Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Somerset

Inadequate

There are serious failures that mean 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:

 Leaders and managers have failed to keep children and young people safe. Risk management plans do not promote risk reduction. This has placed children, young people and staff at risk of harm.  Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that behaviour management is robust and consistent. This has resulted in the police being called to intervene due to children’s and young people’s violent behaviours.  Care planning is poor and has led to children and young people living together in an unsafe environment. This has resulted in emergency and poorly planned transitions.  There has been no consistent manager at the home for a number of weeks. As a result, staff have not been supported effectively in order to keep children and young people or themselves safe.  Children and young people are not effectively supported to attend education. This has meant that two young people have not been consistently attending

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the engaging with the wider systems standard, registered persons must, and must ensure that staff: (a) seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; (b) seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; (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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they have effective working relationships with both professionals and family members, to ensure that the best interests of children and young people are met at all times. 30/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the children’s views, wishes and standard, the registered persons must: (2)(b) ensure that each child: (i) is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, return from missing discussions with children and young people must be completed in a timely manner with an 30/01/2017 independent person. It is the responsibility of leaders and managers to escalate concerns regarding the completion of these discussions with the Local Safeguarding Children Board. 8: The education standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the education standard, the registered persons must ensure that staff: (2)(a)(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, when appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; (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; (x) help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must develop effective strategies for promoting educational attendance. 30/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

(1) In order to meet the positive relationships standard, the registered persons must ensure that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on: (a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2)(x) are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same: (xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must support children and young people to develop positive relationships that are not harmful or abusive towards other young people or staff. 30/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

(2) In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered persons must: (a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, 30/01/2017 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; (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 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; (d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are

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Requirement Due date

designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, placement compatibility and risk reduction plans must be developed effectively in order to ensure that children and young people are kept safe. Staff must be able to access the above information easily, and be fully supported by leaders and managers in respect of how to implement the above. 13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered persons must enable, inspire and lead a culture that: (a) helps children to aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) 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, when appropriate; (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; (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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff are able 30/01/2017 to provide consistently safe care which is of a good standard. This directly relates to the need for the responsible individual to ensure that stable and consistent management is in place. 14: The care planning standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered persons must ensure that young people: (1)(a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, care planning records must be easy to access and reflect the current needs of young people. Staff members must be able to access important information quickly. 30/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to statutory requirement notice.

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Recommendations

The medication system is complicated and confusing. This needs to be streamlined to ensure that staff are able to administer medication easily and that records are easy to view.

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide accommodation for a maximum of three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is run by a private provider that also operates other children’s homes in the local area.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 10/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/10/2015 Full Good 14/01/2015 Full Good 15/10/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Inadequate

The home environment is poor. The decoration of the home is sparse, due to items being removed as a result of breakage and for safety reasons. The home therefore presents as bare and unwelcoming. Staff fail to manage behaviours of children and young people and, as a result of this, all food items and most of the kitchen equipment have been locked in the staff office.

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Inadequate

Inspectors witnessed a child and a young person throwing a large amount of food at two managers and three staff during the inspection. Three staff were assaulted at this time, and the police were called. The child and young person involved in the incident were subsequently arrested. The third young person living at the home was taken out in order to minimise the impact of the incident upon them. Staff informed inspectors that a similar incident had occurred the previous day. It is evident that violent and aggressive behaviour has been a consistent theme for a number of weeks previously.

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Inadequate

There is an expectation on children and young people to tidy their rooms once a week. However, the rooms were not of a homely standard. One room smelt very badly and there were two mugs cultivating mould. Staff fail to provide the level of support that is evidently required in this respect.

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Inadequate

Leaders, managers and the staff fail to understand the needs of children and young people effectively. As a result, children and young people are not receiving the correct support to promote their positive outcomes.

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Inadequate

Not all children and young people have a positive experience of education. A number of young people previously living at the home have been engaged in education and experienced planned transitions. Currently, children and young people are not actively supported to attend education or to promotive positive behaviour.

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Inadequate

Leaders, managers and staff fail to keep children and young people safe by the care provided at the home. Destructive and violent behaviours have escalated in recent weeks. A number of staff have been assaulted and effective action to prevent harm is not evident. Therefore, children and young people are not being supported to promote positive behaviour. Consequently, violence and aggression continue to be seen as a normal part of their lives.

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Inadequate

Staff members spoken with during the inspection commented on the current chaotic circumstances at the home. One stated that they felt that they were ‘firefighting’. A number of staff also appeared visibly distressed regarding the difficulties in recent weeks. Staff are not able to meet the specific needs of children and young people. This has resulted in children and young people having no clear boundaries and, at times, taking the balance of control at the home.

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Inadequate

Behaviour management is not effective or consistent. During the inspection, one child had a lighter and proceeded to threaten a staff member with it. This child had previously set fire to a six-year-old in the community and to another staff member at the home. There are no strategies in place to reduce the risk of harm.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers have not developed sufficient strategies to ensure that children and young people attend school. The consequence for one young person’s not attending school was to stop their £2 incentive for attendance. No further action was taken. The young person did not care about this sanction and has repeatedly not attended his school.

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Inadequate

Communication between staff, other professionals and family members is poor. A social worker and a parent spoken to during the inspection both felt that communication about the needs of children and young people is poor. This obstructs progress and consistent care.

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Inadequate

There has been no registered manager in post for a number of weeks. Leaders and managers have not provided robust and consistent management oversight in this time, which has led to widespread failures and unmanaged risk, as explored above.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that effective pre-placement assessments have been undertaken. As a result, poor placements have led to chaos and high-risk situations occurring at the home. Children and young people are not safe.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that care planning information reflects the current needs and risks for children and young people. Documentation is difficult to read quickly and does not outline the needs of children and young people clearly. Staff are unable to access information quickly to be able to understand what they need to do in order to meet the individual needs of children and young people. One staff member commented that information is hard to digest when they arrive for their shift. This results in an inconsistent approach to care and risk management.

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Inadequate

The medication recording system is cumbersome. Three separate recording logs present opportunities for missed information and confusion regarding which medication has been given to a child or young person.

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Inadequate

When children and young people have been missing from home, they are not always afforded ‘return from missing’ interviews with independent advocates. While leaders have challenged the local authority regarding this, they have not provided alternatives for children and young people. Children and young people do not currently have the opportunity to share their views and feelings, should they have any concerns or worries about their home.

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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, 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 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 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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