Children's home run by Approach-Development (NE) Ltd in Redcar and Cleveland

inspection

Restriction of accommodation issued on 29 February 2016 until 10 April 2016

p.2

inspection

Four compliance notices issued on 10 March 2016

p.2

Information about this children's home

This children’s home is managed by a private company. It may accommodate up to five children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.2

This monitoring visit

This home was judged as requires improvement at the full inspection on 22 December 2015. An interim inspection was carried out on 24 February 2016. At this inspection, Ofsted judged that it had declined effectiveness. There were no children residing at the home at the time of the interim inspection.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Evidence gathered during the inspection demonstrated that there were concerns that the leadership and management of the home were insufficient and placed children and young people at risk of harm to their welfare. In addition, access to children and young people by adults who did not work in the home placed the children and young people at risk of harm. Evidence demonstrated that there was failure to meet regulations that related to understanding the needs of children and young people, and how to provide care to keep them safe.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Following the interim inspections the home was subject to a restriction of accommodation order from 29 February 2016. As a result of evidence gathered during this monitoring visit, Ofsted did not require a further period of restriction, and the notice was lifted on 10 April 2016.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Compliance notices were issued on 10 March 2016 and were required to be complied with by 31 March 2016. The notices related to:

p.2

This monitoring visit

Regulation 45 – Review of quality of care. The provider was required to:

p.2

This monitoring visit

 ensure that there is a system in place to monitor and assess the quality of care being provided;  produce a report as required by this regulation;  ensure that there is a system in place to gather the views of children and young people on a regular basis, and that those views inform the plans and operation of the home;  ensure that a system for reporting on quality of care at least every six months is established and understood by the provider and manager. The provider met this requirement and provided a report on the quality of care to Ofsted. Guidance was given to the provider to improve further the quality of future reports.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Regulation 32 – Fitness of works. The provider was required to:

p.3

This monitoring visit

 ensure that for each member of staff and volunteer the matters as detailed in Schedule 2 are present before staff work in the home;  ensure that staff are not employed without appropriate checks;  introduce a monitoring system for recruitment practice to ensure that the provider can demonstrate to Ofsted the considerations which show that staff and volunteers fulfil the fitness requirement in regulation.

p.3

This monitoring visit

The provider sent Ofsted a list of all current and proposed staff, together with the status of their recruitment checks. Through discussion, the provider satisfied Ofsted that no staff will be allowed to work in the home until all those checks are in place. This notice was met.

p.3

This monitoring visit

Regulation 12 – The protection of children standard. The provider was required to:

p.3

This monitoring visit

 ensure that no other businesses are operating from the children’s home, and that adults are not living at the home.

p.3

This monitoring visit

The provided confirmed that the business that had operated from one of the rooms in the building was no longer operating on this site and that no adults are living at the home. This notice was met.

p.3

This monitoring visit

Regulation 12 – The protection of children standard. The provider was required to:

p.3

This monitoring visit

 ensure that, all permanent staff, including the provider themselves, and any volunteers are trained in safeguarding and child protection, including in exploitation of children by others;  ensure a robust system is in place to notify incidents to all relevant authorities;  ensure that there is a monitoring system in relation to the protection of children.

p.3

This monitoring visit

Evidence gathered during this visit demonstrated that a system for monitoring staff training is in place. This showed that 6residential care staff have completed safeguarding training. Further safeguarding training has been identified for the coming weeks.

p.3

This monitoring visit

However, there was no guidance or system in place to direct staff as to whom should be notified and to whom that notification should be sent. In addition, the safeguarding policy was not consistent with what is required by regulation and did not provide adequate guidance to staff. This notice is not met.

p.3

This monitoring visit

Following a review of the evidence from this visit, an inspection manager from Ofsted discussed the failed notice with the provider. A direction was given to provide Ofsted with an updated safeguarding policy and direction on notifications. A condition on the registration, that requires the provider to notify Ofsted one month prior to any child or young person being accommodated in the home, has been proposed. This will allow Ofsted to consider the current arrangements to ensure that appropriate systems that reduce risks to children and young people and promote their well-being, are in place.

p.3