Children's home in Hillingdon

inspection

The home was served with a restriction of accommodation notice following the last inspection, which expires on the 19 August 2016.

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Inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and their care and experiences are poor and they are not making progress.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Young people are not being protected from harm while living in the home, especially in relation to child sexual exploitation. Staff do not have the skills or experience to support and protect young people at risk, and overlook clear indicators that a young person may be being exploited.  Staff are unable to follow agreements and plans to protect young people, as they do not have the skills to do so. This is due to a lack of suitable training, but also due to staff deployment when staff are lone working and cannot drive to collect young people although it is the agreed plan.  The building is unsafe, and basic health and safety guidance is not being followed. For example, young people would be at risk if there was a fire as exterior doors are locked. This has not been addressed, despite it being an area noted as of concern by a fire contractor in 2015. Some door frames are cracked and not all fire doors close fully. The building itself is dirty in places

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

and there is out-of-date food in the young people’s fridge.  Young people’s in-house plans do not contain sufficient detail on how to safely care for the young person, or how to help them to progress. Behaviour management plans and risk assessments lack detail on how to manage unwanted behaviour or mitigate risk. They contain generic statements that do not direct staff.  Young people are not encouraged to engage in meaningful activities or seek education, employment or training. Weekly planners are in place, but these are not referred to, despite being on bedroom doors.  Safer recruitment practice is not evidenced in several staff files, despite this being subject to enforcement action by recent inspections of the home. Suitable risk assessments are not in place for staff with offences on their Disclosure and Barring Service checks, and references have not been suitably taken up or verified in all cases.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 There is no registered manager in post and there is no suitable person in day-to-day charge of the home. The home lacks clear management direction and oversight.

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The children's home strengths

 Some relationships between young people and staff are positive.  There has been improvement in some areas identified as weak or of concern at the last inspection, including better recording of complaints and sanctions.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality standard of engaging with the wider system, with particular reference to the manager and staff gaining a clear understanding about the roles of other agencies and professionals and the protocols that govern their work, the registered person must ensure that staff— (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 the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and (d) seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate, having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the education standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children have and are engaging in education, training or employment on a daily basis, the registered provider must ensure that— (1) children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; (ii) support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; (iii) understand the barriers to learning that each child may face, and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; (iv) help each child to understand the importance and value of

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Requirement Due date

education, learning, training and employment; (v) promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; (vi) 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; (vii) raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority; (viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; (ix) help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

(x) help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationships standard, in relation to staff managing challenging behaviour, the registered provider must ensure that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— (1)(a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (iv) help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; (v) communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

(vi) help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; (vii) help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; (viii) strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; (xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children are only admitted whose needs can be met and that staff are provided with clear strategies to manage risk, the registered provider must— (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; (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 person; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s

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Requirement Due date

child protection policies; (b) that 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; (e) that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to ensuring that the environment is safe for children to live in, the registered provider must ensure— (2)(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(d))

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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 enable, inspire and lead a culture in relation to the children’s home that— (1)(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (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; (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; (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; (g) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and

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Requirement Due date

improved by taking into account and acting on— (i) research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and (ii) feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to ensuring that decisions about admissions are based on thorough pre-admission assessments, the registered provider must ensure— (2)(a) that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (3) The registered person must— (a) keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (5) Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16(1)(3)(a)(5))

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Requirement Due date

(1) After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must— (a) take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home (b) provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire. (Regulation 25(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— (a) there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (2) The registered person may only— (a) employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or (b) if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). (3) The requirements are that—  the individual is of integrity and good character;  the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;  the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and  full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. With

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Requirement Due date

specific reference to the following points in the regulation. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(3)(a)(d)) 33: Employment of staff

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Requirement Due date

(4) The registered person must ensure that all employees— (a) undertake appropriate continuing professional development; (b) receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

With specific reference to staff training in areas of need young people have and the supervision of the manager. (Regulation 33(1)(4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

(4) The registered person must— (a) supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45(4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (2) When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46(1)(2))

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered provider should also ensure that the independent person they appoint has the skills and understanding necessary to: – relate to children in a home’s care; – assess all relevant information; and – form an impartial judgement about the quality of the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.8)

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

28/04/2016 Monitoring visit Compliance notice not met

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Recent inspection history

03/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Inadequate

The culture of the home is not nurturing and there is a lack of structure. For example, the young person placed is not engaged in education, employment or training, nor is she routinely encouraged to follow the alternative plans made. Young people do not make significant progress while in placement. A social worker said an individual who has moved out ‘is a very different person to when she was living at the home. She would be aggressive verbally and physically and not wake until the afternoon as she felt she had nothing to do.’ The young person currently living in the home added, ‘living here has turned me into a stressed, horrible person.’ There is a lack of evidence to demonstrate that young people’s views and ideas are sought on a day-to-day basis. House meetings are not regular and key-work sessions do not focus on gaining individual views. However, complaints are now effectively recorded and demonstrate action taken in response to concerns. Young

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Inadequate

people do not have access to advocates or independent visitors, and often decline to talk to the independent visitor who conducts regulation 44 monitoring visits. Plans to help young people develop independence skills are not clear or structured. When young people have struggled to maintain a good standard of food hygiene or kitchen cleanliness staff have failed to intervene and support them. Young people have access to the counsellor employed by the home. However, uptake is not consistent. There has been insufficient challenge to partner agencies when they have not provided services young people need, such as support for young people who are at risk of exploitation. Young people are registered with local health services and attend routine appointments. However, where they are reluctant to attend appointments staff have not engaged them sufficiently to overcome this. Behaviour management plans are vague and insufficiently detailed. Young people

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Inadequate

are unclear about what is expected of them and staff are inconsistent in their responses to unwanted behaviour. Sanctions are now being recorded effectively, with some consideration of the impact of the measure imposed. At the time of this inspection, one young person was living in the home. She had positive relationships with some staff, but equally struggled with others. Observations showed the young person is able to approach some staff members for help and support, and they listen to her. However, the environment is not stable, and the young person complained that some staff have different rules and approaches to her, and that she found some staff difficult to understand. One young person’s placement was terminated during the inspection following her refusal to return to the home. No new young people have moved into the home since the last inspection, in line with the restriction notice. The responsible individual has stated an intention to

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Inadequate

voluntarily cancel the registration and close the home.

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Inadequate

Staff do not have a clear understanding of child sexual exploitation despite many having had training in this area. In practice they have not kept young people safe. Staff make attempts to contact young people who go missing by phone but are not sufficiently determined in searching for them. Plans in place for vulnerable young people are ill-thought through, for example, refusing to pay for taxis when a missing young person comes home in one. Although this is intended to discourage them from going missing it is likely to make returning more difficult. Staff have poor recognition of the issues linked to sexual exploitation and have failed to act on or report some significant concerns, for example when an older male asked a young person for sex in return for a lift home. Young people who go missing are reported to the police in line with protocols. The home is attempting to foster more positive relationships with the police, and the

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Inadequate

neighbourhood officer said that they were keen to support them to reduce the number of call-outs. Risk assessment processes are weak and do not currently identify strategies to support young people when risky behaviours are presented. They do not give staff useful guidance to follow. Behaviour management plans are equally weak, with generic statements on how to manage unwanted behaviour; they do not identify what is most likely to work with the specific young person. The young person in placement identified staff who she would go to if she was worried or upset. However she does not have access to staff who she trusts or feels comfortable with at all times. The home is not well maintained and poses risks to young people’s and staff safety. Shortfalls identified indicate a lack of awareness about the importance of fire safety. Fire safety is poor; for example remedial work identified in a fire risk assessment compiled by an external contractor in October 2015 has not been

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Inadequate

properly implemented. The locked doors at night are also a fire hazard. In addition, the necessary checks to comply with the Legionella risk assessments have not been done. There are significant concerns affecting the health and protection of young people: food hygiene arrangements are poor; the young person’s bedroom was dusty and, in places, dirty, including excessive cobwebs; food that had been thrown at the lounge wall was not cleaned off during the inspection; there is a leaking pipe to the exterior of the home, which has been leaking for an unknown period; there is algae on the footpath, making it slippery; fascia boards are rotten at the rear of the building, potentially leading to damp in a bedroom; and doorframes are broken on some interior doors and some fire doors do not close adequately. The location risk assessment is not comprehensive, and has not been updated in the light of experience. A requirement was made at both of the previous

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Inadequate

inspections regarding shortfalls in the staff vetting process. On the second occasion, staff recruitment was subject to a compliance notice. At this inspection, staff files were still not compliant with Regulation 32 Schedule 2. Additionally, the recruitment process for a new member of staff had not ensured that relevant information from the Disclosure and Barring Service had been fully considered and assessed before employment. Moreover, the risk assessment which had taken place does not include relevant risks that the member of staff’s history may pose in this working environment. The responsible individual has not seen original copies of the qualifications of the current manager; the photocopies available in the home are not of sufficient quality to determine their authenticity.

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Inadequate

The home has not had a registered manager since August 2015. Ofsted did not consider the current manager to be suitable for registration and he subsequently withdrew his application. The responsible individual and current manager have failed to recognise the weaknesses at the home sufficiently and have not responded robustly to all aspects of the requirements and recommendations set at the last inspection. Monitoring visits by an independent person in line with regulation 44 have failed to identify the shortfalls and areas for immediate improvement that were noted in the last two Ofsted inspections. Monitoring under regulation 45 has been completed to an acceptable standard, but has not been forwarded to Ofsted. The home’s statement of purpose includes therapeutic aims which are not implemented in practice. Staff could not describe what therapeutic model of care they are working to. This means placing authorities may be misled by the

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Inadequate

statement of purpose. Additionally it does not contain all the necessary information required by regulations. This does not enable placing authorities to be clear about what the home sets out to provide. Minutes of staff supervision highlight that staff have not read the statement of purpose, so are unable to work to meet the aims and ethos set out in it. Staff receive regular supervision and say that they are supported to meet the needs of the young people. However, many staff are new to working in children’s homes and/or social care and have little previous experience of what a good children’s home is like. The disagreements within the team lead to inconsistency in their approach. The current manager has not had supervision by a suitably experienced supervisor in the last 12 months. Most staff have received training in mandatory areas. However, it is unclear how effective or substantial the learning is, as they are failing to apply it in practice.

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Inadequate

Records within the home are not accurate and are often incomplete. Other records are inaccurate and lack attention to detail. For example, the location assessment states that it was updated on a date six weeks in the future.

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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’. 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 looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements

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What the inspection judgements mean

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

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. 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 ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance, ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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