Children's Home run by 4d Care Ltd in Norfolk

Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 1 Registered provider: 4d Care Ltd

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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 is run by a private organisation. It offers therapeutic care for up to three children who may have experienced trauma, neglect, abuse and/or family or placement breakdowns. The manager was registered with Ofsted on 26 March 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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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.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

N/A Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 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 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— 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 (1)(2)(a)(i)) In particular, ensure that staff adhere to children’s risk assessments, and assess and mitigate risks prior to a child being admitted to the home. 17/10/2018

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d)) This is with particular regard to the areas in the grounds of the home that are hazardous to children and staff. 17/10/2018

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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 17/10/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 4 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; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f)(h)) In particular, ensure that there is effective management guidance in respect of the implementation of risk assessments and effective oversight and review of incident reports. If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to

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Requirement Due date

the home— the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) In particular, ensure that all of the fire doors work properly. 21/09/2018

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improvement to be good

At the time of this full inspection there were no children living at the home. One child has been admitted to the home since the home was registered in March 2018. This child’s placement ended after eight days. Despite the very short duration of the only placement since registration, the inspection identified serious shortfalls regarding managerial oversight and risk management. The assessment of risk prior to the child being admitted was poor. The home’s risk assessments, which were undertaken by the home’s manager with the staff, failed to accurately include the significant risks and strategies as informed by the child’s placing authority. The placing authority made explicitly clear that the child should not travel in the front of a car, but should travel in the back seat. Despite known risks of travelling for this child, the staff allowed the child to travel in the front seat and this directly contributed to a serious incident in the car.

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improvement to be good

During the child’s placement, there were a number of incidents of challenging behaviour. The child’s social worker said, ‘Communication with the home was very good, but ultimately they [the staff] were unable to manage [the child’s] behaviour so the placement ended prematurely.’ The absence of an accurate and effective impact assessment by the home contributed to this. The home’s management has ensured that there are systems to capture children’s views and opinions during house meetings and key-working systems. These have not been tested because the first placement ended abruptly. Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 5

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improvement to be good

The home is well decorated throughout. It has a welcoming and homely feel. However, some improvements are necessary. Two of the internal fire doors do not meet fire safety regulations. Fire doors that fail to fully close pose a risk to children and staff. The home is set in extensive grounds with a summer house, stables, paddock and a fishpond. Some areas of the property are being developed into facilities for the home, such as a music studio. This has left a range of hazards on the property including rubble, other waste materials and builder’s equipment. These hazards present a risk of harm to children and staff. Despite having experienced staff working at the home, a risk management strategy in respect of a child travelling in the home’s car was not followed. This resulted in an incident during which the home’s manager had to bring a second vehicle to recover the child and staff as the home’s car had rolled into a ditch. The failure of staff to follow the

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improvement to be good

risk assessment seriously jeopardised the safety of the child and staff. No children have gone missing from the home. However, there are systems to safeguard children should this happen. The staff have developed professional relationships with local police officers. Managers attend meetings with other homes in the area to share information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager of the home was registered with Ofsted in March 2018. He has a level 4 diploma in residential care and is enrolled on a level 5 diploma in health and social care. He has experience of working with children in a variety of settings including residential care, youth work and education. Management oversight of incidents was seriously lacking during the child’s placement at the home. The manager’s debriefing with the staff member who was involved in a serious incident was not recorded following the incident. The inspection identified that the manager had not established, during his review of the incident, that the staff member had failed to adhere to the child’s risk assessment. The child’s risk assessment was not updated accordingly following the incident. Failure to scrutinise and review practice effectively means that concerns are not identified and addressed in a timely way. The home is recruiting staff. However, when a child was living at the home, a number of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

the staff supporting him were from another of the organisation’s homes. Lack of a consistent staff team makes it difficult for children to develop positive and trusting relationships. Staff receive supervision in line with company policy. Staff said that they feel supported by managers and benefit from the training provided.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 6 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: 1271979 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8a New Road, Mepal, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 2AP

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Inspector

Ricky D’Arcy: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1271979 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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