Children's Home run by Your Chapter Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1240843 1

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Care 4 Children Holdco Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is one of a number operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children and young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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This monitoring visit

This children’s home was re-registered by the current provider in October 2017, although it has continued to operate throughout the period of re-registration. The monitoring visit was undertaken to consider information received by Ofsted that suggested there may have been a breach of regulations. This related to a serious incident in the community in which a young person was involved in the assault of a female neighbour and a member of staff. This incident was the subject of a notification to Ofsted as required, and the provider did take action to terminate the young person’s placement immediately following the incident. However, the appropriateness of this young person’s placement at the home, along with how staff had managed the risk he posed, were a focus of this inspection visit. Inspectors found that the initial impact risk assessment undertaken prior to this young person’s admission to the home failed to contain pertinent details. For

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This monitoring visit

example, the number of previous incidents involving assaults and the seriousness of these assaults were minimised in this assessment. Although this assessment referred to the young person showing antagonising behaviour towards other young people in his previous residential placement, the document contained no detail of these incidents. Consequently, it is difficult to assess what the potential areas of conflict may be and what strategies staff should employ to alleviate these risks. Such omissions do not ensure that the needs of the young people living together are compatible. Following the young person’s placement in the home, a number of concerning incidents of bullying and antagonising behaviour did take place. The other young person resident in the home was threatened and assaulted on a number of Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 1240843 2 occasions. Staff failed to protect him. Records in the home do not indicate that any

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This monitoring visit

work was undertaken with either young person after each event in relation to these incidents, thus leaving the victim at risk of further abuse. It is evident that staff failed to manage the relationships between these two young people effectively, leaving one young person exposed to a risk of harm, both emotionally and physically. Furthermore, only one incident was recorded in the bullying log held in the home. This makes it more difficult to evaluate and illustrate the work that staff have undertaken with young people on the effects of bullying or what strategies they were employing to address this. Although bullying risk assessments had been recently updated, the risk that the perpetrator was assessed to pose had been reduced from a score of 20 to 16, despite a number of serious incidents continuing to take place. Inspectors found that the placement plans and risk assessments do not accurately identify or address the needs of the young people living at the home. While some

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This monitoring visit

improvements in the quality of risk assessments were noted over the last few months, they continue to lack pertinent detail and staff struggled to locate up-to- date documents. This brings into question the staff’s knowledge of and familiarity with these documents. For example, one young person’s document contained no detail about the need for staff to supervise contact between him and his girlfriend and consequently he continued to see her unsupervised. This was relevant to the serious incident in the community that resulted in the serious assault of a member of the public. These omissions fail to ensure the safety and protection of young people in the home or those in the community. Behaviour management plans lack detail of relevant triggers to young people’s behaviours. For example, staff spoke to the inspectors about one young person’s distinct dislike of being touched, as this was likely to trigger a negative reaction.

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This monitoring visit

However, this was not clear within the young person’s placement plan or behaviour management plan. Furthermore, these documents contained no agreed strategies for staff to follow in relation to de-escalation techniques or the preferred ways to restrain a young person if required. Consequently, the approach taken by staff is likely to be inconsistent, resulting in young people being able to undermine staff on duty and incidents escalating. There has been a high turnover of staff working in the home. Only the registered manager and one other staff member are consistent since the home was last inspected, under its previous registration, six months ago. Some newly recruited staff have remained for only a short time. Consequently, young people are reluctant to invest in relationships with staff, as they fear they will be short-lived. With the exception of the two staff members mentioned above, one young person referred to

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This monitoring visit

everyone working in the home as ‘staff’, illustrating the lack of consistency. A number of employees from other homes in the organisation have worked shifts here to ensure appropriate staffing levels. However, the omissions in the documents highlighted above are of particular significance given the number of different staff who have been working in the home. The registered manager has spent much of her time involved in the recruitment of staff and in ensuring that sufficient numbers of staff have been available to work in Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 1240843 3 the home. However, her monitoring of the home has failed to identify or address the issues highlighted at this inspection. Furthermore, a risk assessment in relation to staff lone working in the home with a young person who had a history of staff assault was not in place. Staff were unaware of the need to employ additional

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This monitoring visit

safeguarding measures on these occasions, leaving them in a vulnerable position.

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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

(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; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. 15/02/2018 *

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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 registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (e) ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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. 15/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

14. The care planning standard 15/02/2018 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 1240843 4 (1) The care planning standard is that children— (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

* This requirement is subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 1240843 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Children Holdco Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Care 4 Children, 1 Stuart Road, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2SR

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Inspectors

Mandy Williams, social care inspector Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 1240843 6 to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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