Children's home run by Oxfordshire County Council in Oxford

Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 1 SC036383 Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to six female young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is managed by a local authority. The manager was registered by Ofsted on 4 November 2015.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 February 2019

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

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/10/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/12/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 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

(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) 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; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare; (b) that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered

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Requirement Due date

so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and (d) 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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(d)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. 31/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 4 (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (f) 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; and (h) 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))

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Requirement Due date

(1) The care planning standard is that children— (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home; and (b) have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose; and (b) that arrangements are in place to— (iii) plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child‟s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(iii)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (2) In particular the registered person must ensure that— (a) medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them; (b) medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and (c) a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

33: Employment of staff 31/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 5 (4) The registered person must ensure that all employees— (a) undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and (b) receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children‟s home at least once each month. (4) The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person‟s report) which sets out, in particular, the independent person‟s opinion as to whether— (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes children‟s well-being. (7) The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to— (a) HMCI; (b) upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located; (c) the placing authorities of children; (d) the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and (e) the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (1)(4)(a)(b)(7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

(1) The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. (2) In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (3) After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). (4) The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

31/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 6 (a) supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and (b) make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (5) The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Recommendations

 Some records may be kept electronically (Regulation 38) provided that this information can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. Electronic records should be held at the individual home in accordance with data protection principles. IT systems should ensure the safe storage of these records and business continuity planning should be in place to prevent loss or damage to them. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 14.2)  Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child.

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Recommendations

(„Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The physical condition of the premises does not promote a sense of feeling valued for children. While some damage caused by children has been repaired, the physical environment is unwelcoming and institutional.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Insufficient consideration was given by senior leaders and the manager to the impact of risks posed by the admission of one child upon another child already living in the home. One staff member described the relationship between the two children as „toxic‟. This resulted in an escalation of concerning behaviour on the part of both children and consequently the untimely and unplanned termination of one child‟s placement. The negative impact of this ending upon the child resulted in poor outcomes and experiences of her time in the home and a mistrusting of adults whom she believed cared about her. This does not set a positive foundation for her future relationships with adults and Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 7 professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Key-working meetings are not carried out in accordance with the ethos and values as outlined in the statement of purpose. The lack of key-working plans has resulted in a disconnect between the work undertaken with the children and the targets set out in their care plans. This inhibits the progress made by the children in the areas that are important to their development, now and in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A poorly planned evacuation of the home resulted in children living in five different locations over a 15-day period. Senior leaders and managers failed to demonstrate an understanding of the negative impact of multiple moves during this chaotic period or the negative effect of such a serious disruption on the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the identified shortfalls, staff and managers demonstrate a commitment to the children. They are genuinely passionate about their well-being but are unable to demonstrate an understanding of the impact which the identified shortfalls have upon children‟s lives and experiences.

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

Poor-quality admission processes have resulted in children who pose a risk to their peers being placed together. Children are cared for by a staff team whose members lack the necessary knowledge and ability to keep them safe.

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

Insufficient consideration had been given by leaders and managers to the impact of risks posed by the admission of a child upon another child already living in the home. Risk assessments undertaken for the child did not provide guidance to staff on how to prevent or reduce the risk of harm. This had a negative impact on the ability of staff to keep any of the children in the home safe.

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

Supervision records contain insufficient exploration of the strategies used by staff members for managing children‟s behaviour. This has led to children becoming confused and unclear of the expectations of them, and consequently an escalation in their concerning behaviour. This resulted in two children becoming involved in setting a fire in a bedroom, and ultimately the untimely termination of one child‟s placement.

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

The serious error of a child receiving twice the stated dosage of her medication over a period of 14 days was discovered by default. This serious shortfall is a significant failure to respect the importance of the correct administration of medication and is a serious concern.

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

Following a necessary evacuation of the home, the children each stayed in five different locations. The insufficient monitoring of the properties and the lack of robust risk assessments resulted in one child‟s health and safety being placed at considerable risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 8 At the last inspection in October 2018, one requirement and one recommendation were made in relation to the use of monitoring systems to evaluate practice to inform improvements to the quality of care provided to children. The recommendation made in relation to the quality of supervision recordings has been addressed, although the quality of the actual supervision offered is weak.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

At this inspection, the inspector found that the manager had not addressed the requirement. Insufficient monitoring of the quality of care has continued, which has further impacted negatively on the experiences of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Risk assessments contain insufficient strategies for managing children‟s behaviour. Consequently, staff have employed varying and inconsistent approaches which have resulted in children becoming confused and unclear about expectations of them. A failure to monitor the quality of these assessments means that the manager has not identified this weakness, and consequently this poor practice has continued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Insufficient monitoring of the quality of supervision and its frequency means that the manager has failed to identify or address shortfalls. Supervision is irregular and does not provide staff with the necessary advice, support and guidance. As a result, children have remained unsupported in the regulation of their behaviour. Consequently, one child‟s placement was terminated. This resulted in the child feeling rejected and blamed and let down by staff whom she believed cared about her.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to appropriately monitor the medication records. This resulted in one child receiving double her prescribed dosage for a period of 14 days.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following a visit to the home, the independent visitor expressed a view that there must be questions asked about whether staff are currently able to effectively safeguard children. The visitor did not discuss his concerns with the manager at the time of the visit and did not escalate the concerns to senior leaders. This resulted in continued risk to the children. Senior leaders and managers were unable to demonstrate specific action taken, which demonstrates a lack of knowledge as to why there is a process for the independent monitoring of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The inspector found that the manager has not completed a review of the quality of care within the home since March 2018. Senior leaders failed to take a proactive approach to ensure that this review was completed and submitted to Ofsted in line with regulatory requirements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The necessary and critical monitoring mechanisms have been allowed to drift. This represents a failure at every level of management. Patterns and trends which could and should have been highlighted have consequently been allowed to escalate. This places children at continuing risk of harm.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 9 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: SC036383 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, New Road, Oxford OX1 1ND

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Inspector

Jacqueline Georghiou: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC036383 11 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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