Children's Home run by Aspris Care Central Limited in Norfolk

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:

 The home is without a registered manager.  Some risk assessments are not updated promptly after incidents occur.  Some documents relating to the risk of and response to children who go missing are not consistent with one another.  There have been incidents recorded in the restraint log that do not warrant a restraint taking place.  There is insufficient knowledge within the staff and management team regarding children’s education.  Internal monitoring arrangements are not strong enough to support improvement.  The systems for capturing children’s progress are underdeveloped.  Children’s case files do not contain up-to-date versions of some key documentation.  One child’s health needs have not been promptly addressed.

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The children's home strengths

 There has been progress in relation to the issues identified at the interim inspection.  The staff support the children to participate in day-to-day decisions around the home.  The staff promote contact between children and their families effectively.

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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

In order to meet the education standard, the registered provider must

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(vi) ensure that staff maintain regular contact with each child's education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child's education and training and to maximise the child's achievement. This is with specific regard to ensuring an understanding of young people’s levels, progress and attendance. 24 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the health and wellbeing standard, the registered provider must ensure

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c) that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. 24 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider must ensure

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) 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 any harm to the child. This is with particular regard to ensuring that young people’s risk assessments are updated frequently and promptly after incidents occur and that they are consistent with one another. 10 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard 24 June 2016 In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered provider must

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Requirement Due date

(2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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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 provider must

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Requirement Due date

(2)(f) 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. This is with particular regard to ensuring that progress is monitored and reviewed. 24 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that any restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing injury to any person (including the child), serious damage to the property of any person (including the child), or of preventing a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home (Regulation 20(1)(a)(b)(c)). 10 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if there is no registered manager in respect of the home, and the registered provider is an organisation or a partnership (Regulation 27(1)(a)(b)(i)). 24 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child, which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child, ensure that they are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. This is with particular regard to ensuring that the information recorded is accurate and of a sufficient quality (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)). 24 June 2016

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Information about this children's home

This home is part of a large private children's care organisation, it is registered to accommodate three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home offers short-term, long-term and emergency placements. The home has a school on site, which is registered with the Department for Education.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23 March 2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

13 February 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Requires improvement

The children report good relationships with the staff. They say that staff have their best interests at heart. A child said: ‘The staff do care about us and want the best for us.’ Interactions between the staff and children are warm and good humoured. The staff have a good knowledge of most of the children’s care needs. However, there are some gaps. For example, there is a lack of knowledge about children’s educational progress. While this gap in knowledge does not have an impact on the good quality of the relationships between the staff and children, it affects the support that staff can offer the children. The children attend the school on site. There have been issues with the availability of teachers. As a result, there was a period when there was no teacher on site. Since then, supply teachers have taught the children. Since February 2016, there have been no educational reports completed. The staff are not aware of current

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Requires improvement

attendance or attainment figures. Although this information is theoretically available, managers have not recently monitored this. As a result, staff do not know how well children are achieving at school or the levels of progress that they should be making. The staff register the children with health providers. They encourage and support them to attend routine appointments. However, there has recently been a misunderstanding regarding the need for a child to have a specialist health assessment. Since the new manager discovered the confusion, she has acted promptly to try to address the issue. However, as a result of the misunderstanding, the child is still awaiting a referral for the assessment three months after the identification of the original need. The staff support the children to participate in day-to-day decisions around the home. There are regular children’s meetings and the children actively contribute to

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Requires improvement

these. The children add their comments and sign the records. The staff discuss issues from children’s meetings in staff meetings. The children report that the staff listen to them and act on their opinions. The staff seek their views after significant incidents. A child said: ‘I always get a debrief, and it is always from someone who has not been involved in the incident.’ As a result, the children feel that staff have an interest in what they have to say. The children report that they are able to access a wide range of leisure opportunities, including cinema, swimming and ice-skating. They say that life in the home is ‘alright’. They recognise that there have been changes in the management and feel that there is more structure in place. They say that at times they struggle with the rules. The management team and staff also see this. The staff are working with the children to support them to manage their feelings. Key-work

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Requires improvement

sessions take place to explore these issues. Achievements are celebrated. The children get constructive feedback at residents’ meetings and staff emphasise their strengths and positive attributes in discussions. They see the potential that the children have and are keen to support them to make positive changes to their lives. The staff understand the children’s cultural heritage. They work to develop their knowledge of this. A child said: ‘The staff have a good understanding of what it means to come from a travelling family.’ The staff work hard to support the children to have positive contact with their families. A social worker said: ‘They have been very supportive with contact. They drive him to contact and back, and supervise this. They provide good-quality reports.’ This has enabled contact arrangements to develop further. As a result, the children are able to maintain and improve the relationships that they have with

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Requires improvement

The home has a large number of risk assessments for each child. The manager has recently updated these for one child. However, for another, updates and reviews have not followed promptly after incidents have occurred. This is despite the previous requirement made at the interim inspection. This means that the documents do not reflect the most up-to-date knowledge regarding the child. The manager has updated the location risk assessment. The children are aware of the risks associated with the nearby water and roads. The staff have used one-to- one sessions and residents’ meetings to reinforce these messages. As a result, the children have a greater understanding of the risks that the local area poses. The location risk assessment identifies that the gates to the grounds need repair. However, this repair did not happen promptly and only began on the second day of the inspection. There are risk assessments relating to going missing in place for each child.

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Requires improvement

However, these are not consistent with the individual absence polices. Although staff have an awareness of what needs to happen if a child goes missing, the documentation is not clear and consistent. This does not promote unity in staff approach. The records relating to missing incidents are now much clearer and offer a stronger overview of what has occurred. The staff and children speak of the use of a variety of de-escalation techniques. Physical interventions also take place. Managers monitor and review these. The staff and children involved now have a debrief afterwards. Restraints often arise as a result of serious damage to property taking place. In most instances, the rationale for intervention is clear. However, there have been incidents recorded in the restraint log that do not warrant a restraint taking place. In one instance, a child had refused to leave another child’s room. While his presence was

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Requires improvement

inappropriate and unwelcome, and the recorded restraint was brief, this behaviour did not warrant a restraint. In addition, the reason for this intervention was not sufficiently explored in the debrief with those involved. The children report no concerns about the behaviour of staff during or after incidents. The children say that staff work positively with them after incidents have occurred. One child said: ‘Every member of staff who has restrained me, they have never held on to it. They have let it go.’ The children say that they feel safe in the home. They are able to identify someone they could turn to if they had a concern or a worry. The staff inform placing authorities when incidents occur. A social worker said: ‘We are informed when anything happens.’ As a result, they are able to monitor incidents and to question staff about them. The staff interviewed as part of this inspection are unequivocally clear about the

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Requires improvement

whistleblowing process. They stated that there had been a strong emphasis on ensuring that they understood the process and the expectations of them regarding this, since the interim inspection. When asked what she would do if she had concerns about practice, one member of staff said: ‘Whistle blow. That is now drilled into me. If you suspect anything that puts you at risk, children at risk, anything unsafe or anything fishy, then report it. I have been told it is better to report it and be wrong.’ When there are concerns about staff, the manager shares these appropriately with the local authority designated officer. There have been incidents when the children have left the home without permission. On these occasions, the staff have offered them access to an independent person. The staff have also spent time with the children to explore what happened and why. A child said: ‘The staff spoke to me about drugs and sex.

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Requires improvement

They asked if I was looked after when I was away. They wanted to know I’d been safe.’ The children are able to contribute to discussions with staff. The staff use key-work sessions to focus on areas of concern with children. For example, they have explored with one child the risks associated with feelings of anger and identified through these discussions possible means to manage this better. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The previous registered manager has left the home since the last inspection. A new manager with experience of residential management and knowledge of the service is now in post. She has yet to submit her application for registration. The staff see her as a positive influence. There is a sense of reassurance that has come about as a result of the staff already having some knowledge of her and of her approach. She is committed to making the necessary improvements and recognises that there is still a significant amount of work to take place before the home is providing the quality of service that the children deserve. The systems for monitoring children’s progress are underdeveloped. At present, they do not clearly identify what progress children are making, and therefore do not allow for progress to be reviewed and for the impact of the care to be assessed as a matter of course. The manager has identified some potential solutions, but

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Requires improvement

these are not yet in place. While the service recognises the need for further improvement, internal monitoring arrangements have not been strong enough to support this fully. The systems currently in place do not lend themselves to efficient and accurate monitoring. For example, information about staff attendance at training was not easily accessible, and it was not clear when some staff training expired. The children’s case files are not up to date. They do not contain the most recent versions of care plans, placement reviews and placement plans. There has not been enough effort made to acquire the documents. The gaps in paperwork risk gaps in knowledge. Managers and staff receive regular reflective supervision. Staff report this to be significantly different from their experience prior to the last inspection. Supervision records evidence open discussions with staff about the quality of practice. There

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Requires improvement

are regular and frequent staff meetings. The staff are all completing a range of online training courses. A new senior manager is in post. She is known and visible to the team. As a result, there is a much more supportive environment for the staff. Feedback from external professionals is positive. An independent person visits the home each month. These reports are strong and provide robust challenge to the service. Acted upon, they provide a real opportunity to make significant improvements.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm, or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

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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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