Children's home in Lambeth

This monitoring visit

Ofsted received matters of concern, from local residents to the children’s home, about the care provided to a young female child. Ofsted judged the home to be inadequate at its last two full inspections on 27 April 2016 and 25 July 2016. It has been subject to enforcement action and a monitoring visit on 3 October 2016. The acting manager was present throughout the visit. The inspectors informed him that they would investigate the concern and also review any evidence of progress since the last inspection. During the inspection the inspectors:  interviewed the manager, an agency worker and the child in placement  sought information from the responsible person  examined all information held in the home relating to the child  checked for independent person’s reports  carried out an internal review of the quality of care  reviewed evidence of staff training  checked the assessment of the appropriateness of the location of the home

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This monitoring visit

 accessed staff rotas and who has worked in the home  reviewed recruitment records and evidence of checks of suitability of agency staff. The placing authority had not supplied the home with an up-to-date placement plan on the child accommodated in the home, which the acting manager had requested. In addition, he had sought other relevant information on the child including: psychiatric, kinship, parenting, educational and looked after child assessments. The local authority placement plan dated 22 June 2016 identified some significant issues from the child’s early childhood and subsequent care history. These included a complex family history with serious mental health issues in close relatives. The child has a history of violent behaviour in previous settings, leading to charges of criminal damage and assault. There are strict restrictions on her contact with her family. The placement plan states that the child has been out

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This monitoring visit

of education for two years and has a history of aggressive and sexualised behaviour. She has told staff in the home and the inspector concerning information about issues of self-harm and mental health. The local authority placement plan in June stated, ‘She needs to be in residential placement with therapeutic input and also on-site education.’ The placement plan does not include a statement of educational needs and there is no plan in place for her education. Her current setting does not have on-site education and is relying on the placing authority to supply any therapeutic support. The lack of any plan to provide education is a serious shortfall and this placement is not meeting her identified needs. The manager has not completed an in-house placement plan. At the first planning meeting, he highlighted the inadequacy of the local authority information provided which has restricted his ability to fully address all of the child’s needs in the plan

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This monitoring visit

that he is constructing. He has completed a risk assessment based on known information. This contains some helpful sections. However, he has rated some areas of significant risk as low risk. During the inspection, he acknowledged that he had incorrectly rated areas such as risk of child sexual exploitation and risk of self-harm or suicide. The placement plan identified that the child requires a structured environment with firm boundaries. On being interviewed, she said that she would like a structured day: getting up at 9am, having breakfast, going to school, having lunch, watching television, doing school work, going out and doing something like having a walk or going to the cinema. Currently, the staff have not produced an activity plan for her. She is staying in bed until midday and then staying in the home all day. She has not been for a walk or joined an activity since arriving a week ago. There is no daily routine, structure or plan of action for her. The acting

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This monitoring visit

manager has not contacted the virtual headteacher about education and the placing authority has made no plans for any education. The child does not identify with staff in the home. She is rude and verbally and racially aggressive towards them. Staff display a patient approach with her and offer trips out which she refuses as she will not go out with them. Staff are not meeting her identified needs for structure and firm boundaries. Staff have worked with the child to create a menu and have purchased all food items that she has requested. She has frequently refused meals prepared by staff and prefers to cook her own meals. She does not feel safe in the home but is unable to explain why. She was unhappy about her bedroom which has a sticky yoghurt like substance on its floor from a previous resident. Staff did offer to clean this up but she became extremely abusive about them entering her room and commented it should not have been there before she moved in. There were no

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This monitoring visit

sanctions or interventions in place to address her abusive behaviour and no firm boundaries applied by staff. Staff rotas are difficult to access via the home’s intranet. However, the acting manager was able to show rotas covering the week that the home has accommodated this child. The acting manager was unable to print copies of these rotas. The staff rotas show that each shift has two members of staff on duty, one of whom is first-aid qualified. Every shift had a female member of staff. When permanent female staff were not available, the manager has ensured balanced cover by the use of appropriately vetted agency staff. Staff engage politely with the child. However, she does not identify with them or her own cultural background. The responsible person has not supplied any independent visitor’s reports to HMCI for September or October. The independent visitor has been to the home. However, his reports are not available in the home. It is not possible to comment

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This monitoring visit

on the value of these reports as they were not available. The lack of availability of these reports to the manager renders them ineffective as an aid to the development of the home. The responsible person has not supplied a review of the quality of care in the home to HMCI. The acting manager says that he completed this report. However, he was unable to supply a copy during the inspection. This was a requirement at the last inspection. The manager was unable to evidence good understanding of the developmental needs of the home based on his evaluation of the previous six months. In addition, he was unable to produce a plan of action for the next six months, in particular how he intends addressing the requirements and recommendations set at the last inspection. The acting manager stated that there has been no staff training around child sexual exploitation or radicalisation since the last inspection. This was a

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This monitoring visit

requirement at the last inspection. The staff have not received the training necessary to prepare them for their work with vulnerable children. The responsible person has not reviewed and updated the assessment of the appropriateness of the location of the home since the last inspection. This was a requirement at the last inspection. The current assessment does not evaluate or address the local risks set out in the data included in the document. It does not explain how staff contain risks or conclude that the home is appropriately located. The responsible person provided background details on the agency staff used in the home. However, he did not supply the recruitment record of the one member of permanent staff which inspectors requested. The provision of evidence of safe recruitment was a requirement at the last full inspection. The responsible person has not supplied evidence to show that only staff safely recruited work with

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vulnerable children. The admissions and discharge log book was complete. However, it had incorrect information on the legal order for the child currently accommodated. The acting manager agreed to rectify this during the inspection. Inspectors did not review the policy or practice in relation to surveillance and monitoring at this inspection and the acting manager did not produce evidence of progress with the requirement.

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately owned home that is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children or young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It caters for young people for whom placement in a bigger home is inappropriate. Staff were providing care and accommodation to only one child at this inspection.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that 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

13: The leadership and management standard (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads 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— (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; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (e) ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. This is with particular reference to making sure that the use of temporary staff does not prevent young people from receiving consistent care from staff who are well known to them, and who

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Requirement Due date

know them well. This is also with reference to ensuring that there are sufficient 15/12/2016 staff members on duty to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. This is with particular reference to ensuring that all staff have up- to-date training around child sexual exploitation and risks of radicalisation. 15/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (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 improved by taking into account and acting on— (ii) feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. This is with particular reference to ensuring that the manager of the home responds effectively to address complaints from young people and uses their feedback to improve practice in the home. 15/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. This is with particular reference to ensuring the availability of staff when young people are missing from the home. 15/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard (1) The protection of children standard is that children are 15/12/2016 protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (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; (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; (c) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. This is with particular reference to ensuring that the home is clear in relation to its approach to lone working and that lone working is demonstrably safe for staff and young people. This is also with reference to ensuring that the home’s location

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Requirement Due date

risk assessment demonstrates that key partners are consulted and that all risks have identified actions to reduce risk.

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (e) that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. This is with particular reference to ensuring that the home’s procedures in relation to dealing with allegations against staff specify actions that the home will take to investigate and follow up allegations. The procedure should also be clear about how they take advice to inform decisions about whether to suspend staff while investigations are underway. 15/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

32: Fitness of workers (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 15/12/2016 individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). (3) The requirements are that— (a) the individual is of integrity and good character; (b) the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; (c) the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and (d) full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the

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Requirement Due date

individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. This is with particular reference to the need for the provider to provide evidence of safe recruitment practice for all staff employed in the home.

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Requirement Due date

45: Review of quality of care (1) The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every six months. (2) In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (3) After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review report’).

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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; and (b) make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. 15/12/2016 (5) The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard (1) The care planning standard is that children— (a) receive well-planned care from the home; and (b) have a positive experience of admission and transition processes. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (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, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person should only accept placements for children when they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and when they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. 15/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

37: Other records (1) Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. (2) The registered person must— (a) maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; (b) ensure that the records are kept up to date; and (c) retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. In order to meet this requirement, the provider must ensure that records of all staff rosters are available. They must also ensure that information in respect of young people admitted to or discharged from the home is accurate and up to date. 15/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

24: Monitoring and surveillance (1) The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if— (a) the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of 15/12/2016 safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; (b) the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance; (c) so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and (d) the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. This relates specifically to the use of mobile phones to make video recordings of young people without their knowledge or consent, or consent from the placing authority.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children's home since its last Ofsted inspection. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. out in 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 this guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

to 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 children looked after 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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