Children's home run by Greenacre Care Services Limited

Inspection report children's home: SC379104 1 SC379104 Registered provider: Greenacre Care Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home registered to provide care for up to four children who have behavioural and/or emotional difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 25 January 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The support provided by the staff is not making a sufficient positive impact on the children. Inspection report children's home: SC379104 2  Both children have reduced their attendance in education.  A written risk assessment to evaluate the impact of a third placement has not been completed.  The approach from the staff lacks consistency, and children sometimes receive mixed messages about what is acceptable.  Sanctions and consequences are inconsistently applied and recorded.  External monitoring reporting is inconsistent. In two out of four months there has been no independent visit.  Staff are not receiving copies of their supervision notes.  All of the staff have not completed training in child sexual exploitation, behaviour management and radicalisation.  The required review of the quality of care report has not been completed on time.  Over a number of inspections, the registered manager has been unable to show

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Key findings from this inspection

how she is putting time aside for professional learning and growth.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The responsible individual is investing in redecoration and some furniture replacement.  There has been some staff recruitment.  The service development manager is making a positive difference and is working on shift.  The children like living in the home.  The staff are good at talking to other agencies.  The registered manager has been involved in some sensitive work with the children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/04/2016 Full Good 12/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/06/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children's home: SC379104 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers, and help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8(iii)(x)) 14/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met, children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being and that children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)) 14/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust, an understanding about acceptable behaviour and positive responses to other children and adults. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)) 14/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff 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. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, undertake risk assessments for every child already placed and complete a written risk assessment for each new placement. 14/07/2017 Inspection report children's home: SC379104 4 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on:

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of the care provided in the home (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 14/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29(4)) 14/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children, the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of the care they receive in it and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of the care provided for children. The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care is completed and 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

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Requirement Due date

home. The system must provide for ascertaining and 14/07/2017 Inspection report children's home: SC379104 5 considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c) (4)(a)(b)(5))

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Recommendations

 The behaviour management strategy should be understood and applied at all times by staff and must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) In particular, ensure that the recording system for overseeing the effectiveness of consequences and rewards is kept up to date.  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, ensure that the training available for staff is sufficiently diverse and includes child sexual exploitation, behaviour management and radicalisation.  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions are kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and

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Recommendations

staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about visits by independent persons: Children’s homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children’s homes providers on new duties under regulations that came into effect in January and April 2014. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 66, paragraph 15.10)

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improvement to be good

Two of the children had been making progress at the time of the last inspection. This progress has not been maintained. The children’s education attendance has reduced. The comments from other professionals include:

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improvement to be good

 ‘We have had lots of different meetings with the home and with the child to look at alternative and creative ways to support this child’s education, but still we find that he is unable to engage meaningfully or come in on the agreed days. He has hardly attended in the last two months.’  ‘More should be done to consistently encourage this child to attend education.’ Inspection report children's home: SC379104 6  ‘Attendance last term was 22%.The home does not always tell us if he is coming.’  ‘We have provided a tutor who comes to the home one day a week. There is a good relationship but the tutoring is very difficult.’  ‘Communication [with the home] varies. Sometimes it is good, other times it is not.’

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improvement to be good

Before going out to see friends on a school day, during school hours, one of the children said, ‘Yes, I get my learning done. I get on great with my tutor.’ The registered manager and staff said that they do what they can to encourage the children to engage in learning or attend education.

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improvement to be good

During this inspection, neither of the children attended education or engaged in learning on either day. This means that the efforts made by the staff are not strong enough to motivate the children meaningfully. The outcome is that children who are already marginalised are further disadvantaged. There is no meaningful application of the expectation that they practise the skills that they will require to gain and sustain employment.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been two new admissions. Both of those placements have ended because the children continued to go missing. During this inspection, one child known to go missing previously was remanded into custody. This happened following another extensive period of missing from this home.

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improvement to be good

Staff smoke outside the front of the house and in the garden when children are in the home. Both of the children continue to smoke and use cannabis. One professional said, ‘Our child has a very significant dependency on cannabis.’ The staff have made referrals to other agencies to maximise opportunities for helping the children to get the support that they need from the wider network. Another professional said, ‘The home is very good at building relationships with the children. They have been good at talking to them about other services and about what they can do for them. They make referrals to drug and alcohol services. But, we do not see that they are giving the right messages of support. When we visited and pointed out to a member of staff that our child had told us he had been smoking cannabis in his room the member of staff said, ‘ We know, but what can we do? We can’t stop it.’ This response does not ensure that children’s health

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improvement to be good

and well-being needs are being met. It does not ensure that children are being helped to lead healthy lifestyles, or prepare them to accept the advice and support from other services.

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improvement to be good

Key-working sessions carried out by the registered manager show that discussions take place with both of the children about the need to engage with other services. Both of the children have youth offending orders. One professional said that compliance with the order had decreased, although in recent weeks the engagement has begun to improve. More than two professionals from other agencies said that the children are frequently late for appointments. The scheduled meeting with a representative from the emotional well-being and mental health services who had come to the home to see one child did not go ahead. During this inspection, this child went out and then returned too late to the home. The outcome is that opportunities are missed to make sure that children are Inspection report children's home: SC379104 7 getting the help that they need.

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improvement to be good

The responsible individual is investing in the property. Decorators were present during this inspection. Internal damage to the home, which has been caused by the children, is now being repaired. The upstairs living room and hallways are freshly painted, and new bedroom furniture and a settee for the living room have been ordered. This helps to provide the children with a more nurturing and homely environment.

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improvement to be good

The staff help and encourage the children to have contact with their families. Recently, the registered manager has been involved in a sensitive piece of work to support one of the children with family reunification. This has provided the child with opportunities to talk about his feelings.

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improvement to be good

The staff do what they can to encourage the children to be involved in domestic tasks such as meal planning, cooking and laundry. One member of staff said, ‘We do sit in the kitchen talking and having a meal together.’ This helps the children to learn new skills and to invest in their environment to a certain extent.

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improvement to be good

A new manager has been employed to develop the service. He has begun to work on shift because of some of the most recent and complex challenges that the home has been managing. He has introduced a new approach and has rewritten the children’s care plans. The plans are comprehensive, professional and highly individualised. They clearly set out what actions should be taken by all of the staff to support the children to manage the issues that they have.

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improvement to be good

Both of the children currently have girlfriends who visit the home at different times. Since the last inspection, the home has been dealing with a particularly involved issue. This has meant working strategically with other agencies to help one of the children to manage his relationship with his girlfriend safely and respectfully. Records show that staff have been inconsistent in their approach. This means that the children have received mixed messages, depending on which staff are on duty, about what is permitted when girlfriends come to visit the home. The police have been called on at least one occasion because of the level of aggression from one of the children. This means that staff’s efforts to help this child to develop relationships based on mutual respect and trust have, so far, not had the desired impact. One professional said, ‘I do feel sorry for the home because since the day and hour our child met his girlfriend things

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improvement to be good

have been more challenging. I also know that since the service development manager arrived things like communication have improved.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Agencies say that their children are safe and like living in the home. One placing social worker said, ‘Our child has had difficulty remaining in most other placements. He likes it here and seems to have respect for some of the staff.’ One child said to the inspector, ‘I have told you before this is a great home. The staff do a great job and I have everything Inspection report children's home: SC379104 8 that I need.’ It became apparent during the inspection that the child was fearful of at least one individual living in the local community. The placing authority and police are fully aware. The home has a strategy in place to manage this concern.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The registered manager says that the incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced and that for one child the incidents have stopped. This reduction in incidents of going missing continues to be a significant achievement for the individual child. However, the central record of incidents of missing from home was not up to date, and therefore the trends and patterns of these incidents since the last inspection could not be evaluated during this inspection. Incident records in the home and data from the police demonstrate that the home does report children who go missing, when they are gone for long periods of time. Other agencies raised no concerns in respect of the home’s management of and responses to incidents of children going missing.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Written risk assessments for two of the children living in the home are well constructed. The risk assessments show that the author and the registered manager have a competent and skilled understanding of the children’s likely responses in different situations, and the action necessary to reduce the risks. However, the third child had been missing from the home until he was remanded during the first day of inspection. This means that he could have been returning to live at the home. The information on his file from the placing local authority referred to his involvement in drugs. There was no assessment for this child to demonstrate the home’s response to the information provided by the placing authority or the likely impact of his presence on the other two children. On this one occasion there was minimal impact of this failure to assess the risk of harm because this child did not reside at the home for any length of time. However,

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

failure to highlight the potential risk factors or likely changes in the dynamic when a third child joins the home increases the likelihood of a significant incident occurring.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home does not use physical intervention. The staff use their relationships to manage challenging behaviour from the children. The service development manager is working to reaffirm boundaries with the children, from whom there is a degree of resistance. The staff say that the children are not threatening, but the children do swear at the staff. The registered manager has a very good relationship with the current children and has a particular skill in working with them, for example when the children become emotionally overwhelmed.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Incidents do continue and, on one occasion, one child caused significant damage to the property which resulted in his arrest. In some situations, the staff implement consequences for behaviour. For example, the children could have some of their weekly monies withheld. However, there were no records available to show how the effectiveness of consequences is monitored or reviewed. The registered manager said, ‘We have been inconsistent in how we manage sanctions and consequences.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Inspection report children's home: SC379104 9 The registered manager has been in post for over four years. She achieved a level 4 management qualification before coming into this post. She said, ‘I have been on shift so I have prioritised the needs of the children over the management tasks.’ One result is that the required review of the quality of the care has not been undertaken in the required timeframe. This has no direct impact for children, but the failure to monitor the quality of the care effectively means that the manager does not have a good overview of the strengths of the home and the areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

New staff have come to work in the home on zero hours contracts, which means that the pressure on the registered manager to be available to cover any gaps on shift continues. This has an impact on her ability to take meaningful action to attend to agency feedback or to improve the quality of the care provided in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

During this inspection the registered manager was unable to evidence her commitment to her continuing professional development, such as training. While this shortfall has no immediate impact for children, over a number of inspections she has been unable to show how she is putting time aside for professional learning and growth. However, the newly appointed service development manager is providing practice-based supervision for the registered manager. This is an improvement, and an additional source of support for the registered manager. In addition, the service development manager has taken a lead in investigating complaints about staff conduct.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The responsible individual has invested in a new online training resource, which meets a requirement raised at the last inspection. The staff can complete training in areas such as safeguarding and fire awareness. However, at the time of this inspection all of the staff have not completed training in child sexual exploitation, behaviour management or radicalisation. This means that some staff have not yet accessed the range of resources needed to support their training and development to enable them to care effectively for children who present with significant challenges.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive an induction and have time to read the home’s policies. The staff say that they receive supervision and that it is supportive. During the inspection there were no notes from staff supervision available for evaluation. Lack of records of supervision does not help the staff or the manager to track what has been discussed and agreed during individual meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

One requirement from the last inspection is met. The responsible individual is making some financial investment in the home. She said, ‘I know that the children have caused damage to the home but we need to work through that. The most important thing to me is that we provide good services for the children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the external monitoring of the home has been inconsistent. In two out of four months there has been no independent visit. The company previously commissioned to carry out these visits has ceased to trade and an alternative was sought, but the alternative has also stopped. The quality and content of the reports for the two visits that did take place are good but this shortfall means that there are gaps in the impartial overview of the assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding Inspection report children's home: SC379104 10 and promoting children’s welfare.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children's home: SC379104 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Greenacre Care Services Limited

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Inspector

Rosie Davie, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC379104 12 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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