Children's Home run by The Drive Care Homes Ltd in Kent

Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 1 SC063689 Registered provider: The Drive Care Homes Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. Its statement of purpose specifies that it will provide care and accommodation for up to six young people, aged between eight and 18, who have mild to severe learning disabilities. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2018.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 July to 1 August 2018

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 5 September 2017

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2017 Full Good 16/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/11/2016 Full Good 15/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 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

12: The protection of children standard In order to meet the protection of children standard, The registered person must ensure 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(2)(1)(a)(i)) 07/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided at the home. (Regulation 13(1)(h)) 07/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)) 07/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (Regulation 35(3)(a)(viii)) 07/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in 07/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 4 relation to each child; are kept up to date; (Regulation 36(1)(a) Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children. In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate. The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(1)(2)(3)) 07/09/2018

p.3

improvement to be good

Inconsistent management has affected the care delivered at this home. The impact of this has been:  A poor safeguarding culture  Ineffective matching of placements  Several unplanned departures. Five unplanned departures for permanent residents and one for short breaks have occurred. Children who had lived at the home for long periods experienced poorly planned endings. Poor planning and admission practice led to one child being physically assaulted on arrival at the home. Although this was a planned admission to the home, a simultaneous emergency admission negatively affected both children‟s initial experiences of the home. The children‟s general health needs have been met. However, one child broke his toe, and leaders and managers failed to inform his parents and social worker in a timely manner. Education continues to be encouraged. One child began to refuse school transport. The newly registered manager met with the school to arrange for education to continue in

p.4

improvement to be good

the home. This is a good example of the new manager engaging with the wider services for children. Staff enable the children to access the local community. Staff support them to use local facilities and to enjoy a wide range of activities. This enables the children to engage in the wider community and practise life skills, such as using public transport. Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 5

p.4

improvement to be good

Managerial inconsistencies and a weak safeguarding culture have affected children‟s safety. Allegations against staff increased significantly and managers made poor decisions, which hampered safeguarding investigations. Staff changes have resulted in inconsistency for the children. Bank staff are being used to plug gaps in staffing, which detracts from the children developing long-term relationships with familiar staff. Records vary in quality. Significant events have been inconsistently reported on. For example, a child made a complaint during the children‟s meeting, but staff failed to follow this up through the complaints procedure, or subsequent key work. Consequently, the complaint remains unresolved. Poor risk management continues. The failure of staff to manage known risks between two children has resulted in one child being a victim of harm on multiple occasions. Safeguarding training has been provided. However, a strong safeguarding culture has

p.5

improvement to be good

yet to be embedded at this home. The lack of a stable staff team further inhibits the delivery of consistent care.

p.5

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

Prior to the arrival of the current registered manager, management of the home was inconsistent. A previous manager‟s application to register with Ofsted was unsuccessful. Following this, the service manager allocated to cover the home also failed to provide effective managerial cover. Both of these staff have since moved on. The current registered manager joined the organisation in March 2018. Professionals have noted her child-centred approach. She has made a positive impact on the service since her arrival. She is currently working towards her level five qualification, due for completion in October 2018. However, managerial oversight has failed to highlight the inconsistences in record keeping. Situations have occurred where, despite being directly involved in safeguarding incidents, managers have failed to take effective action and review the follow-up work effectively. Opportunities for learning and development have been missed.

p.5

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

The registered manager has developed improved links with the wider network. She has met with the children‟s schools and specialist services. Positive relationships have been formed with children‟s families, all of whom receive regular updates regarding the children‟s progress. The organisation commissioned an independent report in response to the rising number of safeguarding concerns. It is currently working through an action plan to improve the safeguarding culture throughout the organisation and improve communication with the children. A speech and language specialist has been consulted to develop a „total communication‟ approach. This is a good example of the organisation‟s determination to develop the service. Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 6

p.5

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.

p.6

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: SC063689 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Drive Care Homes Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Drive Care Homes Ltd, 18 Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent DA14 4BG

p.7

Inspector

Sarah Olliver, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC063689 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.

p.7

Inspector

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8