Children's home run by Educare Adolescent Services Limited in Cannock Chase

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:

 During the absence of the registered manager on compassionate leave, senior managers in the company admitted a young person to the home, disregarding a clear negative impact assessment.  Senior managers have not worked together to ensure that the care planning for young people is given the highest priority.  Staff have not met the needs of the young people in the home because of inappropriate matching and the resulting extremely challenging behaviour. Staff sustained physical injuries and stress levels, which led to most of the core team going off sick.  Young people’s placements have been destabilised. Consequently, incidents of missing, self-harm and substance misuse escalated.  The home has become heavily reliant on agency staff, who lack close relationships with the young people and do not know the home. Staffing levels have been insufficient to meet young people’s needs and ensure their safety.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff have not provided consistent care and an appropriate level of emotional support to young people who are at a critical time with regard to independence plans and are highly anxious.  One highly vulnerable young person has experienced an unnecessary additional move of placement which was unplanned and for which she was not prepared.  Staff failed to follow safeguarding policy and notify HMCI and other relevant persons of a significant safeguarding incident.  During this period, covering managers and agency staff have not effectively advocated and challenged local authorities to progress young people’s independence plans.  Senior managers who did not place the young people at the heart of their decision-making have compromised the previously outstanding service to young people.

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The children's home strengths

 The registered manager and core staff team have now returned and continue to be child focused and passionate about the care that they provide.  The registered manager has acted swiftly to address the staffing and quality of care issues that occurred in her absence.  Stability has returned to the home. Repairs to the property have been undertaken and the home is now once again welcoming and comfortable for young people.  Young people enjoy warm and trusting relationships with the core staff, which have provided them with the resilience to cope with this period of instability and continue to make progress.  Highly committed staff are working hard to support young people to move to independence with clear plans in place. Young people know that staff will continue to offer valuable support after they have left their long-term placements.

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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 the ‘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

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure that children's needs are met:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the engaging with the wider system to ensure that each child's needs are met quality standard, the registered person must ensure that— (a) staff seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans. (c) if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans. 31 August

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Requirement Due date

11: The positive relationships standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. 31 August

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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— (2)(d) the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (e) the home's workforce provides continuity of care for each child. 31 August

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person must ensure— 31 August (2)(a) that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of need of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care, as set out in the homes' statement of purpose. (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; (c) that each child's relevant plans are followed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘ the Level 3 Diploma’); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma. (regulation 32(4)(a)(b)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and other relevant persons without delay if: there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (regulation 40 (4)(c)(d)(e) 31 August

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to care for up to three children and young people aged between 10 and 18 years 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

23 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

28 January 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, young people have experienced a period of high stress in the home. In the absence of the registered manager, who had taken compassionate leave and then sick leave, senior managers admitted a third young person, whose needs clearly exceeded the capacity of the staff team. This resulted in escalating challenging behaviours in all of the young people. Most of the staff went on sick leave due to injuries caused in the home by young people. Young people therefore experienced a large number of staff changes, as the home became reliant on agency staff and staff from other homes to cover shifts.

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Requires improvement

Escalating behaviours also led to some damage in the home. Since her return, the registered manager has ensured that repairs and redecoration are underway. The home is once again welcoming and is a calm and supportive environment for young people. Young people have decorated their rooms as they wish and the living rooms are spacious and are maintained and decorated to a high standard.

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Requires improvement

The two remaining young people are highly anxious about their impending moves to independence and are experiencing uncertainty and confusion. At this critical time, they need to have support from the staff they know and with whom they have formed warm and trusting relationships. Agency staff have not provided them with the consistent care and personal attention required to meet their emotional needs. Staff and childcare professionals were expecting these young people to develop some challenging behaviour as they face independence, but the inappropriate admission of a third young person has been significant in increasing their stress levels and behaviour.

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Requires improvement

Staff did not meet the needs of the third young person who was admitted. She then experienced an unplanned move to yet another placement for which she was not prepared. One of the young people is philosophical about the difficulties in the home, commenting that bad things happen. However, both young people are clear that they have not had the attention that they required from staff. Staff did not listen to the young people due to inconsistent and insufficient staffing. Young people responded to this lack of appropriate care by going missing, exhibiting challenging behaviours and using drugs and alcohol.

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Requires improvement

For one young person, who is on the autistic spectrum, the constant changes of agency staff and staff from other homes in the company was particularly challenging and negative. This unsettled period has not aided young people’s progress and has reduced the quality of their experiences.

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Requires improvement

Young people have extremely positive and warm relationships with the core staff, most of whom have now returned to work. Both young people say that they do not want to leave as this is their home. They know that the highly committed staff will continue to support them with their future independence.

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Requires improvement

Young people are pleased that the registered manager and core team are back in place and that there have been significant improvements to the level of personal attention they receive. They are also now receiving the help they need to progress their planned moves. They are benefiting from spending time with staff, talking and discussing their fears and hopes about the future. Staff are helping them to enrol in further education and to shop for furniture and personal items for their independence. Young people are in agreement with staff, making referrals to drug and mental health services, which will continue to support them when they leave.

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Requires improvement

Young people continue to make significant progress in independence skills, education, social and emotional development and maturity. Their focus in now on the future and they are being strongly supported in this by the staff. The high quality of trusting relationships they have built with the core staff team during their placements has served to support their resilience.

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Requires improvement

The social worker for one young person commented, ‘Staff are helping her a great deal. While here, she has made tremendous progress and eventually did really well on her independence plan, despite being reluctant to do it. All the support was there for her.’ The parent of another young person stated, ‘They have helped her big time. She is very anxious now that she has to move out. She has good relationships with staff.’ Another social worker said of the young person, ‘He has been here since December 2014. He goes religiously to college every day. He is adamant he wants to stay here, [and] has made attachments to staff. This has made him safe and secure so it is a good placement.’

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Requires improvement

The placement of a highly vulnerable young person took place in the absence of the registered manager, despite an impact assessment highlighting significant risks in placing all three young people together. The resulting conflict between young people and staff led to core staff suffering injuries and going on sick leave.

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Requires improvement

The use of a large number of agency staff and staff from other homes compromised the ability of the home to effectively and safely manage young people’s emotional distress and challenging behaviour. The presence of staff who know the young people and are able to de-escalate their challenging behaviours is key to keeping young people safe, but they were absent The inconsistency in care increased the instances of young people engaging in self- harming, going missing and drug abuse.

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Requires improvement

Agency staff did not follow safeguarding procedures when an incident led to a complaint against a staff member by a young person. Staff failed to notify HMCI and other relevant persons for several days.

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Requires improvement

Insufficient and inconsistent staffing have made it harder for young people to feel safe and to be safe. They have had to rely on previous work and guidance undertaken by the core staff team to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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Requires improvement

The highly trained and perceptive core staff team has addressed complex child sexual exploitation risks for one young person and has ensured that specialist support remains in place for her when she leaves. The return of the registered manager and her staff has led to a significant decrease in missing and challenging behaviours. There have been no physical interventions since mid-June.

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Requires improvement

Recruitment is safe and staff receive a thorough induction and relevant training in safeguarding and child sexual exploitation training. Staff undertake self-harm and missing from home training and they all have first aid training and skills. Staff regularly review risk assessments and behaviour support plans which are thorough, accurate and help to keep young people safe.

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Requires improvement

Staff work with young people to understand risks and to make positive choices. One young person is beginning to understand how his emotions affect his behaviour, and he now accepts that he needs to engage in anger management work. Staff work in close liaison with a number of agencies, including the youth offending team, health services, therapists, the police and drug services to identify risk and provide young people with the specialist support they need.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has been in post since May 2012. She has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential childcare and several years’ experience of working with children and young people. One of the five core staff members currently holds their level 3 and a further four will have completed the qualification by September. The registered manager has appointed a new staff member who will start working shortly. She does not currently hold a level 3 qualification. All staff are qualified in first aid. One staff member, who was working in a care role in April 2014, has yet to complete her level 3 qualification. Senior managers, who acknowledge the regulatory shortfall, are now supporting her to do so by September 2016. Being the only core member of staff remaining in the home during the period of instability hindered her progress towards completing her qualification. It was necessary for her to work long and extra shifts. She is a highly valued member of

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Requires improvement

the team who has excellent relationships with young people. Her continued presence at the home is essential to the well-being of the young people who are shortly moving to independence and to the stability of the staff team. When the registered manager returned to work, she was immediately proactive in informing the local authority that the placement of the third young person was not suitable and that staff were unable to meet her needs. The registered manager requested that the placement end immediately due to the instability in the home. She has expressed great concern and regret that staff were unable to meet the needs of any of the young people for that period. The covering managers failed to challenge the placing authority for one young person. His plan for independence remains vague and he has not received appropriate support from social care to allay his fears.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is now addressing this and is escalating the concerns. She has also liaised with the police and other agencies to provide another highly vulnerable young people with child sexual exploitation support when she leaves. The registered manager has successfully argued for this support despite the fact that the young person will no longer be under 18 years of age and would not normally therefore receive this service.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is focused on the needs of the young people and on re- establishing the team. The reliance on agency workers has reduced significantly and the home now is calm and looking to the future. Young people are encouraged to attend young people’s meetings to express their views, wishes and feelings and the registered manager responds to any complaints from young people quickly and appropriately, both verbally and in writing.

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Requires improvement

During her absence, staff supervision and training were not undertaken and the registered manager has now provided staff member with supervision, regular team meetings and a new training and development plan. A new recording system is in place and is efficient and easy for staff to use. Handovers and communication between team members and other childcare professionals and parents is effective. One agency staff member who had worked in the home during the period of instability commented that the home and staff group now ‘feel very different’ since the registered manager and core staff returned. He said, ‘this is a fantastic team to work with’. The team members express respect for one another and show great loyalty to the registered manager.

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Requires improvement

The impact of this period of instability and regulatory shortfalls highlights the importance of accurate impact assessments, which address the safeguarding and care needs of all of the young people involved. It also highlights the need for managers to work effectively as a team. A recent change in senior management has provided the registered manager and staff with a significant amount of support in re-establishing the stability of the home and in addressing the issues that led to the situation.

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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 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

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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