Children's home run by Sahara Care Service for Children Ltd in Slough

Inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean that children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or their care and experiences are poor and they are not making progress.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 There has been no registered manager in post since November 2015. The interim manager is insufficiently skilled to lead a new team effectively.  Staff have not successfully engaged with young people and therefore do not influence them to make positive changes. Some young people do not trust the staff.  The views of the young people are not reflected in their records or incorporated into planning how the home is run.  When young people come to live at the home, their care planning is not sufficient to ensure their needs and risks are addressed, to keep them safe.  The development of young people’s independence skills is not well coordinated by staff.  There are no structured activities for the young people to engage with, and formal planning of their day-to-day routine is absent.  There are significant shortfalls in recruitment of new staff. The procedures are unsafe.  Managers have not considered how to address all risks associated with the

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

young people and their use of the community.  Staff are not confident in identifying when young people are at risk in relation to child sexual exploitation and self-harm.  Supervision for some staff has been inconsistent.  Some fire doors are inappropriately wedged open.  There is no internal monitoring of the home or of the overall progress of the young people.  Monthly reporting by the independent visitor is not a true reflection of practice in the home.  The majority of staff have not achieved the appropriate qualification to work in a children’s home.

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The children's home strengths

 Staff have the best interest of the young people as a goal. There are some positive interactions.  Young people make reasonable progress in education.  The medical needs of the young people are appropriately addressed and supported by the staff.  Young people’s cultural and religious beliefs are celebrated and supported.  Relationships with significant others are maintained by the young people.  The home is well maintained.  Incidents of young people going missing are responded to well by the staff.  Good relationships have been established with the local police and other professionals.  Complaints from the community are addressed swiftly.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that 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

6. The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and care standard, the registered person must ensure that staff (2)(b)(4) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as record in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background (Regulation 6 (2)(b)(4)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

9. The enjoyment and achievement standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the employment and achievement standard, the registered person must ensure that staff (2)(a) help each child to (i) develop interest and hobbies (ii) participate in activities that they enjoy and which meet the and expand their interests and preferences (iii) make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community (Regulation 9(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on (a) mutual respect and trust (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour (c) positive responses to other children and adults (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that staff 9 July 2016 (2)(a)(i) 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 (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(i)(iii)).

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must ensure that staff (2)(c) have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child (Regulation 13(2)(c)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person must ensure that arrangements are in place to (2)(b)(i) ensure the effective induction of each child into the home (ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home (Regulation 14(2)(b)(i)(ii)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must take adequate precaution against the risk of fire; specifically, use a safe alternative to wedging fire doors (Regulation 25(1)(a)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home (Regulation 27(1)). 9 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’ safety; in particular, ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual recruited in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2 (Regulation 32(3)(d)). 9 July 2016 *

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. When appropriate, children should be involved in the choosing and preparing of meals, and opportunities to sit and eat together should be promoted (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8).

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Recommendations

 Children will have varied pre-care experiences. A large proportion of children come into care for reasons relating to trauma, neglect and abuse. The registered person should ensure that staff are prepared and able to listen to children who want to talk about their past difficulties (‘Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.1).

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Recommendations

 Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and to understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children whom they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to 'tell'. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through behaviour (‘Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10).

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Recommendations

 Children should be encouraged to develop positive relationships with others, both in and outside the home, as set out in the positive relationship standard. However, staff should be alert to the possibility that children may be at risk from such relationships, including from relationships with other children in the home, and therefore should take appropriate steps to protect a child when there are concerns (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.13).

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of the information from independent and internal monitoring, to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, and learn from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and for sustaining good practice (‘Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24).

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Recommendations

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent visitor must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care (‘Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5).

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Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17 March 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

11 November 2015 Full Requires improvement

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Inadequate

Young people’s experience and progress is adversely affected by the lack of skilled management, limited safeguarding practices and underdeveloped engagement by staff with them. Care planning is not good enough. Some care plans are of poor quality, lack essential information and insufficiently identify how goals set for young people will be achieved. As a result, it is difficult to measure the progress that young people are making towards their planned aims and outcomes. For example, one young person’s care plan had not been reviewed regularly and lacked sufficient information about achievable goals. Young people do not have opportunities to contribute to their care plans. Staff do not provide enough help and support to young people to ensure that they understand what is expected of them. This has led to some young people being unsure of their goals. For example, one young person had a different view of what

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Inadequate

was expected of her from that of the interim manager. Some young people enjoy living in the home and understand the house rules. A weekly house meeting is the only arena where young people are consulted and their wishes and views are taken into account. This limits opportunities for young people to influence the running of the home. Young people spoken to did not consider key-working sessions to be purposeful. Records did not give an account of what was actually discussed. It was observed during the inspection that staff sometimes needed prompting from managers to engage with the young people. For example, young people would remain in their rooms for a considerable period without the staff approaching them and offering constructive alternative activities. The staff want the best outcomes for the young people, but have yet to build strong relationships with them. A young person said, ‘I only like my key worker. I do not trust the other

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Inadequate

members of the staff, and I comply with them to keep the peace.’ Young people are making reasonable progress in education. They attend college and alternative education provisions. Some have greatly improved their attendance after missing a considerable amount of education. Through hard work, they have caught up and achieved the results needed to study their desired interests. A headteacher had positive words for the staff and their support of a young person’s educational needs: ‘The school is very pleased with the continued support the staff have provided to the young person and the staff here at school. Communication lines are always open and we feel that we have been kept informed [about] [Name]’s issues.’ Young people have access to health services and are supported by staff to attend appointments. Staff have made efforts to learn and understand health issues that young people are currently experiencing. As a result, the health needs of young

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Inadequate

people are consistently met. Young people are confident that they are able to complete tasks such as travelling on public transport, doing their washing and cooking for themselves. However, they do not feel that staff have helped them to gain these skills, nor is there any evidence of any formal work by staff with young people to develop important independence skills. There are further missed opportunities to support young people in their preparation for adulthood. For example, young people are not involved in preparing meals in the home, and there is limited seating available for young people to socialise and to have a meal together. When young people first arrive at the home, planning for them is insufficient. There is no structured plan to introduce young people into the daily routine of the home or for them to become familiar with the surrounding area and wider community. In addition, not all risks are properly considered. For example, on one

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Inadequate

occasion, staff allowed a newly admitted young person to go off alone with another young person for whom there were similar risks and concerns. This may have contributed to the young person quickly making inappropriate contacts in the community. Young people are not provided with a sense of structure and familiarity, as daily routines are not in place. Opportunities to develop their confidence and social skills through recreational activities are not available on a regular basis. However, young people are supported to engage and practise their individual religious beliefs. For example, staff supported one young person to attend a festival that celebrated her religious faith. When appropriate, young people are supported to maintain regular contact with parents, friends and people who are important to them. However, the lack of positive engagement between staff and young people means that young people continue to form relationships with peers and individuals in the community who

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Inadequate

have a negative impact on them behaviourally and emotionally. Young people have made no complaints. The home is well maintained and is an appropriate setting for the young people. There are plans to build an extension to create more space for the young people. Judgement grade

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Inadequate

Significant shortfalls in safeguarding policies, procedures and staff practice mean that young people are not as safe as they should be while residing in the home. Recruitment practice continues to be an ongoing issue that places young people at risk. The requirement made at the last inspection has not been complied with. Appropriate procedures to ensure that staff recruitment is safe are not in place. References are not always rigorously checked and concerns regarding previous employment are not sufficiently followed up. For example, one member of staff’s visa had recently expired. A number of staff have been recruited through personal connections with references supplied by other members of staff working in the home. This means that the reference is not providing any additional knowledge of the person to the process. Young people’s risk assessments are not good enough. They do not contain careful and measured responses to all the risks associated with the young people, nor

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Inadequate

include important historical information. As a result, staff are not provided with sufficient guidance and information on how to protect young people. The location risk assessment for the home fails to take into account aspects of the surrounding community that pose a risk to young people. For example, a nearby train station is not considered in the location risk assessment. Despite recent staff training in child sexual exploitation and self-harm, the knowledge of staff remains poor. As a result, the quality of work undertaken with young people at risk of child sexual exploitation and self-harm is ineffective, and risks are not reduced. Staff have not sought to verify whom young people at risk have met when given free time, nor have they understood or planned for the risks associated with social media. Staff do not have a good enough understanding of young people’s behaviour. They do not always give them the level of attention required and are more inclined to

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Inadequate

leave young people alone rather than to intervene actively to calm them. For example, staff may have been able to prevent a serious incident if they had had better insight into the negative behaviours of young people. Young people are not developing an awareness of situations that place them at risk, in part because staff do not follow up incidents with them. Fire safety and other household checks are conducted regularly. However, managers need to ensure that fire doors have a mechanism installed that ensures that they close automatically in the event of a fire. This will ensure that the home environment is completely safe for young people. The staff are good at responding to incidents of young people going missing. When episodes of missing occur, staff work in partnership with social workers and police, sharing information and taking appropriate actions to ensure the young person’s safe return. Staff have completed their behaviour management training in which they have

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Inadequate

learned techniques to be used as a last resort. No physical interventions have been undertaken with the young people. It is evident that the staff have a very good relationship with the police and report incidents in a timely manner. The local community officer regularly visits the home and meets with young people, specifically when they are new to the home. A local police officer reported that the home did a good job managing a young person who experienced numerous incidents of going missing. Staff routinely support young people involved with criminal activity by assisting them to attend youth offending appointments and by engaging with their allocated workers.

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Inadequate

The home has been without a registered manager since November 2015. The interim manager has not provided a good enough level of leadership and management nor effectively prioritised the needs of young people. The responsible individual is known to the young people and has established a positive relationship with some of them. Managers have failed to put in place care plans that give staff purposeful guidance to care for young people. There is no internal monitoring of the home to determine what is and what is not working. This means that developments are piecemeal. Managers are unable to evidence the impact of the service on young people’s progress. The staff do not appear confident in their abilities to look after young people. Staff would benefit from additional support and guidance from managers, which they do not receive. They need further support to assist them with developing their day-to- day responsibilities for young people. Some staff have received supervision

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Inadequate

regularly but for others it has been sporadic. Supervision has addressed some issues with staff practice, but the records are brief and staff generally lack confidence. The majority of staff have not achieved the qualification that they need to work in a children’s home. For many, their work towards the level three qualification has yet to start. Visits by the independent visitor are conducted. However, the reports submitted are not evaluative, nor do they offer a true reflection of the daily life of young people. This lack of strategic oversight fails to support managers in identifying trends and patterns, and has contributed to the home stalling in its development during its first year of operation. The statement of purpose and the manager’s development plan have recently been updated. They are practical working documents that reflect the changes to service that are being implemented. Good links have been established with other professionals involved in the lives of

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Inadequate

young people. External professionals report that staff are good at communicating on behalf of young people who benefit from a coordinated response. This has ensured that young people attend important meetings, for example with youth offending team workers. Managers are swift to respond to any complaints received from those outside the home. A recent complaint was carefully considered and satisfactorily resolved.

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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, 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 Text phone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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