Children's Home run by Shalamar Children Limited in Essex

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:

 There are shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home that have led to young people’s safety and welfare being compromised.  The management roles are not clearly defined, leading to poor oversight and a lack of accountability of the day-to-day running of the home.  The lack of experienced and trained staff has resulted in one shift having insufficient experienced staff. The staff on this particular shift were left to manage a serious incident without support.  The driveway and entrance to the home are unkempt and untidy. The bathroom is tired and worn and there are areas of the house that are not cleaned to a good standard.  The fire prevention risk assessment has not been updated following an incident of fire. This does not promote the sharing of risk reduction strategies to manage known risks.

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The children's home strengths

 Staff understand and meet young people’s unique needs.  External support from a clinical consultant helps staff to plan for new admissions and to understand young people’s behaviours.  The number of missing from home incidents has reduced.  Young people make good progress in their education.

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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

6. 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 registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

2(c)(i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished as to meet the needs of each child. 30/09/2016

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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, in particular regard to staffing the home, the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. 30/09/2016

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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:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. This is with specific regard to ensuring there is clear accountability and definition of roles and responsibilities. 29/07/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the requirements of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 29/07/2016

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered for four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is privately owned and managed. The home operates using a therapeutic approach.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

01/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Young people’s experiences have been compromised because of poorly managed events at the home. One incident left a young person in fear of another young person. The second resulted in the evacuation of all young people during the night due to a fire. While young people were made safe, there were not enough staff on duty to support and reassure them. This was despite a new young person’s admission to the home on that day. Managers did not make adequate arrangements to staff this new and unknown group dynamic. This undoubtedly jeopardised young people’s safety. Young people do not benefit from an established staff group. A number of staff have left and new staff have been appointed. This has unsettled young people. The staff do, however, provide nurturing care that meets young people’s presenting needs. Young people start to build relationships with staff who provide warm, parental-style role models. Staff have realistic expectations of young people

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Requires improvement

and work hard towards building attachments with them. This has had a positive influence; a good rapport and positive relationships are evident. Young people are tactile and warm towards staff; they enjoy their company and respond well to the guidance that staff provide. The accommodation is spacious and well appointed. However, maintenance and cleanliness has deteriorated. Floors are dusty and bathrooms worn, with grout that is stained and cracks in the bath. The home is looking worn and tired in parts, particularly the patio area and driveway to the front. This has a receptacle by the front door used for cigarette debris. Rubbish is evident in the patio cracks, weeds permeate the gravel and there are broken resources lying around the grounds. In contrast, the bedrooms are personalised and welcoming. Young people are able to use their personal tastes and preferences to make their rooms their own. The

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Requires improvement

conservatory is too hot to use and the utility conservatory has no ventilation as doors and windows remain locked. During hot weather there is a lack of ventilation through the house. These issues do not support young people to take pride in and feel valued by their surroundings. Young people benefit from positive family contact. Staff fully recognise the importance of family contact and they facilitate long distance travel when required. They are flexible and accommodating to ensure that young people have a positive experience. Families are welcomed at the home and feedback from parents is generally good. Young people enjoy a number of activities outside the home. They benefit from new experiences, including riding a bike, picking summer fruits and caring for animals. This offers them regular childhood opportunities that they may have otherwise missed. Young people are established well in their education provision. One young person

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Requires improvement

has made significant achievements and should gain college access with her predicted results. Another young person, who is new to the home, has a provision in place for September 2016 and is benefiting from a home tutoring arrangement for the last two weeks of the summer term. Tutors report progress as good. Staff support one young person who has a significant journey to school each day. This provides consistency and stability. Each day one member of staff is elected to journey with the young person, and they liaise closely with teachers at the end of each school day. This commitment to and support of young people’s education has helped all young people make positive improvements in education attainment and attendance.

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Requires improvement

Allegations against staff are not always recognised and processed as such. A concern was raised by a young person and dealt with during an investigation visit by Ofsted. A regulatory requirement was subsequently raised at that visit and has been met. It is of concern that neither the manager nor the responsible individual recognised the concern. The allegation was not substantiated. However, the lack of effective action does not indicate sound decision making or good oversight of such incidents. Planning information and pre-admission details usually inform risk mitigation. Despite this, decision making about new placements does not always include all information about young people. Dynamics in the home have, at times, been volatile and decision making in the management of incidents has not always made young people safe. There has been a reduction in the number of times that young people go missing. There have been two short-duration incidents since the last inspection. Self-

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Requires improvement

injurious behaviour has been contained and managed with a consistent approach from staff. Incidents have neither reduced nor escalated but have remained the same. Reponses are consistent and guided well by the clinical lead who works with the home. Young people generally feel secure and contained. At times, group dynamics have been unstable and this has led to a young person being arrested and charged with assault. Staff worked with the young people to rebuild relationships and help them to resolve their differences. Safety checks ensure that appliances are safe and maintenance is carried out. This includes fire prevention equipment. Reports indicate that young people intermittently smoke in their bedrooms and, on one occasion, a young person started a fire in the bedroom. Despite these recent incidents, the fire risk assessment has not been updated and the fire brigade has not visited the home. Lack of comprehensive fire risk assessment means that staff do not benefit from

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Requires improvement

clear strategies to reduce known risk and respond to it in order to keep children safe.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has been in post since December 2014 and has the relevant qualifications. She has resigned and is currently working her notice period. A new manager has been appointed. Leadership and management of the home are weak because roles are not clearly defined. This has led to a lack of accountability in decision making. The roles of the responsible individual and the registered manager are blurred. This has resulted in poor decisions with no ownership of errors. In one particular instance, there were not enough staff scheduled to work on a shift, and inexperienced staff were left to care for the young people. A serious incident occurred in the night, during which the staff on duty called the responsible individual and the registered manager. Both failed to respond. This left young people who were frightened and unsettled with insufficient support and staff without guidance or direction. A lack of sensible decision making and proper

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Requires improvement

planning led to young people being placed in a situation that compromised their well-being and safety. Staff morale is low. A number of staff have left for a variety of reasons. Remaining staff are unsettled and 75% of staff are new to the home. This means that most shifts have a lack of experienced qualified staff and young people have experienced changes in staff, which does not fully support the home’s attachment theory ethos. Relationships with professionals are varied. Some feedback is positive, although there are those who are critical of the management of incidents and dynamics at the home. There is no doubt that staff work with professionals to get the best for young people, to secure the right education provision and plan for transition from the home. Staff advocate strongly on behalf of young people, taking forward their wishes and feelings. This ensures that all professionals are aware of young

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Requires improvement

people’s views about decisions effecting young people’s lives. There is an energy and commitment in representing young people and representing their views.

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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

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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