Children's home SC398947

Inadequate

There are serious failures that mean that children and young people are not protected and their care and experiences are poor.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Children and young people are not adequately protected from known risks that include child sexual exploitation and the prolonged use of psychoactive substances.  Staff have not received specific, adequate training or ongoing professional development opportunities to support them to recognise when children and young people have been at risk of harm. Consequently, there have been missed opportunities to keep children and young people safe.  Staff training records do not fully demonstrate that staff training covers all the admission criteria as listed in the statement of purpose.  Children and young people are not always adequately monitored, observed or supervised. There have been occasions when ineffective behaviour management has led to children’s and young people’s behaviour becoming heightened and out of the control of staff. Local police have been called, on a number of occasions, to assist to keep children and young people safe.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Children and young people do not always receive the personalised care and support that they need to thrive and to reach their full potential. Poor quality written residential plans do not fully include children’s and young people’s known needs or how these will be met. Key-worker sessions are lacking. They do not always happen frequently and do not address important issues, such as how children and young people may find themselves in unsafe situations.  Leadership and management arrangements are inconsistent and this has impacted on the home’s operation. The registered persons have failed in their duty and responsibility to provide both consistent day-to-day management of the home and managerial oversight.  The management of emergency admissions outside of office hours is haphazard and unsafe. There is a distinct lack of care or thought about seeking important information about children and young people who are

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

referred, or about the impact that new admissions will have on the children and young people in residence.  Not all children and young people experience settled, stable placements. There is a high turnover of children and young people being admitted and leaving the home. Of the last 10 children and young people discharged from the home, five were moved without a planned transition.  Record keeping is poor. Some records are disorganised, inconsistent and regularly not signed or dated.

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The children's home strengths

 Some children and young people have experienced good outcomes and have progressed from their starting points. They have formed bonds with staff and are developing positive relationships.  Educational outcomes are good. Staff work closely with teachers and education providers to support children and young people; especially those who have previously refused to go to school and those who currently struggle with school attendance.  There is some good inter-agency working that has a positive impact on children and young people. Staff work alongside specialist workers who support children and young people with specific needs, such as those associated with drug and alcohol misuse and going missing.  Children and young people live in accommodation that meets their needs. The home is very nicely decorated and furnished, and children and young people are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. The home is very

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The children's home strengths

clean and tidy.  Health and safety and fire safety checks are regularly undertaken to protect children and young people, staff and visitors. Good recruitment procedures and safety checks on new staff are carried out.

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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

6. In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to children receiving care that meets their individual needs, the registered person must ensure that staff: (1)(a) understand the children’s home’s overall aims and outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

(b) use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential

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Requirement Due date

(2)(b)(ii) protect and promote each child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

(iv) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to keeping children safe and protected from harm that includes sexual exploitation, the registered person must ensure that staff: (2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child

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Requirement Due date

(ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered 8 July 2016 person; and (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare.

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Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to the care provided to vulnerable children, the registered person must ensure that: (2)(b) the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

13. In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to the roles of the registered persons and staff training, the registered persons must: (2)(a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and deliver the outcomes set out in the statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (e) ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; (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 the care provided in the home; and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

14. In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to admitting children in an emergency situation, the registered person must: (1)(a) ensure that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and (b) have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 8 July 2016 The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development (Regulation 33(4)(a)). 8 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child, which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3, are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry (Regulation 36(1)(a),(b) and (c)). 8 July 2016

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Information about this children's home

This children’s home provides care and accommodation for six children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private provider.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

3 March 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

25 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Inadequate

The outcome judgement for how well children and young people are helped and protected was inadequate at the inspection. This is a key judgement, which means that the overall experiences and progress of children and young people is deemed to be inadequate. Some children and young people have progressed from their starting points and since the last full inspection. They have been supported by staff and external professionals to help them to understand how to avoid risky situations. For example, one young person has significantly reduced their use of psychoactive substances by not seeing his previous friends who have access to the substances. This is a very good achievement for the young person. Relationships with staff are, overall, good. There are some very nurturing members of staff to whom children and young people positively respond. Trusting bonds are beginning to form, which give children and young people emotional security. A

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Inadequate

staff member said, ‘They are children and need a lot of nurturing and support. It’s very important due to what has happened to them in the past. [Name] sticks to me like glue when I am on shift. We have a very good relationship.’ A child said, ‘The staff are okay. I like them.’ Educational outcomes are good and a strength of the home. Staff work closely with teachers and education providers to support children and young people to maintain their education placements. This gives children and young people stability and enhances their career opportunities when they move into adulthood. A young person said, ‘School is okay, the staff take me in the car and make sure I feel okay.’ Children and young people’s general health needs are met. In the majority of cases, they access the specialist healthcare services that they need. Young people are also supported by a range of external professionals to improve their progress

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Inadequate

and outcomes. These professionals include a drugs and alcohol worker who commented, ‘I have worked with four or five children and young people who have lived here. I do awareness sessions with them. I think this is a really good home. The staff are caring, and communication is very good. I have no concerns about the home at all.’ Not all children and young people experience settled, stable placements. There is a high turnover of children and young people being admitted and leaving the home. Of the last 10 children and young people discharged from the home, five were moved without a planned transition. Of the last 10 children and young people discharged, five have moved in an unplanned way. These children and young people have not had a positive transition from the children’s home. The ways in which emergency admissions are managed are poor and inconsistent. This compromises children’s and young people’s welfare and the stability of new

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Inadequate

and longer-term placements. The last young person to be accommodated arrived in the early hours of the morning. The only information recorded consists of two unsigned written entries in the home’s log book that a call had been received about a young person needing a placement and that the young person had arrived. There is no recording as to what information was shared with the staff member taking the call. The staff member contacted the registered manager who agreed the admission based on the information given verbally by the staff member that the young person was at risk from running away and that it would be a short-term placement. The registered manager did not directly contact the referrer to seek clarity regarding the young person’s needs or risks. Nor was any documentation completed regarding the actual content of the telephone referral. After the admission, the home’s pre-admission document was not completed and

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Inadequate

there was no impact risk assessment carried out to ascertain any potential concerns in relation to the young person being accommodated or the impact on the children and young people living at the children’s home. The second emergency admission mirrors the above poor practice. The only recording available relating to the admission was the home’s log book, and none of the entries were signed by staff. The social worker brought some basic information when the child arrived at the home. Again, no one had completed the provider’s pre-assessment document and no impact assessment was undertaken.

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Inadequate

There are widespread failures to keep children and young people safe, particularly those at risk from child sexual exploitation and the misuse of psychoactive substances. A recent safeguarding event involving child sexual exploitation occurred in which an alleged serious crime took place. This is being investigated by the police. Staff do not fully understand the risks posed to children and young people who are at risk of child sexual exploitation, and they have not responded to signs and indicators that children and young people were potentially at risk. Examples of poor and inadequate practice include:  Children and young people having access to a mobile telephone and social media sites has been a key factor. Concerns include children and young people having access to peers’ mobile telephones when their care plans and risk assessments clearly state that they should not have access to a mobile telephone or a computer. Staff were aware that this was happening, yet

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Inadequate

failed to challenge this adequately.  Staff failed to act in response to a telephone call received from a third party who contacted staff to say that she believed that children and young people were at risk. No immediate measures were instigated.  There is an understanding by staff that they cannot physically stop children leaving the home if they believe that they are at immediate risk of harm. Short-term measures that might be used include locking external doors or, as a last resort, using a physical restraint. This lack of understanding potentially compromises children’s and young people’s safety.  The safe observation and supervision of children and young people is not consistent. It was observed during the inspection that on two occasions a child who was supposed to be on strict one-to-one supervision was left unsupervised in the company of other young people. A key line of enquiry for this inspection was to review a recent increase in the use

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Inadequate

of psychoactive substances. There have been 14 separate notifications relating to the misuse of drugs and psychoactive substances in the last 12 months. Concerns include a recent increase in young people using psychoactive substances and bringing the substances into the home. There have been occasions when young people have experienced side effects from psychoactive substances that has compromised their health and wellbeing. For one young person, due to the severity of side effects, staff had to contact ambulance emergency services five times. This young person has since moved on from the home. Strategies have been put in place to try and stop children and young people from accessing drugs and psychoactive substances, such supervised spending. However, this is not always effective and there seems to be a longer-term issue with drug use that puts children and young people at risk. Behaviour management was reviewed in relation to the number of times police are

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Inadequate

called to the home to assist staff to manage behaviours. Since the last inspection police have been called on nine occasions. The police were contacted as part of the inspection to ascertain the level of police involvement. Feedback from the police include;  the police are a 24 hr response unit and the home takes up a lot of time  the home are quick to report and don’t always do everything they should. For missing children and young people the police look at social media sites and ring friends in the first instance but feel the home should do this  there is a feeling staff ring a lot of the time to cover themselves; staff don’t always manage behaviour well. This varies shift to shift, again they are quick to report and matters then have to be investigated as a crime. Sometimes it is really a spat between young people. This is not in the public interest to pursue and it takes a lot of time. Some calls are warranted and staff have acted appropriately to seek police

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Inadequate

assistance. For example, when three children and young people had barricaded themselves in a bedroom, and when a young person was experiencing significant side effects from substances and refused to attend hospital. However, there appears to be a reliance on police and some children and young people have been criminalised as a result. Children and young people who go missing are supported. Since the last full inspection there has been 43 episodes of missing involving ten children and young people. Although this is a relatively high number of instances, children and young people have been very well supported upon their return to the home. Of the 43 episodes, 33 children and young people have had an independent return to home interview. In most individual cases, missing incidents have reduced. This is good progress. Staff work closely with the local police officers responsible for missing children young people. Collectively they provide support and advice to children and young

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Inadequate

people and share information to reduce risks. A police officer said, ‘I have worked with the staff at the home for a while and find them to be okay. Social workers directly refer young people to us and we do direct work to support young people. We are involved in return to home interviews and share information where there are known triggers. I feel the staff here are very good for a private home.’ Complaints are dealt with seriously and children and young people are given good information about how to complain. They know about advocacy services and how to contact an adult who is independent of the home. There are no obvious concerns about bullying. Health and safety arrangements, including fire safety, protect children, young people and visitors from potential hazards. Recruitment processes are good and safety checks on all new starters are undertaken. Identification of visitors is checked, and all visitors sign the visitor’s book. These measures promote children

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Inadequate

and young people’s welfare. Judgement grade

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Inadequate

Leadership and management has been inconsistent because of changes made to the management arrangements. Both registered persons have not adequately provided a robust oversight of the home’s operation or outcomes for children and young people. This has destabilised the operation of the home. The registered manager has been in post since the home opened six years ago. She has the right skills, qualifications and experience to manage a children’s home. However, the registered manager has not had day-to-day management of the home since January 2015 when she reduced her working hours to 18.5 hours per week. Because of this, there has not been adequate and robust leadership and management. The current responsible individual also has little involvement in the home and relies on the registered manager to have oversight and responsibility for the home. She does not involve herself in the day-to-day running of the home or have any

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Inadequate

involvement in significant events or outcomes for children and young people. Consequently, she in not fulfilling her role as a registered person. Record-keeping is overall deficient and shows staff have a poor understanding of the importance of keeping accurate, robust records. Many records, including children and young people’s case files and their residential plans, are not signed or dated. This practice fails to ensure children and young people have a history of their time spent living in the children’s home. The internal monitoring of the home’s performance is weak and has not identified shortfalls in care practice or poor safeguarding outcomes for children and young people. Additionally, poor recording and record keeping has not been identified or addressed to improve the overall performance of staff and the home. Staff training in relation to the needs of children and young people and the statement of purpose is lacking. All care staff have a level 3 qualification in working

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Inadequate

with children and young people, which is positive. However, specific high quality training in key areas of care that include child sexual exploitation; enhanced behaviour management; significant self-harm; and mental health issues in children have not been provided. This lack of training and ongoing professional development has been evident in the findings at inspection and has impacted on failures to keep children and young people safe. The provider has failed to meet a requirement raised at the last inspection to improve care planning and ensure children and young people have effective key- worker sessions. A requirement is raised at this inspection. A requirement to improve educational outcomes is met. This shows the home have progressed by ensuring that in educational terms, young people are achieving.

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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 that 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

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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