Children's Home run by Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited in Devon

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 The company that operates this previously good service with outstanding features has chosen to open another children’s home next door. The young people who live in these two homes also attended the same school. The placing authority commissioned placements at these homes in order to ensure that their young people were in single-occupancy services. This close proximity of the other children’s home means that they cannot be genuine singleton placements.  Although the match was risk assessed, and for some time was satisfactory, because the young people did not engage with each other, in the past three months, the situation has escalated. This was exacerbated by a discrepancy between the two homes in terms of behavioural boundaries, which made it possible for the young people to attempt to play the two staff teams against each other.  After a very positive start, the current young person’s behaviour has

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

deteriorated to the point where they have been excluded from and disengaged with school. They began to go missing, misuse drugs and commit offences again. Following a serious incident in school and an assault on a member of staff in the home, notice was served on what should have been a very successful placement.  The incident in school, which was precipitated by the present young person feeling let down by adults, set in motion a chain reaction which has had an impact on his welfare. He has already suffered 28 changes of placement, and now faces another move. In addition, his key worker was redeployed to another service for four weeks, which caused further distress.  The service is not inadequate, because the registered manager took assertive action to safeguard both young people. She did this by moving her current young person and staff team to an empty registered children’s home several miles away.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 This provided a measure of safety for the past four weeks, and there have been no further serious incidents. However, neither the present young person nor the staff are happy there, and the situation is not sustainable.

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The children's home strengths

 The young people who come to live in this home receive dedicated, child- centred and nurturing care from a highly-skilled, experienced manager and her staff team.  The registered manager has a good track record of admitting young people from secure provision, and helping them to turn their lives around. For the first nine months of the present young person’s placement, this was clearly the case.  The staff helped the current young person to make very good progress in terms of his education. His reading age increased by five years. This is a phenomenal improvement. He also made steady improvements in maths and science.  The present young person has been able to form positive attachments to some of the staff in the home, particularly those who join him in his favoured activities, such as fishing. His engagement with staff helped him to manage his behaviour extremely well for a sustained period of time.

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The children's home strengths

 The current young person receives an exceptionally healthy, nutritious and varied diet. He has been well supported to see medical professionals when necessary.  The registered manager is well qualified and supports her staff exceptionally well. She has ensured that they have received all the necessary training. The home has significantly improved in this area since the previous full inspection.

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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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13. The leadership and management standard

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to reviewing the present policy of locating children’s homes in close proximity, ensuring continuity of key workers for the young people and that that there are effective and consistent behavioural boundaries across the different homes in the locality, the registered person must— (1) enable, inspire and lead a culture in relation to the children’s home that— (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— (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 care provided in the home. 30/09/2016

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32. Fitness of workers

(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— (a) the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’); or (b) a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma. (5) The relevant date is— 31/12/2016 (a) in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or (b) in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4) and (5)).

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46. Review of premises

(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. In particular, ensure that the risks of locating two children's homes in close proximity are fully evaluated and that lessons are learned from recent events, so that future residents are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 46 (1) and (2)). 30/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. In particular, ensure that individual work with young people is recorded in one place, and preferably typed so that it is easy for them to access. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Information about this children's home

The home is operated by a private provider of education and social care for children and young people. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. Young people can attend education at the company school or through external provision. The provider operates a number of other services for children and young people in the south west of England.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/11/2015 Full Good 13/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/12/2014 Full Good

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Requires improvement

The home next door is a registered children’s home owned by the same provider. For many years, the home accommodated a young adult who had grown up there. Because there were no children living in the home, it was deregistered with Ofsted. The home that is the subject of this inspection was then registered as a children’s home. When the young adult moved out of the house next door, a decision was made to re-register that house as a children’s home, resulting in two children’s homes situated next door to each other. In such circumstances, it is important to pay careful attention to mixing young people, and ensure that they are matched as rigorously as if they were under the same roof. The current young person who is resident in this home required a single person placement. He arrived after the young person who lives next door. There was an effective compatibility risk assessment completed and for many months, there were

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Requires improvement

no problems in terms of the match between the young people, because they chose to have very little contact. This was the situation during the home’s previous two inspections, where the stability and good progress made by this young person was recognised in the judgements made. Since May 2016, the situation changed. The two young people began to associate at home and at the company’s school, which they both attended. The number of incidents began to increase. The situation continued to deteriorate, culminating in two particularly serious incidents. One of these happened at school. This young person was due to receive £10 for attending regularly. In spite of the known triggers for challenging behaviour being well documented on the home’s and the school’s records, the school staff did not communicate with the young person in an appropriate manner. They said that they were not going to give him the money on the day that he was

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Requires improvement

expecting it, and tried to give him vouchers instead. This was understandably interpreted as a broken promise, and precipitated a major incident, during which a lot of damage occurred. The current young person then assaulted a member of staff in the children’s home. This resulted in him being arrested for the first time in many months. The registered manager had no choice but to make a decision that the young person could not return to the home while his peer was still resident next door. She had to move the present young person and the staff team to an empty home, some eight miles away. By this stage, the young person himself was asking to be moved. At the time of this inspection, the current young person and his team, along with the registered manager, were still at this distant location, although the young person has not been formally admitted there. Neither the young person nor the staff want to be at this home, and would like to return to their proper residence.

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Requires improvement

This young person’s placing authority was given notice on his placement, but because no other resource can be found at present, an extension has been given for two weeks to 14 September 2016. The young person says that he cannot wait to get out of the temporary home, which he hates, and that after 28 changes of placement, he just wants ‘to go somewhere where I will not be moved again’. The inspector considers that while the children’s home’s manager and staff have done some excellent work with this young person, he has been let down by other company staff. He has now lost his placement which was going so well, and has been excluded from school. The attachments that he had started to form are being disrupted. The outcomes for this young person which were, at the time of the interim inspection, so positive, are now poor. The present young person expressed concern that a senior management decision was made to move his key worker to another home within the company, where

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Requires improvement

there was a shortage of female staff. The young person was informed that this was going to happen, but he is emphatically not happy about it, so his wishes have been overruled. He reports that he has not had a key worker meeting with this member of staff for four weeks. This does not value or respect an important relationship for this young person. A requirement has been made in relation to ensuring continuity of care. On 8 September 2016, the registered manager advised the inspector that she has challenged senior managers about this decision. As a result, she has made arrangements for this member of staff to return to her substantive role within the next few days. The staff have devoted considerable care and attention to meeting the young person’s needs. Most of the staff have very good relationships with him. The young person is generally positive about his relationships with staff, although his perception is understandably coloured by the uncertainty of his current situation.

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Requires improvement

The young person is regularly consulted, and the registered manager maintains a book specifically to record these conversations. As they are effectively indistinguishable from key working sessions, the inspector suggested that it might be more effective to record all important conversations with the young people in the key working records, even if they have not been completed by the key worker. A recommendation has been made. The young people are encouraged to participate in staff meetings and express their views. They have recently participated in a staff recruitment drive, and accompanied staff to a local shopping centre, where they spoke to members of the public about working with children and young people. The current young person has a very good diet, and the staff team take pride in preparing high-quality, nutritious meals for everyone to enjoy together. The young person has been supported to seek help for some medical conditions, and has also

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Requires improvement

received appropriate advice to guide them in their personal relationships and sexual health. Some of the staff share the young person’s enthusiasm for fishing, and they spend long periods of time out in the countryside together. This is a really positive aspect of the young person’s life and has given him a sport and a hobby to stay with him into the future. The young person and the member of staff that he assaulted have managed to repair their relationship, and go fishing together regularly. The current young person is supported to have regular contact with members of their family, and unlimited phone contact. The registered manager maintains good relationships with the young person’s family. The present young person is now approaching independence, and has a pathway plan in place. The plan has clear targets, but recent events mean that the limited free time that was allocated, has now been rescinded. This has led to the young

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Requires improvement

person feeling extremely stressed and frustrated. The temporary home being used by the team is very isolated and on a busy main road, so it is not easy for the young person to go for a walk to cool off when things become difficult for him. Suggestions were made during the inspection about possible ways to reduce stress, to help to avoid any more incidents.

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Requires improvement

Until May 2016, the current young person in this home was safeguarded very effectively. The registered manager and staff are well aware of safeguarding procedures and how to respond if the young person is considered to be at risk. The registered manager worked assertively to alert senior colleagues to the deteriorating situation, and was well able to identify what had gone wrong. From their placement in July 2015 to May 2016, the present young person had not engaged in any drug misuse or offending, and they were not going missing. This represented exceptionally good progress. In addition, they had not been physically restrained and the home was not imposing any sanctions, because there was no need to do so. When the situation began to deteriorate, the current young person had incidents where he consumed too much alcohol, resulting in a fall down part of the stairs. He and his peer from next door went missing for short periods and smoked cannabis.

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Requires improvement

He was exposed to contact from a young adult man in the community, who was not a positive influence. His attitude to education and to staff also changed, which made it difficult for the team to work with him effectively. When the young person caused damage at school, the company initially tried to take away his pocket money. The placing authority intervened and stated correctly that this is not appropriate practice. There is a financial consequence in place for the damage, but it does not involve removing his entire pocket money. As this was resolved by the placing authority prior to the inspection, no requirement has been made on this occasion. Behaviour is extremely well managed in this home, but discrepancies in practice between this service and the home next door meant that the current young person was unable to understand why standards of behaviour expected of him were not enforced with his peer.

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Requires improvement

The home has not received any complaints from the young people. Two complaints were received on the same day from members of the public about disorderly behaviour outside the home, these have been resolved. Staff recruitment is effective, with appropriate checks conducted on all prospective employees before they are appointed. The registered manager stated that a colleague at the company’s head office telephones referees to verify references. As a consequence, she is satisfied that all her staff have been effectively vetted and that there are no documented reasons why they may not work with young people.

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Requires improvement

The inspector was informed that the house next door, which is leased, is about to be reclaimed by its owner. This will solve the problem of having two homes next door to each other, but the company has applied to register another children’s home within two minutes’ walk of this one. This suggests that senior managers have not fully understood the seriousness of the difficulties that have arisen between the two adjacent homes. The failure of the present arrangement and its negative impact on this young person’s welfare and progress must be considered in much more depth before any additional home is opened nearby. A requirement has been made under Regulation 46, to review the home’s location in respect of its proximity to other children’s services. The registered manager of this home is highly experienced, with over 30 years’ in practice with children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. She

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Requires improvement

holds a National Vocational Qualification at level 4 in the care of children and young people, and the registered managers’ award. Her experience includes working in the secure estate, and she has particular skills in taking young people into the home from this provision, and helping them to turn their lives around. External professionals speak highly of the registered manager and her team, and commented on their helpfulness and clear communication. The manager is well supported by her line manager and an effective deputy, who external professionals also regard as very helpful and positive. The staff are varied in experience and qualifications, but they work very well together as a team. The staff feel well supported through regular and effective supervision. The home has a programme of staff appraisals to promote professional development. The overall quality of the company’s mandatory training is good, and there have

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Requires improvement

been many courses undertaken since the previous inspection, to enhance the staff team’s practice. The manager describes the company’s training as ‘top notch’, and says that this has improved since the previous full inspection. Courses undertaken include radicalisation, diabetes, IT, supervision skills for the deputy manager, autism, child-centred principles of the quality standards, safeguarding, training around child sexual exploitation and internet safety. Several members of staff are recently appointed and have embarked on their diploma level 3 qualifications. All but one member of staff are within the allocated time for completing level 3. This member of staff has been in post for four years, and has not yet completed their qualification, partly due to being moved around between the homes within the company. A requirement has been made. The registered manager has a clear system in place to monitor the young

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Requires improvement

people’s progress, and every other aspect of the home’s operation. She conducts regular checks and ensures that her staff are working effectively. The manager has a very good insight into the challenges that face the home and says that the presence of another provision next door has been a major problem. The home has a Regulation 44 independent visitor who visits regularly. Ofsted appears not to have received any reports since the February 2016 visit, although the registered manager says that they have been submitted. The company has been asked to provide evidence of this. One requirement was made at the interim inspection. The home has met this requirement. The statement of purpose has been reviewed and updated and reflects the changes in the Children’s Homes Regulations that took place in April 2015. Some minor amendments were made to the statement of purpose during this inspection in terms of staffing changes, and a revised copy has been sent to

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Requires improvement

Ofsted. The registered manager and staff understand the importance of a homely environment where the young people can feel safe and secure. The house is very well cared for, nicely decorated and efficiently maintained.

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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 looked after children 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 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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