Children's home in Lambeth

Inadequate

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

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The children’s home provision is inadequate because:

 Young people do not make progress in terms of attendance or achievement in education or training.  Staff do not help young people to identify small steps to make progress in areas such as improving behaviour or developing skills for independence.  Staff involve the police to manage incidents of challenging behaviour. This often results in young people being charged with criminal offences for incidents that occur in the home.  Staff frequently work alone, and the provider does not assess the risks in relation to lone working in order to demonstrate that this is safe for staff or young people. This issue was subject to a compliance notice and the provider has not taken action to comply.  Care plans do not demonstrate how staff help young people to make progress in relation to learning skills for independence.  The registered manager does not produce quality of care review reports which demonstrate how feedback from staff or management information

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The children’s home provision is inadequate because:

inform service development.  The registered manager does not make use of feedback from the home‟s independent visitor to improve the quality of care for young people.  The home, particularly the young people‟s bedrooms, does not provide a warm, homely environment.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 The registered manager has taken steps to address some of the shortfalls identified in the last inspection. There is now a core team of staff who provide a more consistent experience of care. This means that young people have clear boundaries and know what is expected of them. They have better routines and positive relationships with staff.  Staff work closely with parents, and support young people to have contact and to build positive relationships with their families.  The home works in partnership with experts in child and adolescent mental health to help them to better understand the needs of young people.  Staff are persistent in their support and encouragement to help young people engage with health services.  The provider ensures that staff have up-to-date training in key areas of child protection and behaviour management. They receive regular supervision and have annual appraisals to identify areas for training and development.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the provider must ensure that care plans identify the support provided to young people and the progress they make in relation to learning independence skills.

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Requirement Due date

14. (1) The care planning standard is that children receive well- planned care from the home and have a positive experience of admission and transition processes. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure: (b) that arrangements are in place to: (iii) plan for, and support, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care, in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with his or her placing authority. 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the provider must ensure that the young people‟s bedrooms are furnished to a reasonable standard and provide a warm, comfortable environment.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to: (vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the provider must undertake a lone working risk assessment and have a risk *30 June 2016 management strategy in place to demonstrate that this is safe for staff and young people.

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Requirement Due date

12. (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure: (a) that staff: (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 (b) that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the provider must ensure that identified risks are addressed by an effective risk management plan. This should be clear as to who is at risk of what, why they are at risk and what protective measures are in place to reduce risks.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet regulation 44, the provider must ensure that visits take place monthly and that the registered manager states clearly, within the timescales, how the service is taking note of the recommendations made by the independent visitor. If no action is taken, the registered manager must explain why not.

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Requirement Due date

44. (1) The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children‟s home at least once each month. (5) The independent person‟s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1)(5)) 30 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

45. (1) The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. (2) In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating: (a) the quality of care provided for children (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care 30 June 2016 provided for children. (3) After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review („the quality of care review report‟). (4) The registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(a) supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c), (3), (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

An asterisk is added in the table above where compliance = „Y‟ * This requirement is subject to statutory requirement notice.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 The registered person should agree, with their local police force, on procedures and guidance on police involvement with the home, to reduce unnecessary police involvement in managing behaviour and the criminalisation of behaviours. Children should not be charged with offences resulting from behaviour within a children‟s home that would not similarly lead to police involvement if they occurred in a family home. The provider should consider whether, for some incidents, an alternative approach would be more effective than criminal proceedings to help young people to learn and to reduce the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated ( „Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 47, paragraph 9.40).

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Recommendations

 Progress in education can be measured and evidenced in various ways, including, but not limited to: success in academic, vocational and other awards and qualifications, other formal attainment tests that are part of national assessment arrangements and teachers‟ ongoing assessments. Measurements of progress should include qualitative information, such as how well the child is being prepared for their next stage of education, training or employment, and quantitative data where available. Other metrics can also be taken into account, such as rewards and recognition of achievements, improvements in attendance and, where appropriate, reductions in behavioural incidents, including exclusion. The child‟s personal circumstances, individual needs and educational history are relevant in considering what might constitute progress, but should not limit aspirations for them. The home‟s care plans should clearly identify how they are helping

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Recommendations

young people to make measurable progress to prepare them for success in education, training or employment („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 26, paragraph 5.2).

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately operated by Ebonycare Limited. It provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

14 January 2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Inadequate

There is frequently only one member of staff on duty. When only one member of staff is on duty, it is difficult for them to give young people their full attention. This means that young people do not always get up in the mornings and sometimes, when they get up, staff are not able provide a sense of direction and purpose. Because of this, young people do not engage in education or consistently engage in constructive activities.

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Inadequate

Care plans at the home do not set clear, achievable objectives or identify how they support young people to learn the skills they need to successfully move on to independence. This makes it hard for young people and staff to be clear about what success looks like or how to achieve it.

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Inadequate

The staff work closely in partnership with child and adolescent mental health professionals, one of whom remarked that the staff used their input to help understand how best to help young people learn to manage conflict. This is sometimes effective, but at other times staff involve the police to help manage challenging behaviour. This means that young people are often charged with criminal offences for incidents in the home. Young people do not find this helpful and feel that this sometimes makes matters worse, rather than helping them to learn from mistakes. One young person described how angry and rejected he feels when he has to spend nights in police custody. He commented that this harms rather than improves his relationships with staff.

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Inadequate

Staff are persistent and tenacious when helping young people to attend medical appointments. This helps those young people who may be reluctant to attend appointments to get the healthcare that they need.

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Inadequate

Staff work closely with parents to ensure that they are working together. They support young people to have positive contact with their families and help them to resolve any conflicts. This helps young people and their families come to terms with the reasons for family breakdowns, and helps them to work towards a secure, positive relationship in the future.

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Inadequate

The consistency of staffing at the home has improved. There is now a core team of staff who know the young people well.

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Inadequate

Young people know how to raise concerns, both within the home and with external agencies. Staff listen to young people‟s concerns and work hard to make changes or, if this is not possible, to explain why. This culture of openness helps young people to develop the skills to influence the world around them in a positive way. It also helps them to understand that staff sometimes have to say „no‟ to their requests.

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Inadequate

Young people have access to a range of resources and support to engage in positive activities. The home has studio equipment so that one young person can develop his interest and talent in making music. Young people can access local leisure facilities for swimming, sports and gym sessions, but seldom do.

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Inadequate

The home is reasonably well presented in the communal areas but the young people‟s bedrooms and bathrooms are not well maintained or furnished to a high standard. The physical environment of the home is an important factor that affects the way that young people feel, and some areas of the home do not present a warm, attentive or nurturing feel.

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Inadequate

There is a high number of incidents of challenging behaviour, which includes assaults on staff members. Staff frequently work alone and the provider does not have a risk assessment or risk management plan in place to ensure that lone working is safe for staff or young people.

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Inadequate

Staff are aware of the risks to, and vulnerabilities of, young people out in the community and encourage them to stay at home by providing activities in the home and making friends welcome. This helps young people to stay safe and reduces the likelihood of gang involvement.

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Inadequate

When young people are absent and their whereabouts are unknown, staff take proactive steps to locate them and to liaise effectively with the police to ensure their safe return. Staff are aware of the vulnerabilities of young people in relation to sexual exploitation and take steps to ensure that they are safe.

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Inadequate

Staff undertake regular training in behaviour management techniques. They use this training to de-escalate conflict and to uphold boundaries. This is not always effective and the behaviour management plans in the home do not set out clearly how staff should intervene to manage behaviour or what to do if their efforts are not working. The home‟s policy on physical intervention states that this is used as a last resort to protect people from harm. It is not clear how this can be done safely when staff are working alone. This presents a risk that situations will arise that staff cannot manage safely.

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Inadequate

The home is located in an area that is relatively safe and there is a range of local resources available to meet the support needs of young people. The home‟s location risk assessment identifies potential trouble spots and gang-related activity, but does not demonstrate that the home has an active relationship with the local police, community services – such as youth services – or local authority safeguarding forums.

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Inadequate

Ofsted has made repeated requirements, and issued a legal compliance notice, in relation to having sufficient staffing to meet the needs of young people, and to improve risk assessments to demonstrate that lone working can be managed safely. It is of serious concern that the provider has not taken action to meet their legal obligations and ensure that young people are safe.

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Inadequate

There are still long periods where staff work alone and the manager is the only member of staff on duty. This makes it hard for staff to help young people to sustain progress and difficult for the manager to find time to undertake management duties.

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Inadequate

The systems in place to monitor the quality of care and to improve the service are not yet making a positive difference. Management monitoring reports do not make use of management information or feedback from staff to support service development, and these reports are not shared with Her Majesty‟s Chief Inspector, as required by the Children‟s Homes Regulations (2015).

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Inadequate

The independent visitor provides reports containing valuable feedback on the experience of young people and the standards of care and protection offered by the home. The registered manager does not always respond to recommendations in these reports and the provider does not always ensure that these visits take place each month, as required by the Children‟s Homes Regulations (2015).

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Inadequate

The registered manager is experienced in the role and suitably qualified. She has a hands-on approach to management, is visible in the home and is accessible to young people. She works effectively in partnership with the professional network, who comment positively that she has a good understanding of the needs of young people and makes valuable contributions at meetings. Young people value the skills, passion and commitment shown to them by the registered manager. One young person describes her as „being like a mum‟ and went on to say that he appreciated that she was always honest with him, even if he didn‟t like what she was telling him.

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Inadequate

The registered manager has implemented changes to improve the quality of care in response to shortfalls identified at the last inspection. There is now a consistent team of staff who are well supported by regular supervision and annual appraisals to identify areas for learning and development. There are more staff on duty during the day to support young people to engage in structured activity and more healthy routines. These changes are recent and are not yet having an impact in terms of helping young people to make progress.

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Inadequate

Despite the improvements, young people do not yet make sustained progress in terms of engaging in education, work or employment. Care plans do not demonstrate how the support provided to young people is helping them to prepare for independence.

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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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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