Children's home run by Archways Care Limited in Wolverhampton

Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 1 SC061837 Registered provider: Archways Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a small organisation with three children’s homes and a fostering agency. The home can accommodate up to four young people. The home’s statement of purpose states, ‘Our team has an informed and empathetic approach to understanding troubled young people, the difficulties that they face, and is supported in working with them.’

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since April 2018. The registered individual is currently providing management cover while a new manager is appointed.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 September 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 6 September 2017

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/09/2017 Full Good 13/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/07/2016 Full Good 27/04/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure 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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))* 05/10/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 05/10/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(e)) 05/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 05/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy 05/10/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 4 which is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular, provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b)(2)(d)) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated, or concludes, (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 05/10/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 05/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; and help each child to develop socially aware behaviour. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) 05/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

* This requirement is subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 5  The home’s records on each child should represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Seven young people have lived at the home in the past 12 months. One young person presently living in the home is not being adequately safeguarded and her welfare is not adequately promoted. The quality of practice relating to young people’s discharges from the home has been variable. For example, some young people’s placements have ended following serious unsafe behaviour incidents. In contrast, other young people’s placements have ended positively, with young people moving successfully to independence or going back to live with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people currently living at the home are not consistently receiving skilled and well- planned care. This is because young people perceive some staff to be uncaring and punitive. Staff do not spend quality time with young people to enable positive relationships to grow over time. The responsible individual told the inspector, ‘The warmth and affection has been missing.’ Nevertheless, a few staff do offer appropriate levels of emotional support, which allows relationships to blossom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff are often out of their depth when meeting young people’s emotional and sexual health needs. Young people do not have holistic plans that address their individual health needs effectively. The therapy service offered in the organisation’s statement of purpose has not been in place for several months. Some young people are waiting for health assessments and screening. These weaknesses create delays in young people receiving the right support to overcome past trauma and to ensure that their emotional and physical health is closely monitored.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff fail to provide well-organised and timely help for young people who experience difficulties with eating habits and a lack of routine. Staff are not proactive or well organised about involving young people in the life of the home. This includes helping young people to collect memories of their time here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

More positively, young people do receive good help in attending school. The organisation’s education coordinator prioritises and advocates well for each young person to ensure that every young person has a school, college or work placement secured. Furthermore, staff communicate well with young people’s social workers and Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 6 relatives.

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

Young people sometimes behave dangerously inside and outside the home and will go missing from care. These incidents have led to young people placing themselves in vulnerable situations, including those where they are at risk of sexual exploitation.

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

When young people are subject to a ‘Deprivation of Liberty’ order, staff do not know the legal requirements of the order. As a result, staff do not supervise young people adequately when using the internet or their mobile telephones, despite this being a condition of their order. Young people sometimes feel uncared for and humiliated by staff. This lack of care is a trigger for young people to put themselves at risk by going missing from the home. The lack of adequate safeguarding practice and oversight has left young people at serious risk of harm.

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

Staff do not consistently manage some young people’s risk-taking behaviour. They do not work to clear, individualised, up-to-date behaviour management plans. Plans are not promptly adapted in the light of what works well and what works less well to help to protect young people. For example, plans are not updated to show staff exactly what changes in practice they should use following young people going missing from care. Plans do not outline what staff should look for when supervising young people’s communications. Staff do not record the content of what young people have said, done and looked at online, or record their advice, input and response. As a result, young people make little progress in keeping themselves safe.

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

Staff have contradictory guidance about the rules and sanctions that they should use to help and protect young people. For example, punitive measures of control, such as turning off the power supply to young people’s bedrooms, are written in some guidance for staff and young people. This guidance contradicts the positive and restorative ethos for behaviour management given in the home’s statement of purpose. Young people are sometimes confused and demoralised about the rules and how they are being helped.

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

Some young people’s placements break down due to unsafe behaviour. The staff have called the police to the home on eight occasions in the past 12 months to get help in managing young people’s behaviour. On five of these occasions, young people were arrested. When young people were posing a risk to themselves, other young people and staff, the organisation has ended their placements.

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

Staff and managers do not use thorough, consistent approaches to managing complaints, allegations and serious incidents. They do not record these properly or always follow them up in accordance with regulatory requirements and safeguarding procedures. This means that young people are not properly protected and helped.

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

A few young people make good progress in understanding how to keep themselves safe. Some staff have helped these young people form and enjoy positive, safe friendships and personal relationships. These young people understand and make sensible, safe, Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 7 respectful choices that enrich their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Young people and staff have had inconsistent, inadequate leadership since the last inspection. No registered manager has been in post since April 2018. The responsible individual’s appointment of a manager and the management cover arrangements have proved unsatisfactory.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Poor-quality staff practice has not been tackled and staff have had poor management induction, support, supervision and appraisal. Managers have not overseen practice or recording and have not identified serious shortfalls. For example, complaints and allegations about staff have not been properly investigated, recorded or learned from. Serious, unsafe behaviour incidents have not been notified to Ofsted, limiting regulatory oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

In the year since the last inspection, young people have experienced eight members of staff leave and nine new staff start. There is only one qualified member of staff working on shift with young people. Some staff are enrolled on the level 3 diploma in residential childcare, but none of the staff has started the course. Managers have not ensured that young people experience stable relationships with staff who have the skills, experience and training to give good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered individual has formed an honest development plan that acknowledges the issues with leadership and the crisis in staffing. The plan also acknowledges that staff need to have knowledge and training about promoting healthier lifestyles. The responsible individual has moved away from employing one manager for two homes. He is now holding regular staff meetings and is role-modelling warm, positive childcare practice to staff. He is also prioritising the appointment of a new manager.

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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

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: SC061837 8 Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Archways Care Limited

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Registered provider address:

Responsible individual: Christopher Aristidou

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Inspector

Rachel Britten, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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