Children's Home, Residential special school run by Acorn Norfolk Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 1 SC435322 Registered provider: Acorn Norfolk Limited

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Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home and school is owned by a private organisation and is registered to provide accommodation for up to 40 children who have learning disabilities. There is a school on site that is registered with the Department of Education to cater for children and young people aged from four to 19 years. Children and young people live at the home for either 38 or 52 weeks a year. There are currently 19 children and young people living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the last inspection, two requirements and two recommendations were raised. Two requirements and one of the recommendations have not been met. Six further requirements have been identified, two of which are subject to a compliance notice. The identified shortfalls include:

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

 Failure to implement the home’s safeguarding procedure  Inadequate supervision of staff  Lack of robust safe recruitment checks Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 2  Concerns about physical intervention  Lack of staff training These shortfalls, when combined, multiply the risks to children and place the children at risk of harm. These shortfalls signify a decline in the standards of care provided. The majority of the shortfalls have been raised at previous inspections. The registered manager left the service in January 2018. A new manager has been appointed without delay. However, during the interim period there has been a lack of accountability and clear leadership. This is a significant shortfall in a service of this scope and size. The management oversight has been distributed between the responsible individual and the deputy managers. The communication and delegation of tasks is not

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

clear, resulting in a number of shortfalls. The staff have failed to follow safeguarding procedures. An allegation that was subsequently substantiated was not managed in way that provided immediate safeguards to the child. This led to a child being left in a vulnerable position. The allegation was reported to the designated safeguarding lead via email, causing a 24-hour delay in the concern being picked up. The management team was made aware of the allegation within one day and instigated some actions. The actions were not in reasonable timescales and did not include a notification to Ofsted as required. There were a number of senior staff involved in management of the allegation, but no clear lead. There has been no review of the incident or questions about the staff’s failure to follow the safeguarding policy. These failings show a lack of management oversight. The safe recruitment process has not been followed. The systems designed to ensure

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

that unsuitable people are not enabled to work with vulnerable children and young people have not been effective. Areas of concern identified in references for new staff have not been followed up in a timely way. Reference verification does not consistently identify what has been verified. Efforts to identify why staff have left previous roles working with vulnerable adults or children are minimal, and primarily only rely on the word of the applicant. The routine checking of agency staff profiles is not always undertaken. The combination of these failings places the children and young people at risk of harm. The home has undergone a significant recruitment drive. Forty-seven of the 70 care staff are unqualified. As a result, a high number of the staff do not have a relevant level 3 qualification. The number of unqualified staff includes some staff who have been working at the home for longer than two years. Some of the staff are working towards

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

the qualification and there has been some progress; however, overall, this remains a shortfall. The staff are not all fully equipped for the role. Over half of the staff have not had training in safeguarding children and young people who have disabilities. The staff work with children and young people who are identified as being at greater risk of abuse. The lack of specific training is a recurring issue. Failure to provide this important training means that staff may not understand the factors that increase the vulnerability of disabled children and young people or be alert to the indicators. This does not sufficiently safeguard the children and young people. Physical intervention is used regularly, its use is justified in order to keep the children Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 3 and young people and the staff safe. The staff use ground recovery holds, which pose additional risks. Despite the training provider setting out clear guidance on the use of

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

these holds, the practice at the home does not comply with this guidance. Also, the majority of the records of ground recovery holds sampled showed that some of the staff using these holds are not appropriately trained. This places children and young people at significant risk of harm. The records of the supervision of staff show a number of lengthy gaps. There are new members of staff who have had no supervision. The acting manager and a deputy manager have had no supervision for three months. This lack of supervision has left new staff without guidance, and the interim manager working without structured supervision. There is a lack of managerial oversight and no system to ensure that supervision takes place. This is despite several serious incidents, such as three members of staff attending hospital for injuries, and practice concerns about a member staff. The staff have not had adequate guidance for their roles, leaving the staff and the children and young people

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

vulnerable. There are very few incidents of the children and young people going missing from the site. This reflects the high staffing ratio that is in place. However, following the most recent incident, there has been a lack of critical reflection or learning. The member of staff involved was an unqualified member of staff in their probationary period. Incident forms are completed and debriefings take place with staff. However, these debriefings do not explore important contributory factors. Debriefings are not consistently reviewed, and opportunities for challenge, learning and improvement are missed. This does not support a culture of learning. Additionally, the staff do not request copies of return home interviews when these are undertaken after incidents of a child or young person going missing. This means that risk assessments and behaviour strategies do not take into account information that is gathered during these interviews. As a result, the staff may

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

be missing relevant information on how to keep the children and young people safe. The staff rarely use sanctions because the children’s and young people’s ability to process and reflect is limited. Those children and young people who have the ability to understand and show empathy are helped by use of a chosen consequence. The service provides bespoke care plans for the children and young people and takes time with transition planning to the home. This provides safe and planned introductions for children and young people who find changes to routine a challenge. The environment and resources continue to improve, with new animals and outdoor equipment. There are ample leisure choices for the children and young people on the spacious site and lots of opportunities for the children and young people to go out into the community and pursue their likes and interests.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2017 Full Good 13/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 18/05/2016 Full Inadequate 17/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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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 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 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; that staff understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person and take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; 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; that staff are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))* In particular:  Ensure that every member of staff knows and understands their role and the actions to take when they have a concern about a child’s safety or well-being.

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Requirement Due date

 Define and implement clear roles and responsibilities for each designated safeguarding lead, so that all are clear about the timeliness of and process for referring concerns about adults who work at the home.  Ensure that a manager or the responsible individual checks that all necessary safe recruitment checks have been made prior to a new member of staff commencing in post, and that any concerns are followed up and the 27/04/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 5 outcome recorded. The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child and understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child

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Requirement Due date

and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvement in the quality of the care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(b)(2)(c)(f)(h))* In particular:  Review the skills, training and qualifications for each staff member and ensure that gaps in knowledge and skills are addressed through the relevant training and qualifications required to enable them to care for children safely and effectively.  Provide staff with the supervision, support and guidance that they need to carry out their roles safely. Supervision should be carried out in line with the organisation’s policy and recorded so that staff and managers have a record of discussions and proposed actions.  Monitor and review all incidents of physical restraint to identify any areas of learning and improvement. Ensure that debriefing with staff is thorough, reflective and

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification, the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’), or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma, by the relevant date. (Regulation 32(4)(5) 30/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may permit an individual to start work at the home despite the fact that the requirement in paragraph (3)(d) has not been met if the registered person has taken all reasonable steps to obtain full information about each of the matters in Schedule 2 in respect of the individual, but the enquiries in relation to any of the matters in paragraphs 3 to 6 of Schedule 2 are incomplete; full and satisfactory information in 23/03/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 6 respect of the individual has been obtained in relation to the matters in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(7)(a)(b)) The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)) 23/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a)) In particular, ensure that all care staff receive timely training in the safeguarding of disabled children. Also, ensure that only staff who have received appropriate physical intervention and first aid training are involved in ground recovery techniques. 23/03/2018

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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)) 23/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 7 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’.

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Norfolk Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Merchants Place, River Street, Bolton BL2 1BX

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Inspectors

Deirdra Keating, social care inspector Ashley Hinson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC435322 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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