Children's Home run by Little Acorns London Beach Farm Limited in Kent

Unique reference number SC023651 Inspector Anna Williams Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered manager Simon James Bayliss Date of last inspection 08/01/2014 2 of 13 Inspection date 19/12/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action since the last inspection.

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Overall effectiveness inadequate

Outcomes for children and young people adequate Quality of care adequate Keeping children and young people safe inadequate Leadership and management inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

The leadership and management of this home is inadequate. In particular, the lack of robust oversight by the Registered Manager in relation to behaviour management within the home has led to children being subject to excessive and unreasonable measures of control and discipline. Overall, safeguarding arrangements within this home are also inadequate. Poor recruitment practice, such as staff commencing work prior to full and satisfactory vetting checks being completed, places all children within the home at risk of having unsuitable adults caring for them.

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Overall effectiveness

Children have personalised care plans. However, these are not consistently followed in relation to behaviour management. For example, personalised sanctions are identified, but not used. The Registered Manager has not had formal supervision or appraisal from the provider organisation since his registration with Ofsted in July 2013. This means he is providing care without any formal guidance and professional support. Medication records within the home are incomplete and do not demonstrate that children are being given medication in line with the prescription.

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Overall effectiveness

Children do make progress educationally within this home, and have full school attendance. They take part in a wide range of activities which positively impact on their personal and social development. Children are well-supported to maintain 3 of 13 contact with family, friends and those important to them. They make sound progress in learning independence and life skills as appropriate to their age and understanding.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager took some immediate actions during the inspection to address some of the shortfalls identified. However, these deficiencies had not been identified either through internal or external monitoring systems. The external independent visitor visits the home monthly, but due to the timing of the visits, these reports rarely contain feedback from children. Despite a development plan in place, the Registered Manager does not show a sound understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service.

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Overall effectiveness

House meetings take place regularly however, due to the timing of these meetings not everyone is able to attend. Processes and procedures for supporting staff through their probationary periods are not consistently applied. 4 of 13

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private organisation which provides an independent school for children at the home on the same site.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2014 Interim good progress 15/05/2013 Full good 14/02/2013 Interim satisfactory progress 12/11/2012 Full adequate

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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) ensure no measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) shall be used at any time on children accommodated in a children's home (Regulation 17 (1)) * 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) keep under review and where appropriate revise the behaviour management policy (Regulation 17B (2) (a)) 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline in a children's home, a written record is made in a 01/02/2015 5 of 13 volume kept for the purpose of which shall include all the matters set out in regulations (3) (a - i) and (4) (a) and (b) (Regulation 17B (3) and (4)) *

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure a written record is kept of the administration of any medicine to any child (Regulation 21 (2) (c)) 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that no person is employed to work at the children’s home unless that person is fit to work at a children’s home; a person is not fit to work at a children's home unless the matters listed in paragraph 3 are fully satisfied (Regulation 26 (1) (a) and (3)) 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure all persons employed by him receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal; including the Registered Manager (Regulation 27 (4) (a)) 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the independent person, when carrying out a visit, shall - interview, with their consent and in private, such of the children accommodated there as appears necessary in order to form an opinion as to whether children accommodated at the children's home are effectively safeguarded (Regulation 33 (8) (a)) 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the independent person's report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the children's home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions (Regulation 33 (10)) 01/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain the system that has been established to review the quality of care to ensure it improves the quality of care provided in the children's home. (Regulation 34 (1) (b)) 01/02/2015

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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 children's views, wishes and feelings are acted upon, in the day to day running of the home and important decisions or changes in the child's life, unless this is contrary to their interests; in particular ensure all children can participate in house meetings on a regular basis (NMS 1.1)  ensure new staff undertake the Children's Workforce Development Council's induction standards, commencing within 7 working days of 6 of 13 starting their employment and being completed within 6 months. (NMS 18.3) 7 of 13

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Children maintain healthy lifestyles while living in this home. For example they eat balanced diets, take part in regular exercise and engage with routine health appointments. Some children have been to the dentist after a long period of non- attendance prior to living at this home. This supports their physical health now and in their future. Some children’s self-harming behaviours have reduced, and for others their self-management of emotions and feelings has improved, leading to them displaying less aggression and physical violence.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Most of the children living in the home attend the on-site independent school. Their attendance is 100%. They make sound progress when considering each child’s individual starting points. Some children have been out of the education system for some time prior to living in this home. Some children attend mainstream schooling and they also maintain full attendance. Children show progress in managing their behaviours and emotions, and this in turn supports their learning. Children take part in end-of-term school assemblies. This demonstrates their self-confidence and shows talents and interests they have.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Children engage in a range of leisure activities both within the home and the nearby community. Activities children engage in include swimming, walks on the beach, shopping trips and the cinema. Some children go to Scouts, horse riding lessons or to local dance classes. Since the last inspection, children have been on two house holidays within the United Kingdom. This offers them a chance to explore different parts of the country, and experience different activities when away. Key work sessions provide children one-to-one time with their keyworker to undertake planned activities together. For example, trips to London or planning and making a cake. This gives children regular opportunity to meet with their allocated staff member to talk and discuss anything they wish to.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Children are supported to maintain contact with family, friends and those important to them. Staff facilitate sometimes complex contact arrangements on a regular basis to ensure children keep in contact with significant people. One social worker commented, ‘I consider this [contact time] is undertaken with professionalism, ensuring that the child’s welfare is central to any contact’. Clear records are kept of contact visits, including photographs. This ensures children can maintain attachments with those central to their lives.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Children learn life skills as appropriate to their age and understanding. Older children have independence plans which they work towards. These plans include laundry and appropriate household tasks. This assists them in their preparation for adulthood.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

While outcomes for some children are good their overall experience is compromised 8 of 13 by poor behaviour management practices within the home.

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Quality of care adequate

Relationships between staff and children are constructive. Children speak positively about the care staff and the support they receive. Observations of children confirm that they are comfortable in the presence of staff.

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Quality of care adequate

Medication administration systems within the home are not effective. Records do not demonstrate that medication is given to children in line with the prescribed dose. Although medication audit systems are in place, discrepancies in the records had not been identified. This does not promote children’s health and well-being. In particular, leaders and managers cannot consistently evidence that children who are prescribed medication to support their behaviour management receive this daily.

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Quality of care adequate

Community meetings take place five times a week. Children write their own minutes as a record of what is discussed. However, due to the timing of these meetings, during term-time not all children can participate. This does not support every child having an input into the community meetings which are a key form of consultation, as stated within the home's Statement of Purpose. Through surveys and feedback forms, children make choices and give regular feedback about the food, activities they want to do and the decoration around their home. This demonstrates to children that their views are valued and listened to.

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Quality of care adequate

Since the last inspection two children have had planned moves out of the home, in line with their care plans. Positive feedback has been received from an external provider in relation to the planning and handover of information when one child moved to their provision, they comment ‘the transition plan and continuing communication that was put in place by [this children’s home] was exceptional…..this partnership working was fundamental in our being able to support [the child].’ Care plans in place are individualised and include children’s own views and comments. These are regularly reviewed, and with the exception of behaviour management plans, they are followed in practice.

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Quality of care adequate

Children benefit from on-site therapy services which some children choose to engage with. As a result, they are well-supported to reflect on their past histories and plan for their futures in a structured and therapeutic manner. A social worker comments ‘it is evident that therapy takes place within the home on a daily basis with staff and children, rather than just in a therapeutic arena with the therapist’. This benefits children's emotional well-being.

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Quality of care adequate

Regular handovers between school staff and the care team within the home means 9 of 13 there is effective communication in relation to education matters. Staff actively encourage and support children with their educational goals, including watching children take part in educational performances and attending parents evenings. The home provides space for children to study and play, and has a wide range of resources including musical instruments, for children to use and expand their learning or creativity.

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Quality of care adequate

Staff support children to take part in a range of activities. Children acquire knowledge about different world events, celebrations and commemorations by attending or learning about events such as the local remembrance parade. Christmas, Halloween and other themed parties take place and all children are encouraged to take part, for example making party decorations. This helps children to learn about diversity.

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Quality of care adequate

Children live in a home which is maintained to a good standard overall. The home is bright, clean and designed with a child-friendly focus. There is an on-going maintenance plan to address some areas which would benefit from renewal, for example some bathroom areas. Since the last inspection, the home has had structural works completed to external areas and work has begun to renew the kitchen. Children’s bedrooms are highly personalised, often with bespoke paintings and designs which they personally choose. Photographs are displayed around the home of all the children taking part in activities and house holidays. The home has extensive grounds and outdoor play equipment for children to use. This provides children with a good range of indoor and outdoor space to relax, learn and play together.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Behaviour management practices within the home are wholly inadequate. The behaviour management policy states that staff may restrain a child if that child is ‘seriously disrupting other children, or is likely to if not stopped’. This is not in line with the Children’s Homes Regulations. Records show that children have been physically escorted by care staff in order to comply with instructions. This has included instances when there has been no immediate danger, need to prevent injury or a risk of serious damage to property. This is inappropriate within a children’s home.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Since the last inspection there have been at least 383 physical restraints recorded within the home, involving eight children. However, during this inspection it was identified through a review of records that not all physical interventions have been recorded accurately in the restraint log. Consequently, this number is actually higher. The Registered Manager has not demonstrated adequate monitoring of staff practice in relation to physical interventions. Some children have been restrained for long periods of time, such as 60 minutes, 55 minutes and 42 minutes. There is no evidence of what actions the Registered Manager is taking to reduce the use of restraints, and their duration. Children’s views on the use of physical interventions 10 of 13 are rarely sought or noted within house records. Staff also physically carry some children around the home in order to manage some challenging behaviours. This is

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

inappropriate and does not demonstrate an understanding of children’s backgrounds and histories. Overall, although all care staff are trained in a behaviour management technique, the management of challenging behaviours within the home is not effective and children are being restrained unnecessarily and for excessive periods.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Since June 2014, there have been at least 204 sanctions recorded in relation to children placed in the home. However, records are not wholly accurate as one sanction was identified as not being recorded in the sanctions log book. In May 2013, after a full inspection of the home, a requirement was set to ensure that sanctions were evaluated for their effectiveness, in line with regulatory requirements. This had been addressed by the Registered Manager at the time of a follow up inspection in January 2014. However, this progress has not been sustained. Sanction records sampled on this visit do not include their effectiveness and children’s views on sanctions are rarely captured. Although there is an individual sanctions policy for each child in the home, this is not followed in practice by staff. The Registered Manager has not had adequate oversight of the use of sanctions. As a result, some children have been subject to repetitive, ineffective sanctions, and some children

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

have received unreasonable, inappropriate and excessive sanctions.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Recruitment processes do not meet regulatory requirements. Some staff have commenced work within the home without a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, or without references in place. Although these staff were on ‘monitored’ shifts until these checks were complete, none of these staff had formal written risk assessments to inform what level of supervision should have been in place while this information was sought. Further to this, not all care staff within the home were aware that these new staff were not fully checked and should be appropriately supervised. Recruitment records are poor and do not demonstrate how safe recruitment decisions are made. For example, although some candidates have previously been employed in job roles with a similar client group, references from former employers are not consistently taken up and their reasons for leaving these posts are not suitably explored. Some files have regulatory breaches within them,

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

such as a gap in employment history, and a copy of a relevant qualification missing. Although staff receive a second interview and undertake a shadow shift with children as part of their assessment, these events are not recorded. The recruitment policy is outdated and does not refer to changes within the DBS service. Overall, vetting and recruitment practices within the home are poor. This does not protect children living within the home.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

There have been no children reported as missing since the last inspection. There are policies and protocols in place should this happen in the future. There have been no allegations or suspicions of harm reported since the last inspection. One significant event relating to the welfare of children placed in the home was shared with Ofsted and other external parties appropriately. No children identified bullying as a problem in the home. Children live in a home which is physically safe. Regular safety checks 11 of 13 take place of equipment and appliances. This contributes to the protection and safety of children in this regard.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The manager was registered with Ofsted in July 2013. He has been working within this children’s home for the past 9 and a half years. He is currently completing the level 5 Diploma in 'leadership for health and social care and children and young people's services'. He acknowledges that successful completion of this course is a requirement of the job role. Through this course he is extending his current knowledge base and developing his leadership skills.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The Statement of Purpose describes the ethos of the home. However, it is not followed in practice in relation to measures of control. For example, the Statement of Purpose states ‘sanctions imposed…must have a therapeutic element’. This was not adequately demonstrated within this inspection.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The provider organisation has not facilitated formal supervision or appraisal for the Registered Manager since his appointment in July 2013. Therefore the Registered Manager is performing his duties without suitable professional guidance, support and performance management. Some care staff supervision files sampled show regular, recorded supervision which includes reflections on children placed. However, other staff supervision files are incomplete as written supervision records are missing. Some staff have passed their probationary periods without formal appraisal and without completing the CWDC induction standards. This does not demonstrate effective and consistent performance management of staff in order to maintain safe working practices within the home.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Currently 39% of the staff team have obtained a diploma in childcare. The rest of the staff team are either completing a relevant qualification, or remain in their probationary period. Staff receive training in key safe caring topics such as first aid, food hygiene and fire safety. However, staff who commenced duties six months ago have not received child protection training. This means they have not received formal training in the organisation’s and local authority’s safeguarding procedures and protocols. This risks an inconsistent or inappropriate response to the management of child protection matters.

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Leadership and management inadequate

External monitoring visits take place on a monthly basis. The reports evaluate all the areas as required by regulations. However, these visits have not been effective in identifying shortfalls as described within this report, such as the management of challenging behaviours within the home. During the last seven months, children’s views have only been captured with two of these reports. This is because the visits often take place within education time, and children are in school. This means 12 of 13 children are not being given regular opportunity to spend time with the independent visitor and offer their views and opinions on living in the home, in private if they so wish.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Internal monitoring systems are wholly ineffective. The two most recent internal monitoring reports do not reflect the requirements of the revised Children’s Homes Regulations. This does not demonstrate an up-to-date knowledge of regulatory matters. These reports do contain feedback and consultation with children. However, the reports do not reflect feedback from placing social workers, and parent or carers about the quality of care in the home. The Registered Manager obtains informal feedback from these sources, but this information is not reflected within the monitoring reports. The Registered Manager’s evaluation of the quality of care and specific areas within the reports such as measures of control or recruitment is generalised and does not demonstrate effective self-evaluation. As a result, the Registered Manager is not fully aware of the weaknesses within the provision of care.

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Leadership and management inadequate

There is a development plan in place. Progress has been made in relation to planning for the on-going refurbishment of key areas within the children’s home, such as the kitchen. However, the development plan fails to address fundamental weaknesses within the day-to-day running of this home. Children's case records are kept securely. These records are maintained to an adequate standard. There have been no complaints from children or external sources in relation to the home since the last inspection. There were no requirements or recommendations set at the last inspection. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management inadequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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