Children's home run by Aspirations Care Limited in Gloucester

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:

 There has been no registered manager in post for over two years. For this reason, leadership and management are inadequate.  The company has appointed a series of interim managers and has worked with Ofsted to resolve previous management difficulties in the home. The most recently appointed manager has now applied to Ofsted to be registered.  There is a lack of attention to detail in the young person’s care planning, healthcare and daily journal documentation. There are inconsistencies in recording, with duplication and omissions.  The young person has been allowed to choose their own menu with no evidence of any staff or managerial oversight. The lack of boundaries around this process has resulted in the young person consuming a poor quality diet that is low in essential nutrients required for growth and development.  Some risk assessments for potentially hazardous activities, such as rock climbing, have not been completed. Other risk assessments give instructions to

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

staff that may be difficult to carry out without further information.  Lack of management oversight and attention to monitoring has resulted in these areas of weakness persisting for five weeks into the young person’s placement.  The statement of purpose on the company’s website is from December 2014. It does not present an accurate picture of the home and does not comply with the Children’s Homes Regulations, April 2015. The home’s statement of purpose was updated in September 2015 after this matter was raised at the previous full inspection. It does not reflect management and staff changes.  Some fridge and freezer temperature checks and fire safety checks have been missed. The fridge and freezer checks were identified and resolved, but the missing fire safety checks were not detected by management monitoring.  The young person is not allowed to have access to the internet due to safeguarding concerns. This approach is not realistic in the longer term and will

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

have a negative impact on his education. The interim manager identified and raised this with the placing authority before this inspection. A safe and creative solution is needed to ensure that the young person is not disadvantaged.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 This home has the capacity to be good. Most importantly, the young person said that he is settling in, and he likes the home and the staff. He does not have any concerns about the quality of care and has been able to have frequent, productive contact with family members.  The house has been refurbished since the previous inspection. It is nicely presented, clean and tidy and provides good quality accommodation for the young people.  The staff are caring and focus well on the young people’s needs. They provide good quality activities such as rock-climbing and horse-riding, which challenge the young people and encourage them to try new experiences with staff support.  The staff encourage the young people to help prepare meals and to eat as a ‘family’. When they wish to provide a treat, they go out for a restaurant meal with the young people rather than purchasing takeaways, which are sometimes of limited nutritional value.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 The staff and manager have supported the young people’s educational needs. Some young people have started at an outdoor education centre, which provides a range of exciting opportunities.  Since the previous inspection, the home’s managers have recruited a full staff team. Staff have been properly inducted and those who have completed their probationary period are enrolled for their level 3 qualification.  Staff feel well supported in their roles and have regular access to a consultant in residential services for additional advice and guidance.

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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

(1) The health and well-being standard is that: (a) the health and well-being needs of children are met; (b) children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and (c) children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the young people’s healthcare plans are fully recorded and that they reflect their current needs. Also, ensure that the young people are offered choices only between healthy foods and are educated about the importance of diet in maintaining good health. 31/03/2017

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Requirement Due date

(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: (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.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that risk assessments are completed on all potentially hazardous activities, such as rock- climbing, and on any pets kept in the home. Also ensure that risk assessments for swimming and other activities that involve public changing, showering and toilet facilities contain specific, robust and workable strategies to help staff keep the young people and themselves safe. 31/03/2017

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) The leadership and management standard is that the 31/03/2017 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; (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; and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous

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Requirement Due date

improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that:

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Requirement Due date

 the home has a registered manager  the manager ensures consistency in staff recording practice  the manager monitors all records to ensure that they are fully completed and  the manager ensures that fire safety checks are conducted at the intervals recommended by the local fire and rescue service.

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Requirement Due date

(1) 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; and (b) notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (4) If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on that website unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that the statement of 31/03/2017 purpose is updated regularly and that the latest version is posted on the company’s website and sent to Ofsted. (Regulation 16 (2)(3)(4))

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.3 and 14.4).

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19).

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is part of a national organisation which operates a number of services for young people and adults. It is registered for up to two young people under the age of 18 years, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 06/04/2016 Interim Not judged 11/08/2015 Full Inadequate 18/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/11/2014 Full Adequate

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Requires improvement

This area requires improvement because there are weaknesses in the young person’s placement planning and healthcare planning records. For example:

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Requires improvement

 healthcare plans are incomplete  key-worker sessions are not always linked to the young person’s targets  the young people’s journal has been set up for another young person  this document has not been completed correctly  the running file does not have the young person’s profile or pen picture completed  menu recording is inconsistent and incomplete, which makes it difficult to maintain an overview of the young person’s diet.

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Requires improvement

The young person has been resident for only five weeks, so it is understandable that not all elements of the placement and healthcare planning documents are complete at this stage. However, there is no reason why basic information about the young person should be missing, but this is the case. For example, the young person’s journal for January contains almost no information about their unique needs. It has another young person’s name printed on it, which is a breach of confidentiality.

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Requires improvement

Some of this information is recorded in the placement plan and healthcare plan, but even so there are gaps in some areas. For example, there is almost no information recorded about the young person’s identity needs, there is no vaccination history and it is unclear when, and why, contact with specialist healthcare professionals ceased. Until the gaps in basic information are identified and filled, it is difficult for the staff to meet the young person’s needs effectively.

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Requires improvement

Key-worker sessions should be focused on the young people’s targets in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the placement. Some of the discussions, such as the dangers of fire setting and the impact of discriminatory behaviour, are justifiably recorded as key-worker sessions. Other conversations show that the young person is consulted about daily life, but they are not key-worker sessions.

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Requires improvement

When the young person was first admitted to the home, the staff were providing support to the young person to select meals. The menu planner shows that as the placement has progressed, the staff have tended to provide what the young person has requested, with no parameters around this choice.

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Requires improvement

Meals planned for the week of this inspection include a visit to a fast food outlet with a family member, fish and chips two nights in a row and another meal out, which is also likely to involve chips. This is to be followed by steak and potato wedges, an unspecified takeaway on Friday and burger with chips or wedges on Saturday.

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Requires improvement

Some of the meals taken are healthy, but they are often supplemented by unhealthy snacks. For example, on 22 January, in addition to a pasta salad lunch and a roast dinner, the young person ate four yoghurts and four chocolate bars. On another day, the record of foods consumed says, ‘a lot of chocolate’. There is no evidence of any staff speaking to the young person about the possible consequences of this pattern of eating.

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Requires improvement

As the placement has progressed and foods consumed have become less nutritious, the young person has also started increasingly to miss meals and is rapidly developing some unhealthy habits. The young person is at risk of not receiving enough healthy food to support his rapid growth and development.

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Requires improvement

It is positive to note that some of the planned meals early on in the placement were healthy and that the staff take the young person out for restaurant meals rather than resorting to takeaways.

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Requires improvement

The young person has made good progress in some areas during his short time at the home. He is attending an alternative education centre for 29 hours per week. He has not been in school for a long period of time prior to his arrival in this home, so this is very positive.

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Requires improvement

The young person enjoys a variety of interesting and educational activities outside the home. These include regular horse-riding, rock-climbing and walking in the countryside. He has visited local attractions, which also provide learning opportunities, such as cathedrals and ancient historical sites. At home, the young person likes to play on his game controller. He also enjoys cooking and sharing meals with the staff. He has two pet guinea pigs and takes great pride in looking after them well.

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Requires improvement

Family members are in regular and supportive contact with the young person, and take him out. This is very positive for the young person and helps him to maintain his identity as a family member.

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Requires improvement

The staff are warm and empathic. They care for the young person and have good relationships with him. One member of staff who was the subject of an incident during the inspection, responded very professionally. She made a point of speaking with the young person before she went off shift the following day, to reassure him that their relationship was intact. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

This area requires improvement because some risk assessments for potentially hazardous activities, such as rock-climbing, have not been completed. Although the climbing instructor is fully qualified and the climbing centre will have their own risk assessment, the home still has to have one.

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Requires improvement

Other risk assessments give instructions to staff that may be difficult to carry out without further information. For example, young people who may be at risk in public areas where changing clothes and the use of communal showers and toilet facilities takes place, such as a leisure centre, are not currently protected by effective, clear strategies. The risk assessment says that this situation must be monitored, but exactly how the staff are to do this, for example if both of them are of the opposite gender to the young person, is unclear.

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Requires improvement

Pets in the home are very well looked after, but they have not been risk assessed to help manage the young person’s safety and that of the animals concerned. Risk assessment should cover areas such as hygiene measures while cleaning out and handling food bowls. Consideration needs to be given to how the animals will be safeguarded in the event of any incidents involving their owner or another young person, or if the young person should lose interest in caring for them in the future.

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Requires improvement

The young person is not allowed to have access to the internet because of safeguarding concerns. This approach is not realistic in the longer term because it will have a negative impact on his education as well as his life experiences and relationships with peers. The interim manager identified and raised this with the placing authority before this inspection. A safe and creative solution is needed to ensure that the young person is not disadvantaged. A recommendation has been made to support this process.

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Requires improvement

Fire safety checks and fridge and freezer temperature recording were not completed for the first two weeks of this placement. The manager identified and remedied the lack of temperature recording, but had not noticed the missing fire safety check.

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Requires improvement

There has been only one incident since the start of this placement. The incident took place during the inspection, so there has not yet been time to evaluate the effectiveness of the restorative measure set for the young person. There have been no physical interventions, complaints or episodes when young people went missing. This is positive, because going missing was a difficulty for the young person in previous placements. The staff have all been trained in physical intervention and safeguarding procedures. They say that they feel confident in the response required in a safeguarding situation.

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Inadequate

Leadership and management are inadequate because the home has not had a registered manager since 7 November 2014, a period of two years and three months. There have been several interim managers during this period. The interim manager who was in post from July 2015 to March 2016 did submit an application for this home and the sister home nearby. The company agreed with Ofsted that it was appropriate to seek separate managers for the two homes.

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Inadequate

The present manager was appointed in September and has had some technical difficulty in submitting her application online to Ofsted. The inspector understands from the manager that the application has now been submitted, but the inspector has been unable to confirm this.

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Inadequate

The interim manager is experienced and holds a qualification at level 5 in leadership and management. She has had very little time to establish herself as the manager and to build a staff team.

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Inadequate

Weaknesses in the young person’s care planning, healthcare and daily journal documentation, and inconsistencies in recording, have not been identified and corrected. Some basic health and safety checks have been missed, as detailed above. Management monitoring has identified some, but not all of the shortfalls found at this inspection. Lack of oversight and attention to monitoring has resulted in these areas of weakness persisting for five weeks into the young person’s placement.

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Inadequate

The statement of purpose on the company’s website is from December 2014. It does not present an accurate picture of the home and does not comply with the Children’s Homes Regulations, April 2015. The home’s statement of purpose was updated in September 2015, after this matter was raised at the previous full inspection. It does not reflect management and staff changes, so it now needs to be updated again and sent to Ofsted.

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Inadequate

Staff say that they are well trained and supported. The manager has focused on bringing together a new staff team, which is now complete. She has also ensured that staff have been fully inducted, and that regular supervision is in place. The staff also have access to an external consultant, who visits regularly and facilitates meetings to identify positive ways forward for the team.

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Inadequate

There have recently been some changes in the company’s local management arrangements, so this interim manager has a new supervisor. The company needs to ensure that as a new manager to this service, she receives sufficient mentoring and support to guide her in her role.

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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 children looked after 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 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

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

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

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