Children's home run by Educare Adolescent Services Limited in Cannock Chase

Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 1 SC063285 Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people aged between 10 and 17 years old, who have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in 2014 and is suitably qualified.

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

p.1

inadequate

Date of last inspection: 24 October 2017

p.1

inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 2 09/08/2016 Full Good 01/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/06/2015 Full Good 26/01/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.3

Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child‟s needs;

p.3

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority‟s or a relevant person‟s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child‟s needs are met in accordance with the child‟s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(b)(c)) 10/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children‟s care and welfare and their lives.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

p.3

Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

p.3

Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home‟s care;

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that each child is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7(1)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iv)(b)(iii)) 10/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. (Regulation 8(1)) 10/09/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

p.3

Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and 10/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 4 children are helped to live healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.4

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plan, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.4

Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

p.4

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare; and

p.4

Requirement Due date

that the home‟s day-to-day care is delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)*(i)(ii)(iv)(vi)(b)) 10/09/2018

p.4

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—

p.4

Requirement Due date

helps children to aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.4

Requirement Due date

ensure that the staff have the experience, qualification and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

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.4

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous 10/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 5 improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)*(d)(f)(g)(ii)(h))* 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)) 10/09/2018

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must make appropriate arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23(1)) 10/09/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

A responsible individual must have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26(7)(b)) 10/09/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children‟s home if, having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

p.5

Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28(1)(b)(i)) 10/09/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(3)(d))* 10/09/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.5

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(b)(c)) 10/09/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

p.5

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 10/09/2018

p.5

Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 6

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, five young people have left the home and four new young people have come to live at the home. Young people‟s experiences of moving into and on from the home are mixed. For example, one young person moved on in a planned way to semi-independence and his transition was well managed. However, other young people‟s placements have ended abruptly and sooner than anticipated because staff have failed to manage risks.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Internal care plans do not reflect the aims and objectives of the placing authority and staff do not ensure that the young people‟s case files include all necessary information. Furthermore, staff do not regularly or accurately review and update internal plans and risk assessments. As a result, young people do not receive well-coordinated care and this hinders their progress.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people‟s educational progress is variable. One young person is doing very well at school. However, others do not have the same opportunities to progress their learning. For example, one young person did not attend school or receive education during the seven-month period in which he lived at the home. Another young person only accessed education for one hour per day, which was insufficient. Managers and staff do not challenge the placing authority effectively about delays in decision making or ineffective planning. A lack of access to formal and regular education is impacting on young people‟s learning and progress.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Consultation with young people is poor. Staff fail to ensure that regular key-working sessions take place. This means that young people are not provided with sufficient opportunities to talk to staff about their views, wishes and feelings, or to explore issues such as their identity, cultural needs, going missing, sexual health and substance misuse.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

When young people do share their views, these are not always acted upon. For example, one young person requested drum lessons and another requested a gym membership, but these requests have not been acted upon and feedback has not been given to the young people. This does not help young people to feel listened to and valued. Furthermore, this is a missed opportunity to engage young people in meaningful activities.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Not all young people are aware of their right to advocacy. This means that young people are unaware that they can access independent support to help them raise issues about their care plans.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not promote the health needs of young people. For example, staff do not support young people to understand the impact and dangers of smoking. Furthermore, staff do not promptly engage relevant health services or encourage and support young Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 7 people to take prescribed medications.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff promote family contact well. This helps young people to maintain contact with people who are important to them.

p.7

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

Staff undertake training in the use of physical restraint and only use this measure of control as a last resort to maintain young people‟s safety. However, when such incidents occur, staff fail to ensure that young people have the opportunity to talk to someone who was not involved in the incident about what happened. This is not good practice and has the potential to compromise young people‟s welfare. Furthermore, it means that managers are not seeking relevant information to help young people and staff learn from what has happened.

p.7

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

Managers and staff do not follow organisational policies and procedures in relation to keeping keys secure. Multiple failings by staff to keep keys safe have placed young people at significant risk of harm. For example, two young people regularly accessed the company car and caused damage and on one occasion young people stole the company car. This incident also resulted in a young person being missing for several days.

p.7

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

When young people go missing from the home, staff do take some action to try to locate them and help them to return safely. Young people have the opportunity to talk to someone independent when they return to the home. However, information from the return home interviews is not routinely shared with staff and the registered manager does not actively seek this information and use it to manage and reduce risk.

p.7

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

Managers do not ensure that new young people are compatible with other young people already living in the home. Poor matching and placement planning have resulted in an increase in risk-taking behaviours and serious incidents, including substance misuse, child sexual exploitation, self-harm and going missing.

p.7

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

Staff have not always managed and administered medication safely. For example, staff gave the wrong medication to a child due to being distracted by other young people‟s behaviours within the home. Another young person obtained medication from the GP, which staff were not aware of and this was not stored correctly. Ineffective arrangements for managing medication and not helping children to manage their own medication safely do not promote children‟s health and welfare.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home does not have sufficient staff to provide young people with consistent care. Since the last inspection, numerous agency staff have been used to cover staff shortages. This has left young people without the opportunity to form and sustain positive relationships with people they can grow to respect and trust. Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 8 Managers fail to ensure that suitable recruitment checks for agency workers are undertaken. As a result, potentially unsuitable adults are being allowed to work in the home.

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff receive adequate training to enable them to meet young people‟s needs. For example, some staff have not received recent training in key areas such as child sexual exploitation, self-harm and drug misuse. Furthermore, not all staff have undertaken training in health and safety, first aid and basic food hygiene. This leaves staff without essential skills and up-to-date knowledge to provide safe and effective care for young people.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager does not receive monthly supervision in line with the home‟s policy. In addition, the registered manager has not received an annual appraisal. This means that the registered manager is not receiving regular feedback on his practice and does not have his performance formally reviewed. In addition, this lack of support contributes to the ineffective oversight and monitoring of the home.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers and staff lack the skills to support young people effectively. For example, staff allowed a young person to pick up cigarette ends from the ground and smoke these. This shows a lack of care. Managers and staff also failed to understand that their actions placed the young person at risk of harm. During the inspection, the registered manager maintained that allowing a young person to do this was justifiable. This raises serious concerns about his judgement and his ability to promote children‟s welfare and safety‟

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 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.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: SC063285 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

p.9

Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC063285 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

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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10