Children's Home run by Calcot Services for Children Limited in Wokingham

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.

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because:

 Goals and objectives for young people were not always considered by staff when making decisions regarding their care.  Relationships with young people are difficult to gauge due to the views of young people differing from staff, and management has not explored the reason behind this.  The management of a relationship between young people did not consider the potential risk to either young people or the impact on other young people and staff.  Young people have not been guided to make effective progress in overcoming their emotional and behavioural difficulties.  The staff responses to challenging behaviour by young people is inconsistent and has included a high level of police intervention.

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The children's home strengths:

 Young people have their health needs routinely monitored and are supported by the staff.  Staff support and encourage young people to actively engage in education and seek alternatives when this is not possible.  Young people obtain age-appropriate skills to assist with their future adult lives.  The staff undertake effective steps to safeguard young people when they go missing from care or are at risk of child sexual exploitation.  Young people know their rights and are provided opportunities to share their views on their care; the staff and how the home is operating.  Effective links exists with placing authorities, LADO and other professionals to keep young people safe.  The staff continue to be trained and their practice assessed through regular supervision and appraisals.  New staff that work with young people are recruited safely and complete a clear induction process.  The leadership and management continue to monitor the homes effectiveness

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The children's home strengths:

and develop creative ways to improve the service for young people.

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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 (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.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard the registered manager must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. This applies to relationships between young people in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (2) (a) (vi)(vii)) 13 October 15

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of child standard the registered manager should ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. This applies to the management of relationships between young people in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the children’s views, wishes and feelings standard the registered manager must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

Regulation 7 (1) (a) and (c)) 13 October 15 In order to meet the review of premises regulation the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

include the risks within the local environment and take these into consideration when making placements.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; This applies to consistent behaviour management strategies being used by all staff. (Regulation 13 (2)(c))

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Information about this children's home

 SC054468  The home is privately owned

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Information about this children's home

 It is registered to accommodate a maximum of three young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.  A therapeutic approach is taken in working with children and young people with the aim of enabling them to return to their family home or to an alternative family placement.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

26/02/2015 CH - Interim improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

07/01/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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requires improvement

The planning for young people, takes into consideration their individual goals and objectives as set at reviews attended by staff. However, managers and staff in the home have not been sufficiently assertive in intervening in relationships and sexual activity within the home. They did not promote the development of appropriate relationships as outlined in the care plan for at least one of the young people.

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requires improvement

The evidence in the files of young people indicate that staff engage with them and have develop good relationships. However, young people expressed negative views regarding all staff. All young people said that staff did not listen to them properly. This specifically occurred at times when they were feeling low or experiencing emotional difficulty, which have led to incidents of self-harm. The young people were not able to identify any members of staff that they currently trusted and presented as genuine. The registered manager was of the opinion that the young people’s views were not accurate and there was an ‘agenda’ behind their words.

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requires improvement

Subsequently, some young people filed their own formal complaints directly with Ofsted before the completion of the inspection. The young people said that staff were treating them differently due to expressing their views during the inspection. This information was discussed with the LADO who then passed it to the registered manager to consider how to resolve the matter.

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requires improvement

It was evident during the inspection that staff and young people differ in their views about the quality of their relationship. The views of young people should have been explored by the management team rather than confronting or dismissing their views. There were clearly some issues experienced by young people that strained their relationship with staff prior to the inspection. These issues would have been identified if a trusting and open relationship with staff existed.

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requires improvement

The progress of young people is difficult to measure. Unfortunately, most young people continue to display many of the emotional and behavioural difficulties that were present when they first arrived in the home. For example, one young person has engaged with therapy, completed an alternative education programme, and travels independently but is currently a high risk for self-harm including two attempts the week of the inspection eventually leading to hospitalization.

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requires improvement

All young people are registered with local health providers. Staff organise the health appointments for the young people and attend with them to stay informed. Young people that smoke are referred to supportive services in the community and staff continue to enforce the no smoking policy of the home. Young people that are on medication have their medication stored and administered safely by staff who also ensure that medication reviews occur regularly.

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requires improvement

The young people residing in the home are not currently involved in full-time education. When considering the educational starting points of young people some have made steps towards improving upon their education by completing the Princes Trust programme and attending a taster week at college. The staff encourage and support the young people to engage in educational provisions while maintaining a log of their efforts.

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requires improvement

The staff try to ensure that all young people have their educational needs met by attending meetings, contributing to personal education plans and pathway plans. Stable relationships are developed with professionals in education by the staff leading to moderately improved outcomes for young people.

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requires improvement

The staff support young people to learn age-appropriate skills that can be utilised in their adult lives. The skills obtained varied for young people based upon their development. Achievable goals are set and monitored by staff. Young people have the opportunity to earn AQA qualifications that are taught in school and colleges. The young people recently obtained units in using a washing machine and tumble dryer and personal safety in the home.

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requires improvement

A young person has recently achieved a goal of independence. Initially the young person was reluctant to make the transition to independent living so the management advised the placing authority to delay the transition. The staff are supporting the transition by assisting her to purchase items for the flat with money saved from their personal allowance. The young person expressed being excited but a little worried about going on to independent living.

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requires improvement

Young people are provided with a young person’s guide that is creatively designed and can be related to by them. The views of young people are obtained in kid’s chat, key working sessions and suggestion boxes ensuring they have input into the home and their daily care. Judgement grade

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requires improvement

The management and staff failed to manage or protect young people when inappropriate relationships have formed within the home. There has been insufficient consideration given by management to the individual risk assessments and care plans for the young people. The compatibility of young people placed together has been questionable and resulted in some very unwise patterns of behaviour going relatively unchallenged.

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requires improvement

The management team was aware of an intense and inappropriate relationship. Young people still were able to spend a considerable amount of time together in their bedrooms with the door locked. The management strategies to manage the relationship were very weak with no clear intervention to prevent possible allegations. One young person said, ‘I felt unsafe at that time and wanted staff to do more to stop the relationship.’ The registered manager disputes the young person’s claims and believes that both young people were of an age to make their own choices. This laissez faire attitude risks creating a very unhealthy culture within the home. It was very unwise to allow this relationship to continue openly.

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requires improvement

In key working sessions with the young people, the staff did engage in discussions that encouraged safe sex while occasionally discussing the relationship with one of the young people. The records indicate that the staff response to the relationship between the young people lacked real intervention and direct challenge to the young people with no consideration of potential safeguarding concerns. The management team failed to identify the potential impact of the relationship on other young people in the home and the difficulty staff would have managing it.

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requires improvement

Young people have demonstrated challenging behaviours since the last inspection that have not been managed consistently by some staff. There have been inconsistent responses from staff to address the challenging behaviour of young people. This has resulted in the police having to attend the home and provide intervention for young people. A community police officer said, ‘the staff need to be more consistent in how they respond to the behaviour of the young people in the home. Some staff call the police a lot and some never do.’ The young people have also noticed that the police have attended the home several times and now believe that staff cannot manage their behaviour.

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requires improvement

On one at least one occasion a staff member locked the kitchen door to prevent a young people from accessing it as a means of behaviour management. The restriction of liberty incident was addressed with the staff by the management team in a team meeting to prevent the reoccurrence. However, this evidences the lack of clear strategies for staff to follow.

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requires improvement

The area risk assessment for the home fails to identify a nearby bridge located over a motorway as a potential risk to young people. This specifically affects young people that self-harm. Young people have threatened to harm themselves and attempted to access the bridge on several occasions resulting in police intervention.

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requires improvement

The management and staff appropriately respond to incidents of young people going missing. The missing from care policy is enacted along with the individualised missing from care policy of the young person. The local police and placing authority are notified and collaborate with the staff to ensure the safe return of young people. The staff support young people by organising interviews for them with their social worker upon their return to the home that assist with understanding why the incident of missing from care occurred.

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requires improvement

The records evidence that staff meet the needs of young people that may be at risk of child sexual exploitation. Staff undertake strategies to manage the risk by cooperating with the police, undertaking training, and supporting the young person with referral to supportive services.

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requires improvement

When young people raise allegations against staff, management take steps to protect the young people by removing the staff from rota and offering them support until the investigation is completed.

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requires improvement

There are effective links in place with the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and the local authority designated officer that assist in the protection of young people. The LADO is consulted on issues of safeguarding and a member of management attends the area-safeguarding meeting.

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requires improvement

The physical environment for young people is safe and appropriate with no known risk. A new kitchen has been fitted including new sofas for the lounge. Regular maintenance occurs at the home when repairs are needed which may affect young people and staff. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The leadership within the home has ill-judged in its lack of intervention and enabling a young person dominated culture to arise, although this is no longer the case. The inconsistent behavioural management by has not been managed well and further contributes to unclear boundaries for young people.

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Requires improvement

There is good quality supervision and appraisals for staff provided by the management team. A healthy staff environment is promoted and the staff feel supported. A new member of staff expressed being happy with the level of support and training available within the organisation. Supervision and group supervision for the staff is held regularly and their attendance at team meetings is mandatory. The staff performances are appraised and opportunities for advancement are made available. The organisation’s workforce training strategy provides a good overview of the management and expectations for the staff.

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Requires improvement

Staff are equipped with mandatory training in safeguarding, first aid, fire awareness, food hygiene and behaviour management. A training profile is maintained for each member of staff and training is updated when needed. Some staff have completed specialist training in grief and loss for young people. The training schedules for the registered manager and the responsible individual were supplied during inspection.

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Requires improvement

New staff hired to the home continue to undergo a strong recruitment process and introduction. As part of induction, the children’s workforce development council programme is completed on-line during their review period. The management team has shown a good ability at identifying areas of improvement in the practice of new staff and establishing a plan of development.

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Requires improvement

The leadership and management have a good understanding of the strengths of the home but have been blind to some weaknesses. A generally effective monitoring system is in place; consist of monthly visits by the independent visitor and three monthly reports by the registered manager. These reports are informative, and obtain the views of young people and their views regarding living in the home.

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Requires improvement

The statement of purpose was updated in April 2015. It outlines how the service provides and cares for young people along with the policies and procedures of the homes within the organisation. The credentials of the leadership and management team are included along with an organisational chart. The management team currently has two development plans in place attached to the home that have young people as the focus. A home’s development plan and a separate one that was developed in consultation with young people. The development plan for the home informs expectations of the service about outcomes, quality of care, keeping young people safe and leadership and management. The young people’s development plan addresses what the young people want such as trips to Thorpe Park, consideration of a trampoline and a bird table and a view of becoming more independent.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is good at actively challenging the placing authority when it is believed that a young person is not having their concerns addressed in a timely manner. Challenging a placing social worker on behalf of a young person by the registered manager has led to a strained relationship according to the placing social worker but there are plans to resolves the issues in a scheduled meeting.

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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.

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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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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

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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

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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 .

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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,

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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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

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