Children's home run by Inmind Childrens Services Limited in Wokingham

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people have been harmed or put at risk of harm by the actions of those caring for them. Staff members’ understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of young people is weak and, in some instances, the standard of behaviour of those working in the home has fallen significantly below expectations. For example, two staff members took a young person on holiday. The young person was allowed to drink alcohol, frequented a bar, smoked and reportedly had a knife on his person. Evidence from the incident also indicates that a member of staff was drinking alcohol with the young person and that both presented as drunk. The risk assessment for this holiday was poor and the decision by managers to assign an inexperienced member of staff to the holiday was unwise. In other incidents, staff have become so overwhelmed that they have had inappropriate emotional outbursts and been unable to continue working, an agency worker was escorted

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

from the home following an incident in which a young person was grabbed around the neck, one member of staff was dismissed for an inappropriate restraint on a young person and another was dismissed following an incident in which unauthorised family contact was facilitated.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people do not receive the standard of help and support that they need. Staff and managers fail to manage young people’s behaviour effectively. This has contributed to the police being called to the home on some 40 occasions since the last inspection, either to restore order in the home or to respond to young people going missing. Neighbours have made numerous complaints regarding anti-social behaviour. In response to community concerns, the local district council imposed a community safety notice on the home. The community safety notice required the managers and staff to manage anti-social behaviours better. Although community incidents have subsequently been reduced, some worrying incidents continue to take place at the home. For example, a dangerous incident occurred when young people were able to barricade themselves into staff sleep-in rooms and start fires by lighting toilet paper. More recently, police were called to the home when young

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

people climbed onto and damaged the roof of the home. This placed themselves and others at significant risk. The management response to such incidents is poor, because there is no analysis or evaluation, no review of the effectiveness of any behaviour management strategies and no seeking the views of young people. Consequently, besides failing to manage the behaviour of young people, the managers and staff do not learn lessons from incidents so that practice can be improved.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and managers do not always ensure that young people’s health needs are met. For example, a young person told staff that he was worried that he might have diabetes, because he had some symptoms and a family history of the illness. No health appointment was made for the young person to discuss his fears with a health professional or undertake tests. A senior manager spoke to the young person and provided him with worrying information about diabetes which served only to heighten his anxieties. Despite the possibility of diabetes, the young person’s poor diet was not addressed. He continued to eat large quantities of snacks and unhealthy foods, which would have been harmful to a person with diabetes. There are additional concerns over the behaviour of this senior manager. Staff members raised concerns that he had inflamed an incident by shouting at a young person. This matter was very poorly investigated, and information about the

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

incident was not shared with safeguarding agencies.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people do not experience consistent care from a stable staff team. The service continues to experience considerable instability. Two managers have resigned since the last inspection and a new manager has been appointed. The service has had a heavy reliance on agency workers, because insufficient numbers of permanent staff have been recruited. The inconsistency of staffing is compounded because some staff have had to be removed from duty following unacceptable behaviour towards young people and colleagues. Consequently, young people receive care from a constantly changing staff team with varying levels of skill. At times, the care that they receive is substandard.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The leadership and management of the service have failed to meet the requirements set at the full inspection carried out in May 2016 in respect of ensuring that young people receive consistency of care from a well-trained staff team.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

New staff members do not always receive an induction. For example, managers were unable to provide evidence that a staff member who joined some eight months previously had been through induction. Staff do not receive regular, professional supervision. One staff member has received only one supervision in an eight-month period. Staff training does not prepare them to provide good, safe and consistent care to young people. For example, one staff member who was employed for several months had not had safeguarding training. Staff are expected to complete up to six online training courses in one day. This makes it very difficult for them to retain the learning and hampers their ability to provide the best possible care to young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The acting manager and responsible individual failed to ensure that Ofsted was provided with sufficient information following a significant incident. The notification provided by the home omitted important information. This hampered Ofsted in fulfilling its statutory function of evaluating the incident and the actions taken by the home as being in accordance with statutory regulations to ensure that young people’s welfare needs are met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people do benefit from good educational provision. The home has a school on site, and young people attend and attain well. For example, one young person is taking their GCSE exams two years early. The school and home communicate well, with a designated member of staff coordinating communication systems and supporting care staff to engage young people in education outside school hours.

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Information about this children’s home

The service is a residential school, also registered as a children’s home, to provide care for up to 13 young people in three small homes on one site. The service is owned by a private company and provides care for young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 04/05/2016 Full Good 20/01/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 01/07/2015 Full Requires improvement 19/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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

10(1) The health and well-being standard is that: (a) the health and well-being needs of children are met. 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

11(2) The positive behaviour standard 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. 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

12(2) In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure: (a) that staff: (i) meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans. 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

12(2) In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure: (a) that staff: (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

13(2) The leadership and management standard requires the registered person to: (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. 17/02/2017 The registered person must ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33(1)(a)) 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a notification under this regulation must include details of the matter. (Regulation 40(5)(a)(i)) 17/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to statutory requirement notice.

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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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