Children's home run by Together For Children Sunderland

Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 1 Registered provider: Together For Children Sunderland 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 home provides care and accommodation for up to six children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a limited company.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 22 to 23 November 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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Date of last inspection: Not applicable

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager’s monitoring of practice in the home lacks rigour and thorough analysis. Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 2  Risk assessments do not contain effective strategies to inform practice or to mitigate risk. When strategies are set out, these have not been followed by staff.  Not all serious incidents are shared with the regulator or reported through internal systems.  The care plans do not detail sufficiently the needs of young people.  Records of restraint demonstrate disproportionate responses.  The young people are not helped sufficiently in terms of skills for living independently.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home works well with other professionals.  The home has introduced the services of a psychologist to enable staff to learn and develop.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background; help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; (Regulation 6(1)(2)(iv)(vi)) 07/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; (Regulation7(1)(2)(a)(iii)) 07/01/2018

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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 07/01/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 4 positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; (Regulation 11(1)(2)(ix)) *The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(iii)(v)) 07/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

*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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(2)(f)(h)) 07/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing— injury to any person (including the child); serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20(1)(a)(b)(2)) 07/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 07/01/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 5 undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child— is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation— must include details of— the matter; the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter; must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40(4)(5)) 07/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  Regulations 35-39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 6 securely while they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Children should be actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Failures in the oversight of the running of the home have led to significant shortfalls relating to the protection and promotion of young people’s welfare. Weaknesses exist across a wide range of areas including risk management and care planning practice. This negatively affects young people’s experiences in the home. The young people live in a comfortable and spacious home environment and are able to decorate their bedrooms to their own taste. Improvements have been made throughout the home. In particular, the outside area now offers a calm, comfortable space in which to relax. However, young people present as unenthusiastic and use language that lacks expression when referring to life at the home, stating, ‘It’s alright’ or ‘OK’. Relationships between the young people and the staff team are good. Some of the team show insight into the needs of young people and can develop enabling relationships. For

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

others, relationships are on a superficial level. These relationships represent a caring approach, but one that is ineffective in managing and changing behaviour. A psychologist has been brought in to assist the team to develop broader ways of thinking to support the young people. The staff are using this opportunity on a consultation basis once a fortnight to develop their knowledge and skills. Care planning incorporates most aspects of the young people’s individual needs. This demonstrates that specific targets for engaging with the young people, promoting contact with family, and engaging in suitable education provisions are being set. However, records are not always detailed enough to include all relevant strategies to enable staff to meet these targets. The result is that young people do not have all their needs addressed by the placement. In particular, older young people are not engaged in independent living skills at an early stage. These skills would enable them to prepare

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

appropriately for moving on from the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 7 In discussions with the inspectors, the young people stated that they had not seen their plans and had not played an active part in developing them. They felt that members of the staff team gave conflicting messages around many aspects of their care. One young person said, ‘The staff all behave differently and give different messages.’ The young people are physically well cared for on a day-to-day basis. However, the manager and the staff team do not demonstrate a broader insight into the young people’s emotional and behavioural needs. For example, attachment and trauma is not fully understood in line with the young people’s lived experiences. This is reflected in the responses given by staff members to some of the young people’s presenting behaviours. The staff and the manager would benefit from training in attachment and trauma. This

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

would assist all members of staff to understand the complex emotional and behavioural needs of the young people that they care for and how best to respond to presenting behaviours. Educational outcomes for young people are mixed. Two young people have improved attendance from their starting points. As this is a recent improvement, the long-term impact is difficult to assess. Other young people’s engagement in education has deteriorated in recent weeks. The staff team struggles to maintain good daily routines and structure with those young people not engaged in education. Key-working sessions take place to allow young people and staff opportunities to discuss specific topics. However, these sessions are reactive in nature and do not always relate to the aims of the placement. As a result, there has been limited impact on young people’s behaviour and meeting their identified goals. Good multi-agency partnership working ensures that the young people link with the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

necessary agencies to meet their identified needs. A social worker stated, ‘The staff do a really good job. Communication is good and relationship building is excellent. They always attend care team meeting and reports are clear.’

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

The practice of monitoring safeguarding concerns and related records at the home is ineffective. Serious incidents identified during the inspection had not been shared with Ofsted or appropriate child protection services. This evidences a lack of understanding of the regulation in relation to alerting the regulator of such incidents. This renders the regulator unable to monitor progress and to ensure appropriate safeguards and, therefore, places young people at risk. Risk assessments do not contain effective strategies to inform staff practice that enable them to mitigate risk. For example, a young person was deemed unsafe in a particular area in the community. The only strategy that was identified to mitigate the risk placed responsibility on the young person, stating that they ‘don’t accept the risks they are placing themselves at’. Risks around social media are highlighted for some young people. However, there is no

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

evidence of this being identified in the relevant care plans, with proactive strategies to address safe online usage. One young person who was threatened by an adult via social media took action himself to report the matter to the police. Subsequent recordings by Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 8 members of staff did not outline the support given to the young person or the outcome. This lack of insight and action increases the risk to young people. Records of physical intervention do not regularly contain proactive de-escalation strategies used to defuse situations. All of the physical interventions carried out this year have resulted in full floor restraints without explicit evidence of why these were needed. There is a lack of appropriate management oversight and evaluation to ensure that each restraint meets the requirements for safe practice. Episodes of going missing and absences are high and have included young people

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

spending long periods away from the home, some over 24 hours. There is evidence to indicate that there has been a reduction in these incidents over the last few months. When young people do go missing, members of the staff team go looking for them. However, if the young people are not found, staff rely on young people answering their mobile phones as a means of ensuring that they are safe. Return interviews are carried out independently. However, there is no overall evaluation of the missing from home episodes that would inform strategies and learning for the staff team, or improve the safety of young people. Appropriate health and safety procedures and partnership working with agencies ensure that physical safeguards are in place. Regular fire drills take place and are recorded well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is experienced and appropriately qualified. She is supported in her role by a deputy and experienced senior team. The management team has made efforts to monitor the practice in the home but this has been ineffective in driving improvement forward. The registered manager receives regular supervisions with her senior manager. These provide opportunities for the manager to discuss monitoring and practice in the home. However, records do not detail what actions the manager has taken in response to issues raised, some of which are also identified in this inspection. It is, therefore, difficult to measure the progress and outcomes for each young person as the manager has not taken decisive action to prevent shortfalls occurring. For example, risk assessments and care plans are not clear. They are not individualised to reflect the everyday life of each young person. The manager does not regularly review or act on known risks associated with the young

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

people. For example, the use of social media is an identified risk factor to some young people. However, risk assessments and care plans for each young person are not adequately detailed or kept under regular review to guide practice. This is despite repeated episodes of known risks occurring. The young people’s vulnerabilities are heightened because there is a lack of monitoring. There is a lack of proactive action in response to substance misuse. This includes how the staff monitor the young people coming into contact with harmful substances. There is limiting evidence of the manager challenging the practice of the staff, which does not embed a sound safeguarding culture. This means that preventative steps are not always taken to protect young people. The staff respond to crisis situations as they arise. Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 9 The young people say that they are safe in this home. However, they report

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

inconsistency in the care that they receive. One young person said that the sanctions are ‘unfair’ and do not reflect or justify the differences in behaviour. Another young person said, ‘There are different rules for different people in here.’ This approach to behaviour management provides inconsistent messages to the young people. The manager’s approach does not support the staff to work in a collaborative and imaginative way. The manager said, ‘This is what we have always done.’ This does not demonstrate forward thinking to inspire and improve practice. The manager does not demonstrate an ambitious vision for the young people. Two young people have stopped taking part in hobbies since living in the home. This means that the young people do not always receive a good standard of individualised care. The manager does not provide a learning and supportive environment for the staff. Supervisions are not always regular. When supervisions do take place, they are poorly

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

recorded. Records of supervisions do not always reflect that safeguarding has been part of discussions. In addition, reflective discussions do not form part of supervision agendas. One supervision record stated, ‘[name] has the young people at heart.’ There was no evidence to support this statement, or how it relates to direct work with the young people.

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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: 1254837 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Together For Children Sunderland Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Of Sunderland, P O Box 102, Sunderland SR2 7DN

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Inspector(s)

Jacqueline Tate, social care inspector Susan Atkinson-Millmoor, social care regulatory manager Inspection report children’s home: 1254837 11 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.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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