Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Preston

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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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Management monitoring systems are not yet fully effective. Leaders and managers have not identified shortfalls which are highlighted as part of this inspection.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Safeguarding procedures following allegations being made against staff fail to protect young people suitably from harm.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Behaviour management strategies, particularly the use of sanctions, are inconsistent and fail to address unacceptable behaviour. Young people do not benefit from clear and agreed methods to manage their behaviours through the sanctions applied.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 There is a failure to take suitable action to address bullying behaviours.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 The quality of the records maintained by the staff requires further improvement.

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The children's home strengths

 Managers and staff maintain close working relationships with the police, therapy teams and school staff. The manager coordinates off-site activities which offer young people the opportunity to develop social skills and a sense of accomplishment.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people benefit from trusting relationships with core members of staff. They have developed emotional resilience, and they can talk to and trust staff.

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The children's home strengths

 All young people attend the on-site independent school, and have made good progress in their attendance and achievements.

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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 ‘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

7. The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard Ensure that staff regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care (Regulation 7(2)(a)(iv). 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard In order to meet the protection of children standard, to enable children to be protected from harm the registered person must ensure that 12(b) the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered through effective care planning and risk management, so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm (Regulation 12(b)). 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered to 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; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home (Regulation 13(1)(a), (b), (2)(f), (h)). 30 June 2016 Ensure the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular, provide for liaison and co- operation with any local authority which are, or may be, making a child protection enquiry in relation to a child accommodated in the

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Requirement Due date

home (Regulation 34(2)(a)). 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

Review and implement a policy for the prevention of bullying in the home, which clearly sets out the procedure for dealing with an allegation of bullying (Regulation 34(3)). 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating (Regulation 45(2)). 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 recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Ensure staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording (‘Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 45 and 46) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice (‘Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24).

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Information about this children's home

This home is registered to provide care for up to six young males who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is part of a private company which has a number of children’s residential services throughout the UK.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24 February 2016 CH – Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Requires improvement

At the previous inspection in February 2016 the home was judged to have declined in effectiveness. Two requirements and three recommendations which had been issued at the full inspection in November 2015 were repeated. Since the last inspection, of the two requirements made one has been met, and progress has been made on the recommendations. One requirement remains outstanding and will be made again at this inspection. Although the registered manager and management team have taken significant steps to address some of the deficiencies identified at the last inspection, as yet there is insufficient evidence to say robustly that these are now part of embedded practice. Young people benefit from living in a well-furnished, comfortable environment in which they can be nurtured and thrive. Since the last inspection there has been some refurbishment, decoration and improvements in the garden which the young

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Requires improvement

people have been involved in. Young people’s bedrooms have been personalised by them with support from the staff team. The conservatory roof continues to leak. However, a purchase order has been approved by the organisation for its repair. Staff have positive relationships with the young people whom they care for. This was observed during the inspection. Young people said that they felt comfortable talking to staff. They could all identify a number of staff members who they would go to if they had any problems. During the inspection there was much laughter and banter between the staff and young people. This gave the home a relaxed, caring atmosphere. Young people also benefit from being cared for by a consistent staff team. Regular house meeting are held, and the outcomes of these meetings are fed back to the staff meeting. Young people are then provided with the results of these meetings. Young people also use their key-worker sessions to express their views.

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Requires improvement

Consultation with young people is not always evident in the home’s documentation, in particular their comments on consequences. Each young person has an individual care plan, which is kept under review so as to reflect their current and emerging needs. Young people are involved in the development of their plans and the meetings relating to these. Staff spoken with demonstrate a clear understanding of these plans and the work they have to undertake to meet the young people’s needs. Within some of the supporting documentation and records staff insert late entries, add comments between the lines and cross out sentences. This practice does not assist the evaluation of these records, which results in a lack of transparency. Young people are doing very well in education from their starting points upon admission. All young people attend the on-site independent school. They are very proud of their achievements. Staff work closely with young people to see how they

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Requires improvement

wish to manage the transition into the school and develop a plan of support. This has worked very well in getting young people into a routine. Each young person has their own activity plan, which they complete with their key worker. These plans include young people’s interests and hobbies, as well as giving them the opportunity to try new ones and broaden their experiences. Young people are enabled to attend clubs in the local community. This has been very successful, with a young person receiving a place in a music group. A parent spoken to during the inspection was very positive about the home and the staff. They felt that the staff team provides the young people and themselves with great support. They said they could always speak to staff when they needed to, and staff kept them up to date with what the young people are doing. They said that it was ‘nice to hear all the positives, as well as when things are not going

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Requires improvement

too well’. The healthcare needs of young people are appropriately met. Staff ensure that young people attend all required health appointments. Young people benefit significantly from being able to access the organisation’s therapy team on a weekly basis.

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Requires improvement

At previous inspections in November 2015 and February 2016, a requirement was raised to ensure that safeguarding procedures were followed following allegations against staff made by the young people at the home. During this inspection, it was found that two complaints were made by a young person in early April 2016. The first was that a member of staff had locked him out of the house and encouraged him to hit his peer, and in a second complaint had used inappropriate language towards him. He reported his concerns to the staff on duty, who in turn spoke with the team leader on call, yet neither followed the organisation’s safeguarding policy. Given that a young person had made a complaint about the same member of staff within a few days, the service manager of the organisation asked that the second complaint was passed onto the local area designated officer (LADO). The information given stated that the parent and

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Requires improvement

the social worker were happy about the outcome of an investigation, that it was not substantiated. This was confirmed during the inspection with the social worker and parent involved. However, there was no evidence of an investigation, no records of conversations with young people and staff and, furthermore, no record of the conversation between staff and the on-call team leader. The staff had failed again to notify the local authority of the allegation immediately and, as a result, did not follow the authority’s or the organisation’s safeguarding procedures. Furthermore, there was no clear audit trail of evidence to account for the actions taken by staff following the allegations being made. Failure to follow safeguarding procedures means there is potential risk to young people. Bullying has taken place at the home. Staff have taken appropriate action to safeguard the young person being targeted. The young person showed remorse

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Requires improvement

for his actions and the home applied a consequence for his actions. Where unacceptable behaviours are identified, individual risk assessments are updated, but one-to-one sessions are not always carried out consistently to address bullying behaviours. Consequently, young people could be left vulnerable by a poor response by the manager to episodes of bullying in the home. Each young person has an individualised care plan and risk assessments, all of which have been recently reviewed and amended. These plans provide staff with clear guidance on how to meet young people’s needs, which improves the consistency of care. Restraint records contain the required information. The number of restraints used has reduced. Young people are asked if they have been hurt during a restraint, and staff take appropriate action in response to their answer. Each young person receives an independent debriefing from a member of staff who was not involved

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Requires improvement

in the restraint. Staff have developed an understanding of the links between restraint, child welfare and protection. This was evident in discussions with the team and the actions that the staff on duty took during a recent incident. The manager monitors the restraint records and uses the findings to identify patterns or potential trends, with a view to reducing further the number of restraints used. All incidents are appropriately recorded and provide a record of events. There has been an increase in the number of incidents since the last inspection, particularly around assaults on young people by other young people living in the home. The manager does not regularly monitor the incidents. Furthermore, incidents are not always cross-referenced with the ‘missing from care’ or ‘consequence’ records. This fails to provide a clear understanding of the incident, why it occurred and what steps the manager is going to take to ensure that it is not repeated.

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Requires improvement

Sanctions used within the home are usually fair and proportionate. Young people agreed with this in their returned surveys. However, there are no comments made by young people on the consequences that have been applied. Since the last inspection there have been 18 incidents of a young person going missing from the home. This is an increase. Staff acted promptly and the young people returned safely. Despite repeated requests by staff at the home for the social worker to come and visit the young person to carry out a ‘return to home’ interview, this has not always taken place. Staff were able to provide email evidence of these requests during the inspection. The recruitment records inspected contained all the required information to ensure that young people are protected by good recruitment procedures.

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Inadequate

The registered manager was appointed to the home in January 2015 and holds the appropriate qualifications for the role. Despite her suitable qualification and experience, she and the wider leadership team have failed to make a positive impact on the care, safety and development of young people resident in the home.

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Inadequate

The manager was asked at the last two inspections to undertake better scrutiny of safeguarding events, as many records, including chronologies, were not clearly evaluated or recorded. At this inspection, it was found that the manager had again failed to identify the shortfalls in staff failing to follow procedures following safeguarding allegations. This includes staff failing to make written notes of their concerns or subsequent actions. This does not ensure that staff learn lessons and mistakes are not repeated, and demonstrates a lack of capacity by the manager to change. The manager is still not arranging regular staff meetings, with only one meeting taking place since the home declined in effectiveness in February 2016. This fails to provide staff with support and demonstrates ineffective leadership. Since the last inspection, there has been some improvement in staff supervision.

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Inadequate

Professionals spoken to as part of the inspection were very positive about the care provided at the home and the commitment of the staff team. Staff training has increased to develop the staff team, particularly with regards to harmful sexual behaviours. This training is linked not only to the young people’s needs, but the requirements and recommendations of the last two reports. This work is ongoing.

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Inadequate

External monitoring of the home takes place on a regular basis, and includes feedback from parents, social workers and young people. Monitoring reports are provided to the manager, outlining identified areas for improvement. Internal management monitoring processes are in place within the home. However, monitoring is not robust and fails suitably to address the areas for improvement, as identified within this inspection. Although the manager recognises that this is an area for improvement, systems to develop this process are not yet in place. The home’s current statement of purpose covers all the required areas and is reflected in the practices of the home.

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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 ‘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 0300 123 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, work- based 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

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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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