Children's home run by R Place Limited

inspection

Two compliance notices have been served in relation to the safe recruitment of staff and the potential risks posed to the young people.

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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:

 All young people are registered with the necessary health professionals. Not all young people are receiving required dental treatment. This shortfall could cause further complications with young people’s dental health in the future.  Education attendance is poor. The majority of young people do not attend full-time education. This significantly limits their potential to achieve and improve their life chances.  Staff provide opportunities for regular one-to-one discussion with young people to gain their views on the care that they need and other current topics. These formal discussions lack planning, evaluation and the views of the young people.  There is a high level of incidents of physical intervention. Records lack evaluation and reflection around how this is going to be reduced. There are no records to demonstrate that staff have been debriefed following these incidents.  Medication is being secondarily administered, and records are not being

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

signed by staff. This could lead to mistakes in administering medication.  The required monthly independent visitor’s reports have not been received. Therefore, the inspector has been unable to review the content.  The home’s placement plans lack detail. There is no record of young people’s views, or any overview by the registered manager.  The home does not have a development plan. This means that the manager is restricted in monitoring and reviewing systems used in the home in order to improve the quality of care to young people.  The quality of care review is predominantly descriptive. It lacks feedback from social workers, young people and parents. There is no information regarding the management and staff. These shortfalls restrict the manager in identifying whether the care that the home provides is effective.  The registered manager is not receiving regular supervision. Robust systems need to be in place so that all staff, including the manager,

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

receive supervision of their practice.  The home’s statement of purpose requires a list of staff, with their individual experience and qualifications.  The home needs a system in place to handle any complaints that are made. Comprehensive documentation needs to evidence the work that has been done by staff and managers in identifying and resolving issues with the community.

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The children's home strengths

 Since their admission, young people are making some progress in aspects of their lives. For example, there is a significant reduction in young people’s going missing from the home.  Young people say that they like living in their home and that staff treat them with respect. Staff have good relationships with the young people and know them well. Consequently, young people’s self-confidence and self- esteem have increased.  Staff work collaboratively with placing social workers, youth offending workers and parents to provide young people with individual care. Young people’s risk-taking behaviour, such as engaging in criminal activity and drug use, has been significantly reduced.  Social workers report that staff keep them regularly updated on young people’s progress and development. Staff support young people to attend and participate in their review meetings, empowering them to give their views and opinions on their longer-term futures.

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The children's home strengths

 Contact between young people and their families is supported and facilitated. This promotes young people’s sense of belonging and ensures that they are afforded continuity of care.  Staff report that they have good relationships with managers and that they are well supported.

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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

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of a use of a measure of control a record is made which includes the description of the measure and it’s duration, details of the methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure and the effectiveness and any consequence of the use of the measure (Regulation 35(3)(a)(iv)(v)(vii)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

Within 5 days of the use of the measure the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation they have spoken to the child about the measure (Regulation 35(3)(c)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans (Regulation 10(2)(a)(i)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, and understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers (Regulation 8(2)(a)(i)(iii)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children's home (Regulation 23(1)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person's report to HMCI (Regulation 44(7)(a)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In particular the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home (Regulation 14(2)(b)(ii)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

Registered person should ensure monitoring and review systems 29 July 2016 are in place to support continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home, this particularly relates to development plans (Regulation 13(1)(h)).

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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 and must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff (Regulation 45(2)(5)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children's home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1 (Regulation 16, Schedule 1(19). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation (Regulation 39(3)). 29 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and if, necessary make arrangements to reduce the risk of harm to the child.

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to risk management plans (Regulation 12 (2)(1)). 29 July 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

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care the responsible authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, 9.32.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that key-work sessions are used in a way to listen to, involve and respond to young people, to help them understand matters relating to their care (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, 4.10).

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, 13.2).  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, 9.59).

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Recommendations

 Staff supervision must enable staff to reflect and act upon how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for.

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Recommendations

This specifically relates to physical interventions (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, 8.15).

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Information about this children's home

The children’s home is owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

29 February 2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

12 January 2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Young people report that they get on well with staff and like living at the home. They say that they feel safe and that their home has a family atmosphere. Staff value and care about them, and help them to make positive choices in their lives. As a result, young people’s self-confidence and self-esteem have increased and there is a significant reduction in risk-taking behaviour, such as engaging in criminal activity and going missing from the home. A young person said, ‘Staff are down to earth. We are like a family here. Staff respect us and I respect them.’

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Requires improvement

Staff work together with placing social workers, youth offending workers and parents to provide individualised care. These agencies report that staff keep them regularly updated on young people’s progress and development. Staff encourage and support young people to attend and participate in their review meetings, enabling them to give their views and preferences in relation to their care and long-term futures. A social worker said, ‘staff update me weekly on X’s progress. They attend multi-agency meetings and, since his admission, X has gained in confidence. He now contributes vocally in his review meetings, which is a big development.’

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Requires improvement

Staff support young people to maintain contact with their families and people who are important to them, despite distance. They ensure that contact is safe and in line with individual care plans. This promotes young people’s sense of belonging and ensures that they are afforded continuity of care. A young person said, ‘Staff help me to see my family and girlfriend every other weekend, even though it’s a fair distance away.’

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Requires improvement

Regular group meetings provide a forum for young people to choose menus and activities such as quad biking. Formal key-work sessions provide opportunities to discuss areas of intervention such as sexual health, drug use and keeping safe. Records of these sessions lack evaluation and reflection, and the young person’s views and comments which would assist staff to evaluate their understanding of what has been discussed. This would also assist both staff and the young people when planning future sessions.

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Requires improvement

Staff are not always successful in supporting young people to attend their individual education provision. This means that the majority of young people are not engaging in full-time education. Staff provide young people with activities, such as visiting Conwy Castle and the silk museum, which are designed to educate them. They report that much of the time they ‘chill out’. There is a lack of evidence to determine whether staff have considered each young person’s obstacles to learning and the absence of individual strategies to promote young people’s educational attendance. This shortfall means that young people lack educational goals and achievements. This severely limits their career opportunities. A social worker said, ‘Education needs to be stepped up. Staff try to engage X, but they need to do more to get the young people into school.’

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Requires improvement

Young people are registered with healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists and opticians. Staff try to encourage young people to attend general appointments by talking to young people about the importance of maintaining good health. There is a shortfall in staff support and assistance for young people who refuse necessary dental treatment. This lack of required treatment could result in young people having poor dental health, which could lead to further difficulties in adult life.

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Requires improvement

Improvements need to be made in the administration and recording of prescribed medication. Medication is being secondarily administered, and records are not being signed by the staff member who administers it. Staff administering the medication have no access to the original packaging, which means that, should an ambulance be required, medical staff would not be able to check the prescribed dosage. This shortfall in practice has the potential to lead to mistakes in administering young people’s medication.

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Requires improvement

A shortfall raised at the last inspection has been met. Young people now sign an agreement to say that they understand that staff may have to enter their bedrooms if they have any cause for concern in relation to their or other young people’s safety.

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Requires improvement

Young people, professionals and staff commented on the progress that young people make in reducing their risk-taking behaviour during their time living at the home. One young person commented on their significant reduction of drug use. He commented: ‘I don’t think the same now, I want to live the legal way. I’m not doing drugs and I want to make the right decisions. That’s because of the staff. They help us.’

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Requires improvement

Young people rarely go missing from the home. They remain in the local area, spending time with each other and peers who they have met in the local community. On the rare occasions that young people have not returned to the home following time spent with family members, the staff team has followed the established missing from home procedures. Staff make numerous attempts to locate and encourage young people to return home as soon as possible. However, risk management plans are not robust. They do not provide staff with detailed strategies to follow, should young people go missing. Despite the shortfall in the plans, staff have knowledge and experience in managing episodes of missing. Consequently, their practice has supported young people when missing and ensured that they returned to the home safely.

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Requires improvement

Young people say that they are welcomed back into the home after episodes of missing and that staff are concerned about their whereabouts. However, the manager has not ensured that the placing authorities provide an independent person for young people to speak to on their return. This is a missed opportunity to support the individual young person to share any concerns or worries with someone independent of the home.

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Requires improvement

Staff have established good relationships with young people and follow the behaviour management plans. This encourages and supports positive behaviour. However, staff have had to use physical intervention to keep young people safe in the home. These interventions, although they appear to be low-level, have become a behaviour management strategy used by staff to manage behaviour between young people. Consequently, young people are not developing the skills to self-regulate their behaviour. The manager does not effectively monitor and evaluate individual episodes of physical intervention. This means that records are not routinely reviewed to ensure that they are compliant with regulations and that no patterns or trends in the use of physical interventions are identified. This results in the continued use of physical intervention to manage behaviour. Young people say that they are spoken to after a physical

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Requires improvement

intervention. However, the records do not show that they are. This is a missed opportunity for young people to reflect and move on from the intervention.

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Requires improvement

The staff team receives regular supervision. However, staff are not afforded the opportunity during these supervisions sessions to reflect on the impact on the behaviour of the young people on themselves. In particular, they do not discuss the regular use of physical interventions at the home.

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, two compliance notices have been served. These notices were issued in relation to staff recruitment practices at this home. At this inspection, the final compliance notice was monitored. Appropriate action had been taken to strengthen recruitment procedures, including the retrospective monitoring of established staff recruitment files. As a result, the compliance notice has now been met. The changes implemented by the management team will, in theory, improve the recruitment procedures. However, given there has been no new recruitment since the shortfalls were highlighted, this is yet to be tested. The improved procedures will mean that young people are looked after by individuals who have undergone rigorous and robust checks prior to commencing their employment at the home.

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Requires improvement

The manager and staff team undertake regular checks to ensure that young people enjoy living in a safe and secure environment. Health and safety risk assessments are in place. External agencies are used to complete the fire risk assessment. Young people and staff regularly practice emergency evacuations so that they know how to exit the building safely in the event of a fire or other emergency. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The registered manager holds a social work degree and is due to commence the level 5 diploma in leadership and management. She is supported by the registered individual, who takes an active role in running the home. The registered manager has a good knowledge of the young people and is able to identify the progress that they have made since admission.

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Requires improvement

Staff say that they receive monthly supervision and annual appraisals. They say that they receive good support from shift leaders and managers. They report that the monthly team meetings are well attended by staff. There is no evidence to demonstrate that staff received supervision during the month of May. Neither is the registered manager receiving regular supervision. Given the recent concerns around staffing and recruitment, supervision needs to be a priority for all staff. The majority of the staff are either appropriately qualified or working towards the required qualifications within timescales. A staff member said, ‘It’s a fantastic team. I feel well supported by managers and the team. We have monthly team meetings which are well attended by the staff.’

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Requires improvement

The requirement raised at the last inspection has been suitably addressed. Records now demonstrate that young people understand that staff may need to enter their bedrooms, on occasion. This will apply when staff have safeguarding concerns for them, the other young people or staff. This ensures that young people are fully aware of what staff may need to do to keep them and others in the home safe.

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Requires improvement

At the time of the inspection, the inspector had not received the last three months’ reports from the independent visitor and had been unable to review them. The previous requirement has been repeated, along with an additional requirement in respect of the absence of the required reports.

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Requires improvement

One external complaint has been received from the home’s neighbours and trading standards. Staff were reported to have been buying cigarettes for the young people, and young people were reported to have thrown stones at the shopkeeper. Managers say that they have spoken with staff, young people, trading standards and the shopkeeper to gain further information. Staff meetings and supervision sessions have provided a forum for further investigation and discussion in relation to these allegations. However, there is both a lack of evidence in records to demonstrate the work that has been done and no system in place to handle any complaints.

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Requires improvement

A number of shortfalls were noted at this inspection in relation to the lack of management oversight. Recording, monitoring and reviewing in this home need to be improved. Insufficient records mean that the manager is restricted when evaluating whether the care afforded to young people is effective, and is unable to identify when and where improvements need to be made. The home’s six-monthly quality of care review is not consistent with requirements. Feedback from social workers, young people and parents is missing. There are no details of the management and staff team. The home does not have a development plan, and the home’s placement plans lack young people’s input into their care preferences, experiences and future goals. Opportunities to gain information from parents, agencies and the young people living in the home have been missed by the manager. This lack of oversight means that the manager is unable

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Requires improvement

to monitor, review and evaluate whether the home is consistently run in the best interests of the young people, and that the methods used in the home improve their quality of care.

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Requires improvement

The home’s statement of purpose lacks the required details on staff, including their experience, training and qualifications. This information will assist parents, young people and placing authorities in identifying the level of skills and experience that the staff hold to meet young people’s specific needs.

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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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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.

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Information about this inspection

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 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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