise these resources. Young people are involved in smoking cigarettes which will have long-term consequences on their physical health. One young person said, 'Staff said I can smoke here'. Young people are significantly under the legal age to smoke and purchase cigarettes, however they are still managing to do this while in the supervision of staff. Young people do influence the menu and eat a range of international dishes. Meals are relatively balanced. Young people are encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle as the home provides a broad selection of fresh fruit, healthy snacks and meals. Eggs are collected daily from the home's chickens for use at the home.

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Quality of care

All young people understand their wishes may not always be met. Staff take time to explain the reasons why, using language and rationale which is appropriate for the individual. Young people have made nine complaints since the three months the home has been opened. In addition there has been one complaint about the home made by the police. Complaints processes are clear, readily available and understood. Young people say the staff are very approachable. They routinely seek out staff as well as the manager, and confirm they can easily contact their own family members and social workers in private. This creates an open and transparent environment, within which young people understand and value their rights to be heard.

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Quality of care

Young people are provided with a limited range of appropriate leisure facilities in the home. For example, there is a games console and a computer will be available when it is set up. Young people enjoy listening to music on the wide screen television. Young people who have an interest in football or ice hockey have been taken to watch matches or have visited the gym.

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Quality of care

The home is situated in a remote area and accessibility is only available by car or foot. Delivery drivers have been unwilling to make deliveries to the property due to its poor accessibility and staff have had to meet drivers in a local pub car park to take delivery of items for the home. Police have expressed concerns that the home does not provide adequate signage to its’ whereabouts. They recount that they have driven past the site several times when they have been called to the home in an emergency. As a result this places young people and staff at risk as assistance can be delayed while the emergency services try to locate the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is inadequate at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Local police have expressed their concerns to the home, the Local Authority Designated Officer for safeguarding, and Ofsted that young people are not safe due to the failure to effectively manage challenging and risk-taking behaviours. Staff do not have the confidence and or experience to act as good parents when young people place themselves at risk of harm. While staff do offer advice and guidance to young people, they lack sufficient authority to enforce boundaries. Staff and managers are ineffective in response to violence, intimidation, smoking in the home, and property damage. Consequently young people are not safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Neither management or the organisation have made sufficient effort to support staff to address challenging behaviours. For example re-training or the deployment of more experienced staff from other homes. There has been little progress towards providing young people with stable routines or enabling them to make constructive use of their time. To limit the level of property damage, staff are instructed to lock the food cupboard and the doors to communal areas in the evening, prior to bedtimes. This is an unnecessary restriction of movement within the home. This action has fostered resentment and further defiant behaviour from young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are vulnerable due to a lack of overall stability in the home. This is partially as a result of poor decisions around admissions. All the placements are of a short-term nature, some with a history of high-risk taking behaviours and numerous placement breakdowns. The Local Authority where the home is situated have not been informed, in writing, of the admission or discharge of young people into the children's home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people continue to be unsafe by placing themselves and others from the home at risk of harm due to going missing. There have been six episodes of children going missing from care in the few months the home has been opened. Although current interventions are not consistently working, there is insufficient evidence to show that the home is doing enough to keep young people safe. It is however acknowledged that the home is trying to provide stability of placement rather than terminate placements. As a result, there are some tentative signs that progress is being made, with young people starting to form relationships with key staff members.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Reasonable recruitment processes provide appropriate safeguards for young people. New staff members do not commence their employment until all checks and references are satisfactorily returned. All staff members renew the Disclosure Barring Scheme checks every three years. Senior staff are trained in safer recruitment and generally follow good recruitment practices. However, poor judgement has been made in recruiting many staff with no qualifications or experience in childcare. These practices have allowed inexperienced and unsuitable candidates to work in the home

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are inadequate .

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Leadership and management

Management of the home is not effective. Most young people are admitted to the home with very significant histories of placement breakdown, offending behaviour, risk-taking behaviour, substance misuse and refusal to engage with health professionals. Social workers confirm that young people are ‘exceptionally challenging’. The decision to admit such complex and demanding young people to a new home with inexperienced management and staff is irresponsible. The failure of senior managers to intervene to ensure that admissions to the home are appropriate demonstrates a failure in senior management oversight and monitoring of the new home and Registered Manager.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager does not ensure that significant safeguarding issues are notified to the appropriate authorities, including Ofsted. For example, when a complaint was raised about a staff member by a young person it was the child's social worker that instructed the Registered Manager to inform the Local Authority Designated Officer however Ofsted was not informed. Furthermore the Registered Manager has not informed Ofsted when the police have been called to the home to offer assistance. Consequently the home does not safeguard the welfare of young people and fails to be open and transparent about what is happening at the home.

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Leadership and management

Staff receive supervision. They report that they find supervision useful because it provides a forum for them to discuss issues and develop strategies to support young people. Staff meetings are also used to tackle weaknesses and develop strategies to address the needs of young people. Because staff have been given clear messages in staff meetings, managers envisage that standards of behaviour will improve.

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Leadership and management

All staff receive induction training in a range of areas including safeguarding, restraint, and first aid. Staff have begun to make progress towards the completion of the Children’s Workforce Development Council’s induction standards. Currently two members of staff of the 13 employed have a relevant childcare qualification. Systems are in place to ensure that they are then able to undertake the Children and Young People’s Workforce Diploma. This ensures that staff are adequately trained to undertake their role. However in the meantime basic induction training does not equip staff with the experience or skills to meet the very complex needs of current young people.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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