Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Buckinghamshire

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:

 Attendance in education provisions is varied. It is still not evident that staff recognise the value of education or that young people’s potential for learning is fully recognised. In discussion with staff, they were not aware of how well young people are achieving at school or of the progress that they are making.  Insufficient monitoring means that the manager is not aware of the weak areas that are in need of development, as identified in this inspection. The information gathered has not been well used to improve the experiences for young people.  Care planning and risk assessments do not reflect up-to-date information or give staff sufficient information so that they can care for the young people safely and appropriately.  Records of sanctions are poor and do not always contain young people’s views or consider the effectiveness of these sanctions. This lack of information does not enable effective monitoring or an evaluation of

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because:

practice.  Recruitment processes do not, in all cases, evidence whether satisfactory exploration of information has taken place prior to staff commencing work.  When decisions are made to investigate internal safeguarding concerns by the organisation, there is an unnecessary delay in communicating with the managers to inform them of recommendations and of any support for the staff member that may be required.  Requirements have been repeated from the previous inspection. This questions the effectiveness of the monitoring.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people receive care that helps them to develop their self-confidence and to begin to deal with the issues that affect their emotional well-being.  Progress for young people is being made, given their starting points on arrival at the home. This is seen in the reduction of aggressive behaviours and in their being able to form attachments.  Young people are safe in this home, and previous difficult and risky behaviours have reduced.

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The children's home strengths

 Impact risk assessments now take into account the other nearby children’s home in the organisation, to ensure that a detailed evaluation takes place prior to placement. This determines whether the home can meet the young person’s needs and considers the implication for children placed in the two homes.  The management has worked hard to build confidence in the new staff team and to promote a child-centred approach in the home, and this has now started to be evident in practice.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the education standard, the registered person is required to

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Requirement Due date

(a)(iv)(v) ensure that staff help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment and provide opportunities for each child to learn informally. 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person is required to

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans and to make arrangements to reduce the risk. In particular, ensure that staff are working to up-to-date individual risk assessments and care planning.

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Requirement Due date

(b) ensure that the homes day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. In particular, ensure that managers are informed promptly of any recommendations following internal investigations. 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in respect of the matters listed in schedule 2, and in particular a full employment history, with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment history and satisfactory references (Regulation 32(3)(d)). 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that within five days of the use of a measures of control, 30 June 2016 the child concerned is spoken to about it and a record made (Regulation 35(3)(c)).

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children and the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home and supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which it is completed (Regulation 45(2)(a)(b)(4)(a)). 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is an incident requiring police involvement in relation to a child, which the registered person considers serious, and if a child protection enquiry involving a child concludes (Regulation 40(4)(b)(d)(ii)). 30 June 2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure each child’s attendance at health services and appointments and update care plans in accordance with recommendations (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.11).  Ensure that staff understand and help children to understand what makes healthy and nurturing relationships. This specifically relates to ensuring that key-work sessions are carried out after any incidents of bullying (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.10).  Revise the location assessment to ensure that the review includes comprehensive identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff can support and meet each child’s needs. In particular, they undertake training in attachment disorders and ensure that care planning incorporates therapeutic strategies ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5).  Ensure that the locking of external and internal doors is risk assessed and considered in the evacuation plan, to enable everyone to know what to do in the event of an emergency at night (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.62).

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Information about this children's home

This children's home is registered to take up to four young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. The home is one of a group of homes owned and operated by a private organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

5 January 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

10 February 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Young people benefit from the quality of the relationships that they are developing with the members of staff working with them. Young people receive care that helps them to develop their self-confidence and they are beginning to deal with the issues that affect their emotional well-being. Key-work times are used to develop relationships further. The manager has recognised that the content of some key- work sessions could be more supportive, and staff have recently had training in this area. This has yet to be fully evidenced in practice. Young people get on with each other some of the time, although there are also tensions of group living when disagreements among them occur. Young people spoken to during the inspection were not positive about the relationships that they have with each other. Interactions are managed by the staff who are aware of conflicts and able to intervene. They support young people in finding resolutions.

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Requires improvement

The staff team encourages young people to be more tolerant of each other. Since the last full inspection, there have been 12 admissions and nine discharges. This has resulted in challenges for the staff team. This indicates that the home has not maintained stable placements for young people. Incidents of missing from care, influence from peers and risk of child sexual exploitation have been significant concerns. Support from external specialist agencies ensures that young people are able to understand these behaviours and to consider reducing them. The manager carefully considers the best steps to take in the interest of each young person. Since the last interim inspection, young people have begun to stabilise and settle into their environment. Progress is being made, given their starting points on arrival at the home. This is seen in the reduction of aggressive behaviours and in their being able to form attachments.

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Requires improvement

Young people are encouraged to engage in therapeutic programmes, and the partnership between the staff and the organisation’s therapists enables information to be shared. Although training in understanding the principles of attachment disorder is planned for staff, in discussions with staff who had been working at the home a number of months it was evident that they do not yet know how to support young people in this area. During induction into the home, staff are not being equipped with the skills to ensure that the objectives set out in the statement of purpose are achieved. In addition, the home’s care planning does not support the therapeutic input from therapists and any recommendations and strategies to be implemented. The therapeutic care plan works completely separately and does not inform the wider plan. In discussion with the organisation’s therapists, they described their time as ‘stretched’.

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Requires improvement

All young people are either registered at the organisation’s school or have access to a registered alternative provision. Attendance is varied. It is still not evident that staff recognise the value of education or that young people’s potential for learning is fully recognised. One young person during the inspection refused to attend education and had limited formalised activities in the school day to help to develop and achieve skills. From discussion with staff, it is evident that they were not aware of how well young people are achieving at school or of the progress that they are making. Staff are not, therefore, taking action when progress may be unsatisfactory. The level of achievement and engagement of young people in education, therefore, remains variable. Services to promote young people’s health, safety and well-being are accessed. For example, local police officers visit regularly to talk to young people about dangers

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Requires improvement

in the community. Young people are encouraged to adopt a healthy lifestyle through physical exercise and the food that they eat. There is, however, a lack of urgency in booking health appointments. In addition, recommendations following local authority health reviews have not been incorporated into care planning arrangements. This increases the possibility that they will be overlooked.

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Requires improvement

The home provides an environment within which young people start to feel safe and where they are suitably protected from harm. There is open discussion, both individually and as a group, about what risks are and how some actions may expose young people to additional vulnerabilities. Staff use external agencies appropriately to reiterate these messages to support young people to be successful in keeping themselves safe. There is a responsive action from staff that reduces the risk of harm to young people. Staff are not cautious in discussing behaviours, and, through the support of the manager, practice is beginning to reflect a proactive rather than reactive approach.

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Requires improvement

Young people appear to feel safe and relaxed in the home. However, behaviours at times do not reflect this. This was reiterated by a placing social worker. There have been some instances of bullying in recent weeks, although these have been addressed by staff and appropriate action taken. Two out of three instances were not followed up with key-work sessions to enable the young people to reflect on this experience.

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Requires improvement

The relationships that young people are developing with the staff mean that they feel able to talk to staff should they feel worried or upset. There appears to be a level of trust and understanding. Staff have very recently undertaken therapeutic key-working training. This has provided the skills with which to gain an insight into behaviours and to support young people to make changes. This training has yet to be fully implemented in practice, as it is so recent. There have been some instances of young people being reported as missing: seven in total since the last interim inspection, which includes a cluster of incidents. There has been none in the last eight weeks. Due to changes in the group accommodated in a nearby children’s home, young people are no longer being influenced to go missing. Appropriate action was taken and necessary people informed. There is close and effective liaison with the neighbourhood police when incidents of missing occur.

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Requires improvement

Young people who have been in placement have been assessed as being at high risk of child sexual exploitation. In one instance, a placement was ended after discussion with the placing authority, due to the home taking the decision that it was unable to keep the young person safe. Risk assessments and care planning for young people currently in placement do not take into account risks identified in referral information or any incidents involving peer pressure that have taken place while young people are in placement. Vulnerabilities associated with exploitation have not been fully taken into account. Care planning and risk assessments do not reflect up-to-date information or give staff sufficient information to enable them to care for the young people safely and appropriately.

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Requires improvement

The management team is planning more effectively for new admissions and it now requests additional information in order to determine whether the placement will be suitable. There is effective liaison with professionals to anticipate known vulnerabilities when young people are new to the home. Impact risk assessments prior to placement take into account the nearby children’s home in the organisation, to ensure that a detailed evaluation takes place to determine whether the home can meet the young person’s needs.

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Requires improvement

The location risk assessment is not comprehensive and relies on staff and placing authorities having local knowledge. It contains limited information with which to determine the suitability of the location of the children’s home and how risks have been assessed. It would benefit from being strengthened in order to evaluate whether placements are suitable in terms of the location.

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Requires improvement

Staff receive training in the use of physical intervention. There is an emphasis on de-escalation and distraction. Staff demonstrate a sound understanding of these principles. There have been a number of physical interventions, and the team has looked at possible triggers, such as contact arrangements, and put strategies in place to support young people to manage their difficult and challenging emotions in more appropriate ways during these times. Records of sanctions are poor and do not always contain young people’s views or consider the effectiveness of these sanctions. This lack of information does not enable effective monitoring or an evaluation of practice. There is increasing awareness of restorative approaches, which may enable young people to take ownership of their behaviour and to develop improved relationships.

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Requires improvement

Recruitment processes do not, in all cases, evidence whether satisfactory exploration of information has taken place prior to staff commencing work. On one file, dates of employment on a curriculum vitae were different from those on the application form. Furthermore, there was a reliance on a reference from a part- time position and no full exploration of the applicant’s previous employment history.

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Requires improvement

Staff are trained and know how to respond to any safeguarding concerns. Any allegations are managed well and appropriate action taken. The manager has established links with the person responsible for allegations against staff in the local authority, and relationships are described as good. When decisions are made to investigate internally, there is an unnecessary delay in communicating with the managers to inform them of recommendations and of any support for the staff member that may be required. Managers are not always aware of this information before staff return to work. This does not enable the appropriate support, and shift planning and, if necessary, risk assessments to take place.

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Requires improvement

There are good systems to address matters of health and safety in place. Routine checks are carried out in relation to fire safety, and staff have practised evacuating the building. There are detailed assessments that minimise risk, without denying young people opportunities to take measured risks as part of their growth and development, for example, taking part in go karting and going to indoor activity centres. The back door and the kitchen door, which leads to a fire escape route, are locked at night. This needs to be considered in the fire evacuation plan and risk assessed to ensure that everyone knows what to do in the event of an emergency at night.

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Requires improvement

Managers clearly prioritise young people’s needs and act promptly on any concerns, for example in relation to the suitability of a placement or monitoring behaviours that are putting young people at risk. They are continuing to review processes and to be fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses in the home. However, requirements have been repeated and this questions the effectiveness of the monitoring.

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Requires improvement

The home has a suitably qualified and experienced manager who was registered by Ofsted in October 2015. She provides good leadership and receives support from experienced senior members of staff. The staff team has undergone a period of change and challenges in the last year. This has resulted in some staff leaving and new staff joining the organisation. There are only two staff remaining since the last full inspection. The management has worked hard to build confidence within the staff team and to promote a child-centred approach in the home. This has now started to be evidenced in practice.

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Requires improvement

The manager has recognised the need to increase levels of supervision of the staff team. This is in the process of being implemented. Staff spoken with feel well supported and able to raise any concerns through supervision. The home has sufficient numbers of staff to ensure that the young people can be offered close support if they need this. Staffing numbers are increased to meet the needs of particularly vulnerable young people. Effective communication through handovers and regular team meetings mean that staff are kept up to date so that they can provide consistent care. Record-keeping is an area highlighted by the manager as needing improvement. Supervisions and team meetings are providing learning opportunities to reflect on this practice and to clarify what is required. Young people are cared for by a staff team who receive regular training that equips them to undertake their designated roles.

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Requires improvement

External monitoring visits to the home take place on a monthly basis. There has been an improvement in the content of these reports and the organisation is working with the visitor to ensure that the visits enable the staff team to learn from practice to improve the experiences for young people. Although it is clear that internal monitoring by the management team takes place, monitoring has not identified the shortfalls identified during this inspection. Consultation is not being used well in this process to improve the quality of care. Furthermore, the six- monthly reports are still not being sent to Ofsted.

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Requires improvement

Young people benefit from collaborative working relationships between staff, parents and professionals from other agencies. These include social workers and a number of specialist workers. Information is cascaded to staff to ensure that they have the appropriate knowledge to support the young people’s needs effectively.

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Requires improvement

A recent significant incident involving police intervention was not notified to Ofsted, and updates following allegations have not been shared. This suggests a lack of transparency and of working together to ensure best 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 children looked after 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 that 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 whom 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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