Children's Home run by Laurel Leaf Homes Ltd in Newham

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.2

Home Environment

 The building has not been consistently maintained to ensure it is homely, well decorated and individualised for the young people living there. For example, the curtain rails in the upstairs bathroom and games room are not securely fastened to the wall; the sofa in the games room is broken; the equipment in the games room is not functional; there are old carpets and a fridge freezer in the garden; and some of the window handles are snapped off. Net curtains are available but not fitted in young people’s bedrooms which compromises their privacy. The duvet covers are old and young people are not offered a choice of style.  Basic safety measures have been complied with but resources and home comforts have not been upgraded to a satisfactory standard. For example, computer access for homework is not available and games equipment is old and not fit for purpose.  The garden is not user-friendly and no seating area is provided for young

p.3

Home Environment

people use. The garden still has a number of old carpets and old household goods awaiting disposal which create an eye sore and hazard.

p.3

Staffing

 The home has been without a Registered Manager for 20 weeks. Two incomplete applications have been submitted by the provider so it has not been possible to process registration of the current acting manager.  All other staff are on zero-hour contracts which have an impact on their ability to be available for work rotas as they have often committed to work elsewhere instead. Young people have not had their best representative at important meetings and have been cared for by lots of different staff.  The acting manager struggles to retain good staff, partly due to lack of security in contracts, and therefore struggles to plan rotas any further than two weeks in advance.  Staff require more effective training to ensure they understand and can meet the needs of high-risk vulnerable children. Staff lack knowledge in specific areas including gang association, legal highs and child sexual exploitation.  Staff do not receive formal evaluation and appraisal once a year to ensure

p.3

Staffing

they are fit for the job, appropriately trained and that any poor performance is addressed.

p.4

Staffing

Engaging with the wider system.  The home’s referral and admissions process has not been adhered to robustly. This has meant existing residents have experienced the impact of a high turnover of young people, some of whom were inappropriately placed.  Management has not ensured that placing authorities have provided and updated all relevant plans in a timely manner.  Other professionals find follow-up and communication from staff has been inconsistent, leading to lack of information and planning being shared. For example they speak to different staff which does not provide continuity of care or matters are not promptly followed up for young people  A parent has felt dissatisfied with the care, education and communication his child has received.

p.4

The children's home strengths

 There are an excellent core group of staff that work hard and have invested in relationships with young people. This has improved young people’s experiences and relationships.  Young people are happy and say they feel safe within the home. Their views are listened to and good relationships with staff and peers are evident.  There are some examples of good communication and evidence of working with the virtual school to improve young people’s educational opportunities.

p.4

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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

p.5

Requirement Due date

12. Protection of children standard. In order to meet the protection of children standard with particular reference to the broken furniture, curtain poles, window coverings, computer room and rubbish in the garden, the registered manager must ensure: 12.(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure – (d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(2)(d)) 30/06/2015

p.5

Requirement Due date

13. Leadership and management standard. In order to meet the leadership and management standard. 13.(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person – (a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; (d) ensure that the home’s workforce provide continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(2)(a & e)) 30/06/2015

p.5

Requirement Due date

Appointment of manager. 27.(1) The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if – (a) There is no Registered Manager in respect of the home; and (b) The registered provider – (iii) is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a & b)(iii)) 30/06/2015 5. Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met standard. In order to meet the engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met standard - 5. In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff - (a) seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; (b) seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; (c) if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be

p.5

Requirement Due date

inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and (d) seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s homes is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5(a,b,c,d)) 31/07/2015

p.6

Requirement Due date

Fire Precautions. 25.(2) If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005( a ) applies to the home – (a) paragraph (1) does not apply; and (b) the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. This with particular reference to the fire extinguishers without pins. (Regulation 25(2)(a)(b)) 30/06/2015

p.6

Requirement Due date

8. The education standard. In order to meet the education standard. 8. (1) The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 30/06/2015 (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure – (a)that staff – (iii) understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; (vi) maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement. (vii) raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority; (viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of

p.6

Requirement Due date

compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(iii)(vi)(vii)(viii))

p.7

Requirement Due date

Statement of Purpose. 16.(3) The registered person must – (a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; (5) Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. With particular reference to therapeutic approaches in the existing statement of purpose – dialectical, cognitive behavioural centred and psychological coaching and support. (Regulation 16 (3)(a) & (5)) 31/07/2015

p.7

Requirement Due date

14. The care planning standard. In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to the referral process and matching young people to others already present in the home. 14.(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure – that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the 31/07/2015 home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(2)(a))

p.7

Requirement Due date

Children’s Case Records. 36.(1) The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which – (a) include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; with specific reference to schedule 3(19) a copy of any plan for the care of the child prepared by the child’s placing authority, and of the placement plan. (Regulation 36(1)(a)) 30/06/2015

p.8

Recommendations

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

p.8

Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangement in place to protect each child. (The Guide, page 45 paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand and where possible, address any negative trends. (The Guide page 54 paragraph 10.19)  All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s

p.8

Recommendations

care. As part of the performance management process, poor performance should be addressed by a timely plan to bring about improvement. (The Guide page 61 paragraph 13.5)

p.8

Information about this children's home

This privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people aged from 10 to 17 years. They accept referrals for young people who have a range of emotional and/or behavioural problems or young people with learning disabilities. The home accepts emergency placements as well as offering longer term care.

p.9

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.9

Recent inspection history

11/02/2015 CH - Interim declined in effectiveness

p.9

requires improvement

This area requires improvement because staff have not been able to prioritise working at the unit on any regular rota. They do not have permanent contracts and seeking guaranteed work elsewhere becomes their priority. This means that often they are not available to work when required. The impact on young people is staff have not always been able to attend specific meetings where they have relevant information to share about a young person.

p.10

requires improvement

Young people’s combined complex needs and starting points are overwhelming for staff to manage at times. The home’s referral process is not robustly followed to ensure proper matching of needs. Incoming emergencies have not taken into account the needs of those young people already placed. This has led to inappropriate placements and a quicker than usual turnover of young people in and out of the unit.

p.10

requires improvement

Due to the above challenges there are mixed views from the wider network about how young people are helped and supported. One professional felt that there is not enough challenge, strategy and structure in place to address the complexity of needs, with a culture developing where young people do not attend school. Young people took advantage of this weakness and their attendance and motivation quickly deteriorated. Developing good strategies and challenging patterns of behaviour is more difficult to achieve with staff changes and inconsistent admissions.

p.10

requires improvement

Another professional feels that although a young person is not making great progress she had been helped by a consistent keyworker who had built a good rapport, she had been offered clinical psychology sessions and staff had worked hard to support her into school. Overall the independent reviewing officer feels that the home has done extremely well to contain this young person and get her to engage on any level.

p.10

requires improvement

One young person’s social worker states, ‘Despite struggling in school, he is getting up and going, staff have offered good support and helped him as far as he has allowed them to go.’ The majority of young people are on role for some form of education, although only one young person was attending on a regular basis and the experiences of other young people was mixed.

p.10

requires improvement

One young person’s progress had deteriorated significantly over the past six months, five of which have been spent placed at the home. The concerns about this young person’s deterioration could not be entirely attributed to the care and experience he has had at this home. Other factors have impacted and the evidence shows that progress had declined prior to this placement and was linked to his complex background. The Manager is concerned and has called a review meeting.

p.11

requires improvement

Several other young people in placement are not engaging in education, an indicator of the behavioural and emotional difficulties present. It is hard to accurately measure some young people’ progress as their starting points were not fully assessed and their placements relatively new. However, one young person had been outside of education for two years prior to placement. The staff has involved the virtual school and encouraged applications to college in a short timescale, which indicates good progress from his starting point.

p.11

requires improvement

Another young person refused to attend school despite considerable support offered from the virtual school and the staff. A review meeting was held, where a clear plan was made to continue to support this young person to engage in education.

p.11

requires improvement

Some good examples of effective working with the virtual school were in place to help young people back into education. An example being the information sharing in respect of a recently arrived refugee child being linked into his community network.

p.11

requires improvement

Staff are not able to deliver the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose in respect to providing therapeutic intervention. They have not had the required training to support this. There was some effective working with outside therapeutic services, as evidenced with the clinical psychologist support being offered to one young person.

p.11

requires improvement

Young people were helped with their dietary requirements and to understand their identity and backgrounds. Cultural and individual needs are recognised and promoted by staff and well respected by young people. Paper records were in good working order, where paperwork was missing from the local authority there was evidence of this being chased. This process needs to be more assertive to ensure necessary documents are received. The records allowed clear information to be shared to help and support young people.

p.11

requires improvement

Professional networking was very active during the inspection: there was a looked after children review; several virtual school meetings; and an emergency planning meeting. Despite this positive level of professional involvement, three professionals raised concerns about levels of day-to-day communication. This means important information was not always shared in a timely way. The impact on young people means delay to planning to meet their needs or important information not being shared to protect them. Children missing from care were not being routinely offered return home interviews by the local authority and better links to establish these happen will support young people to stay safe as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Another professional raised concerns about the level of gang association within the area. Although the manager is aware of these issues, they are insufficiently pro-active in

p.12

requires improvement

networking with the local youth offending services and police to create strategies to address gang association.

p.12

requires improvement

Young people say they like living at their home. One young person said, ‘I’d rather live at home, but as I can’t do that then this is the next best place.’ They feel that the staff are kind and that they all get along well together. This was evident when staff and young people were cooking then eating healthy food together at the table in the kitchen.

p.12

requires improvement

Although young people are offered activities outside of the home and in the wider community, these are not regularly happening. Young people are often ‘doing their own thing,’ but it is also because the manager struggles to arrange a rota to accommodate some activities. This does not reflect what has been promoted in the home’s statement of purpose or enable a culture of engaging and providing focus for young people within the community, especially where they are not in education.

p.12

requires improvement

Young people are supported to learn independent living skills by being encouraged to do laundry, assist with meal preparation and keeping their personal space tidy. This encourages a positive sense of self-worth. Judgement grade

p.12

requires improvement

The condition and decoration of the home remains a concern. Some parts of the building and garden have not been improved. Some essential repairs and refurbishment has taken place. However, two requirements have not been fully met. Slow progress is being made; windows are now safe, but handles are still broken; net curtains are available but have not been put up. The garden also remains unmaintained and not user friendly. For example, there is a large pile of old carpets at the bottom of the garden and an old fridge freezer awaiting disposal. Living within this environment does not encourage young people to feel self-worth or want to invite friends to visit at the home.

p.13

requires improvement

When asked about what could be improved in the home, young people say that the games room, equipment, decoration and the garden could be improved. They would like a games console, a computer and access to Wi-Fi. The computer room was temporarily closed due to storage space being needed while other refurbishment took place. This does not provide young people with the activities and resources as set out within the statement of purpose and does not provide young people with the quality of home they deserve to live in.

p.13

requires improvement

Young people say they feel safe at their home. The majority of young people are of an age and understanding where they are making many choices and decisions of their own. Given their very complex needs, they do not always make the right choices and decisions and there is evidence they are placing themselves at risk when outside the home. Staff are aware of safeguarding and missing from care policies and the process they need to follow.

p.13

requires improvement

There is a decline in the number of times young people go missing from their home. The absences are influenced by the differing needs of young people living here and so tend to fluctuate. Good practice in keeping in touch with young people and understanding where they are going is supporting this decline and helping to keep young people safe. The manager and staff are not doing enough to increase the professional networks or initiatives which could further protect young people. Sharing intelligence in a more organised way would support this process. Ensuring proper return interviews are conducted will help add to the understanding of why young people are missing and where they are going. The manager and staff need to ensure they are contacting the local authority when young people return so that a debriefing interview can be offered. Where this is not happening, the manager must robustly pursue the local authority. Partnership working with the

p.13

requires improvement

safeguarding partners is insufficient so young people are not kept as safe as possible. The fire doors are now safe and closed properly on testing. Two of the home’s fire extinguishers have broken pins which need replacing this could potentially compromise young people’s safety in the event of a fire.

p.14

inadequate

This area is inadequate as: there has been a Registered Manager vacancy for twenty weeks and the registered individual has submitted two incomplete applications; the staff group is inconsistent in part due to zero hours contracts; the home’s statement of purpose is inaccurate as therapeutic input from staff is not provided; the referral and admissions process is not robustly followed; and staff training, supervision and appraisals are not adequately equipping the staff to do their job. Staff would benefit from training in key areas impacting on this home, for example gang association and missing from care. Supervision is not kept to on a regular basis. Appraisals are not present, so there is no process to development or address practice issues. In addition two requirements from the last inspection have only been partly met, despite already being repeated.

p.14

inadequate

The interim manager is very experienced and has some good ideas to promote and improve to a more efficient and robust service. There has been some progress, but this progress is slow, with insufficient support from the registered individual to ensure its success. For example the staff rotas are difficult to plan due to all staff being on zero hours contracts. To ensure they have enough work they commit to other jobs, meaning they are often not available for shifts when required. This does not provide continuity of care for young people as they have inconsistent staff working with them or their keyworkers are not available for important meetings. The interim manager says of the rota, ‘it’s set up for the staff, not the kids’.

p.14

inadequate

The current statement of purpose does not accurately reflect what is on offer within the home. The only therapeutic services available are those universal services or referred services via the health or local authority. None of the staff are trained in the therapeutic services described and this is misleading for authorities seeking to place young people. The manager has been in place for four months and is working towards promoting the remainder of the homes statement of purpose and ethos. This is a challenge given the high level of needs of young people in placement and some of the negative influences within the community. For example gang associations, child sexual exploitation and the availability of legal highs.

p.14

inadequate

Another major impact on this home is the referral and admission of young people. This process is not robust enough to ensure that the right young people are being matched with existing residents of the home. On occasion, young people have been placed overnight by emergency duty services and these placements were not always appropriate. This inevitably created an unsettled environment with young people moving on quickly from the home. Inappropriate placements are disruptive, they are often short term and without proper planning or paperwork. In these circumstances risks are unknown and the capacity of the home to meet young people’s needs is diminished.

p.15

inadequate

Emergency placements have not been supported by prompt information sharing and planning. The manager needs to revise the referral and admission procedure so that placing authorities are clear what level of need can be supported and what is expected of them. Although there was evidence of the acting manager chasing placing authorities for paperwork and clearer planning, this was not robust or assertive enough to prevent drift for some young people.

p.15

inadequate

There is a good core group of experienced staff working at the home. They are not sufficiently supported with permanent contracts to stay and commit to the home. The home does not use agency staff and some of the staff have worked at the home for a number of years. Some supervision notes are evident on staff files but there were no appraisals of staff performance and fitness for roles. Ensuring formal appraisals at least once annually will support the manager to promote the staff team’s fitness for practice, evaluate training needs and manage poor performance and practice issues in a timely manner.

p.15

inadequate

Staff did not have enough understanding of recognising symptoms of gang association and child sexual exploitation. They will be poorly equipped to support and protect young people getting drawn into these issues, which could leave young people at risk. The manager is exploring these training options and recognises this difficulty.

p.15

inadequate

Some requirements previously made are only partly met and some are not met. These have been repeated in this report. The interim manager is very frank in discussion about what needs to be done and he is very committed to making the necessary changes. It is taking some time to effect change and progress is slow. The responsible individual needs to consider how to meet the requirements for future improvements to the home.

p.15

What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

p.17

What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

p.17

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.17

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

p.18

Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.18

Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.19

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.19

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.19

Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.19