Children's Home run by Clouds Children’s Care Ltd in Derbyshire

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

because:

 While there has been progress since the last inspection, the home is not yet providing good care to young people.  Leaders and managers are not yet providing good leadership to ensure a good judgement.  Notifications to Ofsted about safeguarding matters are not always sent routinely in line with the regulations.  Communication with placing authorities is not always good and, therefore, does not promote young people’s positive development.  Staff have used their own personal email accounts to pass on private information about young people to their social workers. This does not protect young people’s confidential information.  Although there has been improvement to the recruitment process because two references have now been obtained for each member of staff, not all staff have a reference from their most recent employer.  Recruitment risk assessments are now conducted where appropriate, but they do not record the reasons that the provider has come to their decision

p.3

because:

about suitability.  Safeguarding records are not always well kept.  Arrangements for education have improved, but are still not sufficiently robust to ensure the momentum of educational improvement for young people.  Health and safety arrangements are not yet good.  The décor of the home is not of a good standard throughout.

p.3

The children's home strengths

 Leadership and management have been effective in tackling the majority of the weaknesses identified at Ofsted’s last full inspection. As a result, the care has improved and young people’s safety and welfare are better protected and promoted.  There is a momentum of improvement, that instils confidence that there will be continued improvements.  New managers and staff have reflected well on the issues identified at the last inspection and have understood the issues, enabling them to move forward with the progress needed.  Young people are happy at the home and feel safe.  Staff are well supported by new management arrangements.

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

8. In order to meet the education standard, the registered person must:

p.5

Requirement Due date

8 (2)(a)(i) ‘ensure that staff help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans.’ 31/03/2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must:

p.5

Requirement Due date

‘2(d) ‘ensure 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.’ 31/03/2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

Ensure that the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21(a)) 31/03/2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. This is in relation to references from the most recent employer and risk assessments where staff have convictions. (Regulation 32(3)(d)(Schedule 2 point 3)) 31/03/2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

Ensure that records are kept of any allegation of abuse or neglect and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34(2)(d)) 31/03/2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person notifies HMCI without delay if a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated. (Regulation 40(4)(d)(i)) 31/03/2016

p.5

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to understand each child's education and training targets and their next steps for learning. If a child's progress is not in line with their agreed targets or next steps, staff should seek advice from education professionals such as the virtual headteacher, special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), learning mentor or teacher. Staff must challenge the child's education or training provider if the child does not receive sufficient support to progress as outlined in their relevant plans (‘Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.11).

p.6

Recommendations

 For the children's home to be a nurturing and supportive environment, it should be a homely and domestic environment. This is in particular relation to the standard of décor (‘Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9).  Ensure that the registered person has a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1, paragraphs 19 and 20. The workforce plan should contain all elements as set out by the Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards (‘Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8).

p.6

Information about this children's home

The home is privately owned and is registered to care for three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.7

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.7

Requires improvement

There are some significant improvements since the last inspection. However, the home is not yet good because the changes are not sufficiently embedded. There has been a period of instability in the home caused by changes to staffing and a change of manager. This has had an impact on the overall experiences of young people who have felt unsettled. Some young people have left the home, following a decision by their local authority, leaving the remaining young people feeling uncertain about their own placement. Care planning is completed but is basic. The process does not stretch young people sufficiently and is not yet good. For example, plans regarding health, preparation for independence and education lack detail. Young people’s attendance at school is significantly improved. They now all have school placements. While this is positive, staff are unaware of young people’s previous attainment profiles because there is not a personal education plan for

p.8

Requires improvement

them to refer to. In addition, staff are unaware of the role of the virtual headteacher, and have not contacted them to gather information or to make plans. This does not support young people to make good progress from their starting points. The house has a homely feel, but there are several areas where attention is needed to the décor to ensure that this is of a good standard. For example, old standing gas pipes come out of the floor and walls where the plaster and paint has not been made good. There are some improvements needed to the kitchen area where the threshold to the dining room carpet is fraying and the worktop edging strips are coming away from the worktop.

p.8

Requires improvement

Young people’s information is still not kept completely private and confidential. Although there have been improvements to the building, where a more confidential office space has now been established, staff have used their own personal e-mail accounts to send information to social workers about confidential safeguarding matters. This information has the potential to get into the wrong hands, and young people’s privacy could be compromised.

p.8

Requires improvement

Staff have assisted young people to prepare for moving on and some have ‘gone the extra mile’. For example, they have carefully planned arrangements for a social worker to telephone a young person about a placement move and plan to send on photographs so that the young person will be able to reflect positively on their time at the home. In addition, they have listened to the young person’s wishes and taken them to say goodbye to certain people before they left. However, records of this work are not of a high standard, and do not reflect the good work that has taken place. Should the young person wish to see their records in the future, they will not be able to acknowledge the full extent of the work that went into their discharge.

p.8

Requires improvement

There have been some conversations between the provider and a local authority which a social worker reports as ‘inappropriate’. The company representative is said to have become ‘argumentative’ in front of a young person. This is neither professional nor appropriate. The behaviour does not allow the young person to experience a positive ending to their placement.

p.9

Requires improvement

There have been improvements to the organisation of medicine administration, and records are now clear. The prescription instructions are also clear, reducing the risk of an error. Very positive relationships between staff and young people were observed. It is evident that the existing staff group does have the skills to communicate well with young people and to support them. The staff know the needs of the young people very well, and help them with their particular issues and problems. Young people are pleased about this, and reflect positively on their help and support. One young person spoke about particular support from staff, and reported that their advice had helped them to make friends. This gives young people confidence in their approach to others. Young people are appropriately supported to maintain contact with family and friends, and these arrangements are organised well. The new acting manager has

p.9

Requires improvement

been instrumental in making improvements to make contact arrangements more positive for young people.

p.9

Requires improvement

Young people are safe in this home and they confirmed this.

p.9

Requires improvement

The suitability of workers is checked. In addition to checking the home’s own staff, agency staff are also vetted before they are used in the home. For example, a copy of an agency staff member’s disclosure barring service (DBS) check has been seen by a manager. However, evidence of this DBS is not kept in the home. This means that it would be difficult to establish a clear picture of individual staff suitability in the future. References are obtained and, therefore, practice is improved from the last inspection. However, references are not always written by someone senior to the candidate, and two were found to be written by peers who were working at the same level or under the candidate. This does not comply with current legislation, and has the potential to put young people at risk from unsuitable adults in the future.

p.9

Requires improvement

Where potential concerns are raised about staff suitability through recruitment processes, robust risk assessments have been written, to ensure that young people are protected. However, details of the actual concerns and the reasons that it is appropriate for staff to work with young people are not clearly recorded.

p.10

Requires improvement

The environment is generally safe, but is not yet well managed to ensure that it stays that way at all times. There are suitable arrangements for fire protection, and the fire risk assessment has recently been reviewed, showing that the manager regularly thinks about how the risk of fire can be reduced. However, there is a lack of clarity around environmental risk assessments. For example, these do not extend to the garden, where workmen recently left behind some pipes that led to an incident involving a young person. The garage also requires a risk assessment because it is cluttered with old furniture and contains the gas boiler. Although many items are less than 12 months old and do not require a portable appliance test, there is not a clear system to ensure that, in the future, all electrical items will be safety tested.

p.10

Requires improvement

Each young person has an individual risk assessment. Staff understand what they must do to minimise each identified risk. In addition, risk assessments extend to what staff should do if young people run away. There have been no young people missing since the last inspection. However, one young person, who requires a high level of monitoring, left the home without permission. Staff quickly realised, followed the young person, and were able to use their skills to ensure their prompt, safe return.

p.10

Requires improvement

Staff are very clear about what they must do if there is an allegation, and they say that they would take action immediately to protect young people. One safeguarding matter has been passed to the young person’s own social worker for investigation, thus ensuring a prompt, transparent response. Records, however, are very poor. While the acting manager and staff could add clarity to the situation, safeguarding information is not properly recorded in the home. Information is stored in email accounts, and there is the potential for this to be lost in the future. This shortfall means that there is not a clear picture of the specific actions taken by staff when safeguarding concerns are raised.

p.10

Requires improvement

Young people’s behaviour is well managed. As a result, they are enabled to make their own improvements. One young person, who was said by staff to be regularly held in restraints before, has only been restrained twice since the last inspection, which the staff considered to be good progress. It is clear that staff would only restrain a young person if they were posing a risk to themselves or others. Records do reflect that young people have been asked their opinion after being restrained, but young people have refused to comment. Efforts have not been made to follow this up with young people at a later stage, so opportunities to improve practice further are not created.

p.10

Require improvement

The registered manager has been absent since December 2015. All managers recognise that there have been significant shortfalls in the leadership and management of this home in the past. Efforts have been made to improve this by appointing a new acting manager and employing a consultant to support her. The acting manager plans to apply to Ofsted to become registered at the earliest opportunity. She holds the level 4 Diploma in Leadership and Management and is considering undertaking further qualifications to update her knowledge.

p.11

Require improvement

While these have been an unsettling few months, and management arrangements are not yet providing good outcomes for young people, it is now clear that there is a momentum of improvement. Leaders have worked hard to establish and embed new policies and procedures, and to tackle the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. They remain forward thinking and are able to reflect on what has gone wrong, putting them in a good position to develop the home in the future. In addition, the organisation has planned for a period when there will be no young people in the home. This will give greater opportunity for staff training and development, prior to any more young people being admitted. This is positive and demonstrates the provider’s commitment to the effective running of this children’s home.

p.11

Require improvement

Staff and young people comment very positively about the new management arrangements. Staff said, ‘I am happy because I have got support’, ‘the company and new manager are listening’, and ‘I am happy with the way things are going’. Young people said that ‘she looks after us well’ and ‘knows what she is doing’. These comments reflect that staff and young people are more confident that things are changing for the better. Both the compliance notices set at the last inspection have been met. Eight out of the nine requirements and both recommendations have also been met. This further demonstrates the home’s capacity for improvement.

p.11

Require improvement

Improvements include staff recruitment. It has now been established that all staff are safe to work with young people. There is also a new independent visitor who the company hopes will provide more effective quality assurance. There have been improvements to some records, for example the admissions and discharges register, staff supervision records and young people’s individual risk assessments. Education arrangements now ensure that young people go to school. The arrangements for administering medicines better support young people’s safety. Staff now know their responsibilities to pass on all pieces of safeguarding information, however small, and demonstrated that they would do this in a timely way. In addition, the new office provides a place where conversations can be carried out without being overheard by young people.

p.11

Require improvement

One requirement made at the last inspection, regarding the privacy and confidentiality of young people’s information, as detailed in this report, is unmet. However, all other requirements and recommendations have been met. This demonstrates a significant amount of work since the last inspection, and the organisation’s commitment to, and investment in, getting things right in the future.

p.12

Require improvement

There has been a safeguarding referral made about a young person since the last inspection, and Ofsted was not informed in line with the regulations. This has meant that the regulator has not had the information as soon as possible, in order to be able to regulate fully on the safety of young people at this setting.

p.12

Require improvement

Staff report that they are well supported. They have regular supervision, which is documented, and a new training and development programme has ensured that they have received basic training, including safeguarding, first aid, and behaviour management.

p.12

Require improvement

Managers have young people’s best interests at heart and make sure that they are listened to. Regular one-to-one time with staff and the manager, ensuring that young people have their say about the operational running of the home and about their care, was observed. This helps the young people to practise expressing their views and develops their independence skills.

p.12

Require improvement

Relationships with some other professionals have been strained, and this does not always promote young people’s progress. However, other professionals have reported improvements, saying, ‘the communication I have had more recently is very good.’ The provider acknowledges that this is an area for improvement, and has a positive attitude about this moving forward.

p.12

Require improvement

Leaders are working well with the Ofsted, are fully aware of their responsibilities, and are aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. This provides a baseline for improvement. Recruitment is taking place to ensure that there is the right number of staff members to meet young people’s needs. However, there is not a written workforce plan. This would help to identify both how staffing is to be organised and contingency plans.

p.12

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.13

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.13

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.13

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.14

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.14

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.15

Information about this inspection

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

p.15

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.15

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.15