Children's home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Hertsmere

inspection

Since the last inspection on 4 January 2016, Ofsted has taken enforcement action. On 8 February 2016, a compliance investigation visit was carried out following serious concerns about the lack of sufficient action taken to safeguard children. A monitoring visit on 8 March 2016 identified further safeguarding concerns. As a result, two compliance notices and three requirements were issued. A follow up monitoring visit conducted on 17 March 2016 found that the provider had made improvements in some areas. A further monitoring visit on 5 April 2016 found that, while some progress had been made with regard to the two compliance notices issued, further shortfalls meant that further regulatory requirements were necessary.

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Inadequate

There are serious failures that mean children and young people are not protected.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 This home’s progress in addressing safeguarding concerns for children has been too slow, despite compliance notices and further statutory requirements. Significant shortfalls remain. As a result, children are not receiving good enough care.  The location risk assessment for the home fails to address risks for the children in placement and to identify potential issues for future placements.  The provider has not taken sufficient action to adequately safeguard children. There has been insufficient direct work with children or other action to reduce the likelihood of harm.  Children’s risk assessments fail to identify potential risks in the home and in the community.  A shortage of permanent and experienced staff has resulted in a small core group of staff working extremely long hours and children being supported on shift by agency staff who do not always know their needs.  The provider has not completed a fire risk assessment. Agency staff may not

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

fully understand the procedures to follow should a fire break out, or be aware of potential hazards. This puts children and staff in potential danger.  Some children lack the routine they need to engage fully in their education.  Not all staff receive regular supervision. There is informal support, but this does not provide an opportunity to improve the quality of care or raise concerns formally.  Levels of pocket money and personal needs allowances provided for children are inconsistent and are not sufficient to meet their cultural needs.  The home is unwelcoming and in a poor physical state. Communal areas lack personalisation and internal windows need painting.  Staff have failed to record all physical interventions in the appropriate logs. This hinders management oversight.  The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of all significant incidents relating to the safety of children. This prevents Ofsted having a current view of the

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

home and ensuring that all necessary safeguards are in place.  Management arrangements are insufficient. The registered manager is currently absent. Interim arrangements are ineffective as a member of care staff is acting as manager while working shifts to provide care to the children. The organisation has failed to keep Ofsted up to date with the management arrangements and the absence of the registered manager.

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The children's home strengths

 Staff show a great deal of warmth and consideration towards the children in their care.  Children have very positive relationships with staff. They feel supported and are able to express their views and wishes.  The staff have been proactive in managing some of the behaviours which had challenged previous carers. Individual reward charts have supported this work.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must— (b) (iv) ensure that staff provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background. (c) (i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

8: The education standard In order to meet the education standard the registered person must ensure— (1) that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard* In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure— (2)(a)(i) that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard* In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must ( 2) (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 8 July 2016 home's statement of purpose; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the requirements of the Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order (2005) and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home (Regulation 25 (2) (b)). 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only, if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). This is with particular regard to ensuring all agency workers have full checks prior to working at the home (Regulation 32(2)(b)). 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience (Regulation 33 (4)(b)). 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of the measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes all matters set out in regulation 35 (3) (a). (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i-viii)(b)(1)(2)(C))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious (Regulation 40 (4)(e)). 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in Regulation 12 (2)(c) (the protection of children standard (Regulation 46 (1)). 8 July 2016 If the person who is in day-to-day charge of the children's home proposes to be absent from the home for a continuous period of 28 days or more, the registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI of the proposed absence (Regulation 48 (1)). 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a statutory requirement notice.

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Information about this children's home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private organisation operates this setting. The on-site school provides education for young people up to 16 years of age where they can gain formal qualifications.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

4 January 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

10 February 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Inadequate

A lack of action following serious incidents where children have placed themselves at risk, an insufficient location risk assessment and poor individual risk assessments for children mean that children are not safeguarded well enough. In addition, a lack of proactive action by the organisation to ensure a sufficient number of competent and experienced staff within the home, and a lack of effective management oversight during the registered manager’s absence, have significantly impacted on the overall judgement of the home. Some children’s pocket money and personal needs allowances are out of line with their peers, or are not sufficient to meet their needs. There is no monetary difference in line with age, gender, or specific cultural needs. Children feel this is unfair. Some cultural needs are unmet because of allowances that are too low. Staff have made some improvements to the living environment of the home.

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Inadequate

Windows outside have been painted, new furnishings have been purchased and new carpets laid to children’s bedrooms. However, further improvements are needed, communal areas lack personalisation and internal windows require painting. The home is unwelcoming in its current state. This is not an environment which makes children feel valued. Children have recently engaged with health appointments. Some children engage with the organisation’s individual psychologist, who supports their emotional and psychological needs. However, while all children have base line assessments, completed by the psychologist on admission, staff lack an understanding of the therapeutic input they should be providing. Staff currently do not have the information they need to support the children and consequently, are unable to meet children’s mental and emotional health needs fully. Staff have supported one of the children to have a suitable routine, including

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Inadequate

attending the on-site school. This has meant that they have re-engaged with education for the first time for a long while. Attendance is now 95% and there is participation in science, art and project work in English. Staff have not been able to maintain the other child’s routines and this has resulted in a reduction in engagement and attendance. Staff have not been able to inspire a return to school following the departure of a teacher with whom the child feels they had a particularly good relationship. This impacts negatively on opportunities to gain knowledge and the chance to complete coursework and potential GCSE examination results. Educational support from staff is therefore not good enough. Staff have completed some positive work in helping children to maintain relationships with their extended families. This has helped children to have a better understanding of their backgrounds and culture.

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Inadequate

A very small, dedicated core group of permanent staff are working extremely hard to meet the needs of the children. The staff work over and above their contracted hours, and support colleagues even on their days off. The children enjoy sound relationships with staff who are supportive to them. Observation of the interaction between the staff and the children shows a caring and considerate approach and a great deal of warmth. The children speak with warmth about the staff. One child commented, ‘I get on really well with my key worker, he’s okay.’ These relationships have also helped in managing some children’s behaviours, which had challenged previous carers. Staff listen to the children and seek their views on activities. As a result, children enjoy trips out with staff, shopping, trips to the seaside and regular going to the cinema, on bike rides and walks. These trips help to strengthen the relationships

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Inadequate

with the staff and provide interesting opportunities for the children.

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Inadequate

The home has not done enough following serious incidents to prevent children putting themselves at risk and ensure they are properly safeguarded. For example, staff have intervened immediately to prevent a distressed child coming to harm by running into the busy road in front of the home. However, there has been insufficient learning from such incidents to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. While the home’s location risk assessment identifies the concern about the road and other potential hazards to children, it fails to sufficiently identify what action is needed to reduce potential risks. Lack of effective and robust work with children and a failure to change the physical environment or to provide staff with the resources to keep themselves and children safe at all times, mean that risks of harm remain. Children’s risk assessments, while they may be updated following serious incidents, and other significant incidents when children have been in the local community, do

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Inadequate

not identify all potential risks, or the action required to reduce these risks. These concerns are compounded by the lack of permanent competent and experienced staff working in the home, and the high numbers of agency workers caring for the children. This also places children at significant risk of harm. Staff have completed routine health and safety checks. However, there is no fire risk assessment. This significant omission is particularly relevant for the agency staff who are less familiar with the home, as they need greater clarity of the risk factors and procedures to follow if a fire was to break out. While the provider has positive safe recruitment processes in place for permanent staff, checks for some of the agency staff have not been robust. In particular, some of the agency staff profiles were not available for the acting manager to be wholly sure that they were suitably experienced to work in the home.

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Inadequate

Some young people have had a significant improvement in their previously challenging behaviour because of clear boundaries and effective use of attainment reward charts. Staff spend good quality time with the children and have a good understanding of potential triggers and de-escalation skills. Children are aware of their improvements, because staff ensure they receive praise and incentives, such as trips out. As a result, there has been a significant decrease in physical interventions, and damage to the home. However, not all measures of controls, such as physical interventions, are recorded in line with regulations. While there is minimal impact on children, this lack of robust monitoring makes it harder to identify and respond to potential trends and patterns. Children say that they feel safe in the home and they can identify someone they can talk to. This is a particular strength of this home, and observations during the

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Inadequate

inspection showed that there are very good relationships between the staff and young people. In general, the young people get on well together. The staff quickly manage any incidents between children to prevent incidents from escalating. The provider has taken action to address previous serious safeguarding concerns, and this action has had the effect of reducing the staff team to a very small group. It is positive that the provider has acted robustly to take the necessary action, but there is a lack of robust contingency arrangements. Despite the staff shortages, there have been no incidents of children going missing from the home. Staff understand the processes and policy and have a good relationship with agencies, such as the police, to help to ensure that children return quickly if they do go missing. The staff are alert to children’s potential vulnerability to exploitation in the community.

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Inadequate

The registered manager of the home is absent. In her absence, the provider has tried unsuccessfully to support the staff to manage the home. The current management arrangements are ineffective. This is due to the acting manager being a member of care staff, who is working shifts to care for the children. As a result, there has been a lack of oversight and review of how the home is meeting the needs of the children. The home is not managed consistently in line with the statement of purpose. Staff lack knowledge of their therapeutic role in meeting children’s emotional needs, and insufficient staffing levels do not enable the staff to fully implement the home’s statement of purpose. The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of some significant incidents, including a child putting herself at significant risk and a child being arrested for assault. This prevents Ofsted from having up to date information about the home and makes it

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Inadequate

harder to monitor the home to ensure all required action has taken place to promote children’s safety. The provider’s monitoring of quality in the home is poor and lacks any evaluation on how to improve the care children receive. For example, reviews of incidents involve only a cursory tick box exercise. The lack of an in-depth assessment of these events by the provider means that the staff are not developing an understanding of the children’s behaviours or effective methods for managing them. As a result, there is a lack of proactive action to prevent and address some of the children’s behaviours. While the commitment and dedication of the core staff are evident, and they have worked excessive hours to provide consistency and some stability for the children, the overall lack of staff within the home is a significant concern. Two of the four core staff are still in their probationary period, and due to the shortage of staff, on

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Inadequate

occasions they have been inappropriately placed on rota to lead a shift with agency workers as support. This occurred during inspection. While an experienced member of staff came back to support the worker, this resulted in their working three days without a break. On other occasions, experienced staff have worked with two agency staff. The provider has supplemented staffing with the use of agency staff; however, this fails to ensure that there are sufficient experienced and competent staff to meet the needs of the children. In addition, and of significant concern given the serious risk taking behaviours of one child, the agency staff are trained in a different form of physical intervention then the permanent staff. At times of crisis, this could lead to confusion about how to safeguard a child. The provider has taken action to meet some of the previous requirements made. The provider is continuing to investigate some serious safeguarding concerns,

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Inadequate

previously raised, where staff have failed to sufficiently safeguard children. These investigations have impacted on the staffing levels at the home, as the provider addresses these concerns. While attempts have been made to improve the quality of supervision, not all staff have had regular supervision and this prevents them from discussing any concerns that they may have or developing their practice.

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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 that 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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