Children's Home run by Bay View Child Care Limited in Lancashire

This monitoring visit

This home was judged to be outstanding overall at a full inspection on 7 November 2014, but found to have declined in effectiveness at its interim inspection on 16 March 2015. Concerns raised at that inspection focused mainly on a lack of planning and risk management in relation to a recent admission of a young person to the home that was subject to bail conditions for a serious sex offence. The potential impact of this placement had not been fully explored prior to the young person’s admission and as such arrangements within the home were lacking and made other young people vulnerable. A compliance notice was served following this visit.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was carried out to evaluate the home’s compliance with the notice served and found that the home had responded promptly to concerns raised following the home’s interim inspection. The Registered Manager now possesses a copy of the young person’s current bail conditions and has detail of the precise nature of offences committed. This information has been shared with the staff team ensuring that they have a clear understanding of the level of concern that exists and the expectations placed on them to support the young person. It is intended that this will avoid situations that may cause the young person to breach his bail conditions or provide him with opportunities to further offend. This has enabled the manager and his staff to successfully reflect on the home’s arrangements and make improvements to strengthen safeguarding arrangements that will protect all young people from the

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This monitoring visit

Specifically, the home has improved night-time supervision arrangements. Although there is no waking night staff, the home has fitted a discreet alarm to the young person’s door to ensure that any movement from his room at night is detected and can be responded to by staff. This successfully prevents the young person having opportunity to have unsupervised contact with other young people at a time when staff are asleep in the home. The alarm is regularly tested for efficiency and this enables staff to feel confident that during this time period other young people are not left vulnerable. The home has approached the implementation of these new arrangements sensitively, ensuring that the young person’s right to confidentiality and privacy is not compromised. At all other times the young person is directly supervised by staff.

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This monitoring visit

Arrangements for police notification have been amended to ensure that they are contacted immediately should the young person leave the home or any activity without staff supervision. This again reduces the opportunities for the young person to further offend and ensures children and young people generally are not placed at any potential risk. It also ensures that the young person himself is not left vulnerable and that arrangements are in place to ensure that he is located quickly and returned to the safety of the home.

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This monitoring visit

The home was proactive in establishing a multi-agency forum to address the young person’s individual risk management arrangements. This has successfully assisted the home in establishing a clear and detailed placement plan for the young person concerned and strengthened his existing risk assessment and behaviour management planning to reduce the opportunity and likelihood of further offending that would place other young people at risk. The home has contributed significantly, challenging the proposed plans for the young person’s home contact to ensure that sufficient safeguards are in place when the young person is not in their direct care. This demonstrates their commitment to working in partnership with other professionals, to keep other children and young people safe in the community.

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This monitoring visit

The home has invested resources to train staff to have an increased awareness and understanding of sexual offending and managing young people with sexualised behaviours. For some staff this refreshed knowledge they already possessed. However, for others this had greater benefit in developing their understanding of such behaviour and how it can be safely managed in the setting.

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This monitoring visit

In the time that has elapsed since the interim inspection the home has had good opportunity to learn more about the young person and how he can be best supported and managed at this time. As such, the young person is currently settled in placement and receiving a good quality of care and support that is significantly beneficial to him during this very uncertain time in his life.

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This monitoring visit

Leadership within the home promotes a culture of reflective practice that effectively supports staff in carrying out their roles. The manager fully accepts that this placement is challenging for the home in that staff are dealing with a level of risk that the home has not previously experienced. However, the manager and his staff are committed to this young person’s placement and will continue to offer this provision until such time that the home is not seen as being sufficient to meet his or other young people’s needs.

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Information about this children’s home

 The home is registered to accommodate four young people with emotional and behavioural problems.

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Information about this children’s home

 It is operated by a private organisation

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Information about this children’s home

 The home offers emergency, medium and long-term placements for young people

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Information about this inspection

This home was subject to a compliance notice between the dates of 28 March 2015 and 24 April 2015. In order to evaluate the progress the home has made in addressing these concerns a monitoring visit was undertaken on 28 April 2015 by Gillian Walters, Social Care Regulatory Inspector.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and progress made by the home since their last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Take steps to ensure that all practice in the home is in line with any

imposed bail conditions for individual children.

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Take steps to ensure that all practice in the home is in line with any

The home has clear expectations and understanding of the bail conditions set in relation to one young person placed. In addition to providing a high level of supervision during day time hours the home has also implemented additional arrangements that ensure the young person can be appropriately supervised during night-time hours to avoid any likelihood of repeat offending.

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reviewed and recorded in relation to any imposed bail condition for an

The home has comprehensively risk assessed and planned for all young people’s care taking clear account of those risks associated with having a young person placed in the home that has offended prior to admission. This has been effective in promoting the safety and protection of all young people residing in the home. Further arrangements implemented have reduced the potential for unsupervised contact between this young person and other young people at a time when they may be most vulnerable. Good arrangements exist to regularly review risk management and any action required of the home. The provider has demonstrated good ability to identify potential risks both in and out of the home environment and has taken action to address these to ensure the safety of both young people in the home and in the community.

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

The placing authorities for other young people resident in the home have been made aware of such risks and are satisfied with the home’s response, having been advised of the additional measures the home has put in place to ensure the safety of all young people living in the home.

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

During the monitoring visit carried out on the 28 April 2015, the provider was able to demonstrate that the home has acted in accordance with the steps set out and improved practice to ensure young people’s welfare and safety is appropriately promoted. The actions taken have significantly improved the home’s safeguarding arrangements ensuring young people living in this home are all appropriately supported and protected. As a result, Ofsted is satisfied that the provider has met all matters as detailed in the notice. 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 .

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

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.

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

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all placing authorities are aware of potential risks to young people within

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