Children's home run by Action in Care Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 1 SC069221 Registered provider: Action in Care Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately owned and is registered to accommodate up to five children and young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

Inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected Inadequate

p.1

Inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Inadequate

p.1

Inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

p.1

Inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because:  Leaders and managers failed to make adequate arrangements to manage the home effectively in the absence of the acting manager. Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 2  Staff are unable to keep the young people safe. They do not effectively implement strategies to prevent the young people from putting themselves at risk.  Leaders and managers do not effectively assess the individual risks associated with each young person, or review these risks following serious incidents.  Leaders and managers failed to recognise that they could not meet the needs of a young person recently referred to the service.  The acting manager does not report allegations and serious incidents to the local authority. He does not take effective action to prevent the recurrence of risky behaviours.  Leaders and managers do not prioritise fire safety checks. Fire drills have not

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

been completed at suitable intervals.  Ofsted is not notified of incidents, or emerging risks, to young people in a timely manner.  Managers and staff lack key training required to meet the needs of the young people.  Staff do not effectively discourage young people from smoking.  Young people are not engaging fully with their education plans. Staff fail to implement expectations and boundaries in respect of young people’s education.  Staff use restrictive practices as behaviour management strategies. These strategies are not reviewed and assessed.  Quality assurance arrangements do not adequately evaluate the service. The views of children, parents and partner professionals are not considered as part of the quality of care review.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Staff track young people’s achievements and celebrate their successes.  Staff promote positive contact with young people’s family members and those who are important to them.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 14/12/2016 Full Good 31/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/07/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(6) The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— (2)(c) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished as to— (ii) enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. 11/09/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

*12(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (10) 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; *(ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; *(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 *2(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. 11/09/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

*13 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— *(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and *(b) promotes their welfare, particularly to ensure that all safeguarding incidents and welfare concerns are referred to the local authority and actions are taken to safeguard children. 11/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 4 *2(a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and deliver the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. *(c) Ensure that staff have the experience, qualification 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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(h) Use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. *After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must— ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of a fire. If the Regulatory (Fire safety) Order 2005 (a) applies to the home— The registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(1)(d)(2)(b)) 11/09/2017

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— There is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) 11/09/2017

p.4

Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

p.4

Recommendations

 Staff should have sufficient understanding of relevant health services. They should support children to navigate these services. This is with particular reference to organising access to smoking cessation services, including smoking cannabis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.8)  The ethos of the home should support each child to learn. The home must make available suitable facilities and resources for learning, and staff should demonstrate attempts to engage children with education and have a clear plan in regards to expectations of staff if children refuse. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18)

p.4

Inspection judgements

Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 5

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Missing from home episodes have escalated to a seriously concerning level. Two out of the three young people in placement are rarely at the home. Staff accept that they are unable to keep these young people safe from harm or offer any level of positive care. The well-being and welfare of these two young people are at serious risk. Poor communication by managers to the staff team results in confused care delivery for the young people. The manager fails to give essential information to the staff. For example, the staff were unaware of the outcome of an important meeting about a young person’s care. Their ability to support this young person was seriously compromised. On another occasion, the staff and a young person were unable to prepare for a meeting due to a lack of clarity about its purpose. In addition, contradictory documents fail to provide the staff with the guidance they need. Risk assessments, action plans and ‘at a glance safety plans’ are inaccurate and

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

incompatible. Young people do not receive clear messages or tailored support from the staff. Inconsistent care fails to promote or encourage young people’s progress. Staff have not forged positive relationships with the young people. Consequently, young people are disengaged and show no desire to invest in the home or the staff. Weak relationships restrict staffs’ ability to implement effective rules and boundaries. As a result, staff use strategies such as locking the door to the living room in order to restrict access to it. Despite this restriction being raised at the last inspection, this practice has not stopped. Combined with poor-quality décor and incomplete repairs, the main living areas fail to welcome or encourage the young people to want to be in their home. Consultation forums are ineffective in soliciting the young people’s views. Young people do not participate in house meetings, which are designed to help them to raise concerns

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

and influence the running of the home. In addition, individual key-work sessions are ineffective and irregular. One young person, who is at serious risk during missing episodes, has not had a key-work session since the end of May 2017. This lack of discussion and guidance does not give the young people the opportunities to form trusting relationships or consider their behaviours. Young people’s level of disengagement means that they do not participate in the activities offered. Staff try to encourage the young people to develop self-care skills and track the young people’s progress. However, positive outcomes are limited due to staff’s inability to manage the young people safely. Staff are struggling to ensure that young people attend formal education. None of the young people were attending education at the time of this inspection. Staff did not enforce expectations and boundaries regarding the time spent at home during school

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

hours. For example, staff took young people to a fast food restaurant, despite one young person being suspended from school and the other young person refusing to engage in an education meeting. The absence of an agreed plan means that young people experience an inconsistent approach. Young people in the home smoke. Staff’s attempts to help young people to stop smoking are minimal. During the inspection, young people smoked unchallenged, outside the Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 6 front door, in sight of staff. Staff failed to respond to suspected cannabis use in the home in a proactive way. Staff completed a room search and removed associated objects; however, they did not take any further action to reinforce with young people the health and legal consequences of drugs misuse. Staff support young people’s contact with family and close relatives, which enables them to retain positive relationships and to remain in contact with those who are important to

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

them. However, young people are not able to engage fully in contact arrangements due to the amount of time they are missing from the home.

p.6

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

The safety of the young people in this home is seriously compromised. The director, senior staff and other staff report that they are unable to keep the young people safe. Managers did not inform the placing authorities of their inability to safeguard the young people until the inspectors directed them to do so. Leaders and managers fail to work in partnership with safeguarding agencies and those responsible for placing the young people. During this inspection, staff failed to notify placing social workers of episodes of young people going missing. On another occasion, the acting manager failed to notify the designated officer of a young person’s allegation against a staff member. These serious communication failures prevent placing and safeguarding authorities from taking necessary safeguarding action. Young people are left at risk of harm. Plans to discourage the young people from going missing, when they are missing, fail at

p.6

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

every level. Missing from care protocols remain inconsistent, despite this being a requirement at the last inspection. Individual missing from care protocols and the ‘at a glance safety plan’ give contradictory information. These documents fail to provide staff with the necessary guidance to safeguard the young people. For example, the number of steps taken before staff report the young people missing to the police delays the formal processes available to trace vulnerable young people. The protocols in place to safeguard children who are missing are not followed. During this inspection, one young person had been missing for three nights, yet staff did not demonstrate attempts to locate her. Staff also failed to report another young person, who was missing overnight, to the police. This demonstrates a serious lack of concern and incompetent practice. When young people return from being missing, staff respond ineffectively. Records do

p.6

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

not show whether children are debriefed after a missing incident, or if return interviews are completed with them. There is no evidence of managers analysing or evaluating the incidents to understand and reduce children’s risk-taking behaviours. Consequently, staff do not understand or respond well to children’s increasingly risky behaviour and risks continue to escalate. Risk assessments examined for all three children failed to identify specific risks, and do not include the guidance staff need to effectively manage, or reduce, risks. Staff are, therefore, not clear about the strategies that they need to implement in order to minimise the risks to children. For example, information about two children’s Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 7 ‘excessive/secretive use of their phones’, particularly at night, has not been risk assessed. There is no guidance for staff on how to consider and manage the potential

p.6

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

risks associated with this. For one child, who has a food allergy, there is no guidance for staff about what action to take if he has an allergic reaction. This potentially seriously compromises the child’s safety. In another instance, managers did not review staff practice when two children tried to get out of a car that a staff member was driving. Consequently, during the inspection, the children were again taken out in the car by one member of staff, with no measures in place to prevent a further similar incident. Other failures to consider and reduce risk included responses to a young person who was in possession of a knife, and to a young person who had burnt a carpet. Leaders and managers have not implemented fire safety recommendations. Fire safety work has not been completed in a high-risk area of the home. The director failed to check that work was carried out adequately. Some young people have not taken part in

p.7

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

fire drills since October 2016. This demonstrates an inadequate response to safety issues.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has failed to appoint an acting manager with the required skills, qualifications and experience to lead the home effectively. This inspection was conducted with a senior member of staff placed in charge of the home in the responsible individual and acting manager’s absence. She was not provided with the necessary preparation, information or guidance to undertake this role. The senior member of staff is not suitably qualified, neither does she have the relevant training to equip her to manage staff or respond to safeguarding issues. Managers and staff are not adequately trained. Despite two of the children living in the home being at high risk of sexual exploitation, staff have not received specific training or guidance on managing child sexual exploitation. Only five of the 17 staff had up-to-date safeguarding training. The responsible individual and the senior member of staff, who managed the home while the manager was absent, have not received safeguarding

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

training. A member of staff interviewed demonstrated a lack of knowledge about radicalisation and the Prevent programme. This staff member also told the inspectors that she had not received training in relation to her responsibilities and whistle-blowing procedures. Training records show that only nine out of 17 staff had received internet- safety training, despite this being a requirement from the last inspection on 21 March 2017. The high-risk behaviours currently being displayed by young people, and the poor responses from the staff, demonstrate that senior managers have failed to evaluate the impact of the training and staff’s understanding of child sexual exploitation and basic safeguarding issues. Leaders and managers fail to demonstrate a basic grasp of managing new referrals. In spite of accepting failures to safeguard young people currently living in the home, the acting manager was continuing to assess a young person, with a view to them moving to

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

the home. This was despite information that the young person was displaying behaviours similar to those of the young people already living in the home, which staff were not competently or safely managing. Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 8 Worrying patterns of the provider’s repeated failings to act on previous requirements question the competence of the provider, as well as its desire to improve. Repeated requirements are made from this inspection in relation to fire safety, staff training and notifying Ofsted of significant incidents. Ofsted cannot confidently monitor the home between inspections. Poor-quality assurance arrangements fail to identify the significant areas of unsatisfactory practices. The most recent report provided to Ofsted is dated March 2016; such reports should be completed at six-monthly intervals. Monitoring tools are ineffective, significantly out of date and devoid of stakeholder consultation. The acting

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

manager has failed to implement effective care planning, management support, monitoring and analysis of the service. Management responses to safeguarding incidents are reactive and ineffective.

p.8

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 difference 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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

p.8

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: SC069221 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Avenue, Gravesend, Kent DA11 0NA

p.9

Inspectors

Suzy Lemmy, social care inspector Ruth Coler, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC069221 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

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

p.10