Children's Home run by Kirklees Council in Kirklees

Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 1 SC033367 Registered provider: Kirklees Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to four children and/or young people aged between 12 and 18 years. It is operated by a local authority. The registered manager left the local authority in September 2018. An interim manager has been appointed. The manager is in the process of making an application for registration to Ofsted. She is working towards a level 5 leadership qualification and has supervisory experience gained in a residential care environment.

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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

A young person was admitted to the home on 25 September 2018. The interim manager of the home, West Yorkshire Police and other professionals advocated strongly that the staff at the home could not meet the safety and welfare needs of this young person alongside the three young people already living at the home. The interim manager‘s impact assessment concluded that the staff team would be unable to keep the young person safe. It also identified that the admission ‗would encourage the other female resident to engage with unsafe adults and place her at [further] risk of child sexual exploitation‘. The young person was placed contrary to this risk assessment. Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 2 There has been a significant increase in incidents of young people being missing from the home. There are ongoing concerns relating to sexual and other forms of exploitation, incidents of bullying, and police involvement at the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

One young person was missing on 22 separate occasions during October 2018. There are considerable concerns about his safety and well-being. One staff member stated: ‗He has lost a lot of weight. We do not know where he is or who is with most of the time.‘ An undated risk assessment with a chronology of missing from home incidents indicates that there are concerns about him being exploited to commit crime. On more than one occasion, he has returned to the home with material goods or money with no explanation. A missing from home risk assessment states: ‗He has returned home with new shoes, trainers and money in the form of notes.‘ A referral was made to the National Referral Mechanism by his social worker in October 2018 due to a high level of concern that the young person may be a victim of modern slavery.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person has repeatedly asked to be removed from the home and the area. His views, wishes and feelings have not been responded to sufficiently. A member of staff said: ‗He is asking for protection and isn‘t getting it.‘ The manager of the home said: ‗They stopped looking for a placement but didn‘t tell anyone.‘ A missing from home strategy meeting was held on 18 October 2018. The meeting minutes do not demonstrate that there are effective strategies to address this situation and protect the young person from harm, and these concerns have not been sufficiently escalated. Correspondence dated 26 October 2018 refers to social workers raising concerns that ‗staff are not following the missing risk assessments for the young people when they leave the home.‘ Therefore, young people are at risk of harm.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

On 24 October 2018, a young person was found at the address of an adult who was arrested. This male was introduced to the young person by another young person resident at the home. This was one of the risks identified on the impact risk assessment prior to her admission. Due to concerns that were raised by West Yorkshire Police, they used their powers of protection to prevent the young person from being returned to the home. This was due to a high level of concern for her safety and well-being. The young person stated to the police that she would continue to go missing from the home if she was returned.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people have been subject to and have perpetrated bullying behaviours. One member of staff said, ‗It was heart-breaking to watch [a young person] being pushed out. She felt as if it was three against one.‘ Minutes from a multi-agency meeting on 15 August 2018 state that a resident‘s girlfriend was also making threats and intimidating the same young person. An email dated 21 September 2018 states: ‗There have been a number of bullying behaviours displayed from the two boys towards [a young person] during the ―settling in‖ period which have escalated beyond ―establishing boundaries‖ – there is a real risk that this will stem to [a young person] being on the receiving end of similar bullying behaviours.‘

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people at the home presented to the inspector as considerably unhappy, frustrated and angry. There are numerous references to young people requesting to Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 3 move from the home in their records. Staff have failed to act appropriately on young people‘s concerns and wishes and have failed to ensure that young people develop and maintain positive relationships with each other. During the inspection, young people used derogatory language to describe each other.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people at the home are not engaging in education, employment or training. There is a culture of cannabis use in the home. The inspector found one bedroom that smelled strongly of cannabis. A member of staff said, ‗Yes, they do smoke it in the home, although this has reduced recently.‘ On the morning of the inspection, cannabis paraphernalia was removed from a young person‘s bedroom. Daily log records indicate that young people cover the smoke detectors in bedrooms. This poses an unacceptable fire safety risk and one that is not being managed effectively. Daily log records also indicate that young people who engage in cannabis use do so through unknown methods of funding their use. This raises concerns about the engagement of young people in criminal activity.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

On the day of inspection, the manager and staff at the home openly accepted that they have been unable to safely manage the behaviours, needs and risks of all young people.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some significant incidents were not notified to Ofsted. This does not provide the regulator with sufficient opportunity to provide external, independent scrutiny to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken to safeguard children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/04/2018 Full Good 28/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/08/2016 Full Good

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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

Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 4 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The children‘s views wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children‘s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child‘s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(2)(a)(iii)) 30/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child‘s education and training targets, as recorded in the child‘s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of 30/12/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 5 compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child‘s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child‘s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)) 30/12/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‘s welfare.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)) 14/12/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 6 *The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children‘s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home; That the child‘s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child‘s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child‘s needs;

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission; or

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Requirement Due date

the child requests a review of the child‘s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(2)(b)(ii)(e)(i)(ii)(iii) 14/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

*If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 30/12/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 7 * These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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.

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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‘.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, 3 Market Street, Huddersfield HD1 2EY

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Inspector

Nicola Thomas, social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC033367 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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