Children's home run by Action for Children Services Ltd

Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 1 Registered provider: Action For Children Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a short-break service for children run by a national charity. All children have a learning disability and additional complex needs in relation to either emotional or behavioural needs. There has been no registered manager since 1 February 2019.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

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Recent inspection history

This is the first inspection of this children‟s home since it was registered with Ofsted in July 2018. Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 2

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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

Children‟s case records The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a copy of a current EHC plan in each child‟s file. 24/03/2019

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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; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(a)(b)(c)(g)(ii)(h)) 24/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the 24/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 3 registered person to ensure— that arrangements are in place to— 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; and that each child‟s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(2)(b)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that transition or moving on plans are in place for children by the time they reach their 18th birthday.

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that— within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(ii)) 24/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

Employment of staff 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff supervision must take place on a regular basis. 24/03/2019

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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 staff— have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‟s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‟s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 24/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 4

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Recommendations

 Regulation 5(b) does not apply to short break settings. Children are commonly only in these settings for short periods of time and their placing authority (usually their parents/carers) remains responsible for their wider care. However, short break settings should seek to build relationships with others involved in the child‟s care in so far as this is appropriate in relation to their role within the wider system for the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 12, paragraph 2.11) In particular, escalate to the children‟s home authority when their stays exceed 75 days within a 12-month period.  Care which meets each child‟s needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account of the child‟s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans. („Guide to the children‟s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards‟, page 14, paragraph 3.2) In particular, ensure that children‟s plans take account of their heritage and cultural needs.

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improvement to be good

This is the first inspection for the home since its registration with Ofsted in July 2018. During this period, there has been a change of the registered manager and high staff turnover. Shortfalls in the quality of record-keeping, safeguarding and low staff morale undermine the overall quality of support for the young people. Nevertheless, staff provide a good level of direct care and attention to the young people, who make good progress while they are here.

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improvement to be good

Care plans and placement planning are of variable quality. Young people‟s case files do not contain or have up-to-date education, health and care plans. As a result, staff do not have the most current information to meet the children‟s goals or educational needs.

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improvement to be good

Several of the young people stay in the home for more than 75 days within a 12-month period. In these circumstances, the young person is „looked after‟, an independent reviewing officer must be appointed and a short-break care plan drawn up. The manager has alerted the local authority to this but has not escalated it sufficiently. Consequently, statutory services to promote and safeguard the welfare of the young people are not in place.

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improvement to be good

Not all young people have transition or moving on plans relevant to their needs. However, staff do work well with the young people to help prepare them for becoming adults. Tasks are broken down to achievable steps, which support the young people to Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 5 develop confidence. A parent commented on the „big improvement‟ that she has seen in her daughter‟s development, who now cooks her own tea. This is something she had not done before coming to the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff help the young people to participate in the local and wider community. Young people attend a wide range of group and individual activities. The staff find new experiences for the young people to try, as well as making sure that they attend the activities that they know they already enjoy.

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improvement to be good

Staff have good systems in place for personalising the young people‟s bedrooms. This includes the young people having their own bedding and pictures that are important to them placed in their bedrooms. There are lots of personalised touches to make the home a welcoming environment. Pictures of the young people are mounted on to canvases throughout the home. This sends a message to the young people that staff value and care for them.

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improvement to be good

There has been one serious lapse of safeguarding. A member of staff did not identify a young person‟s disclosure as a child protection concern, and subsequently did not escalate it to the manager. The failure to follow safeguarding protocols meant that external professionals were not notified of the incident and a young person was left at risk. This shortfall was addressed during the inspection and the relevant agencies were notified.

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improvement to be good

Generally, staff have good knowledge of safeguarding procedures. However, the staff have not undertaken safeguarding training specific to the needs of disabled young people. There are plans for all the staff to undertake this training. This will assist the staff in their understanding of the additional vulnerabilities and risks for young people with disabilities.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments and risk management plans guide the staff to provide support that is specific to the needs of each young person. Yet, young adults who use the service do not have specific risk assessments that identify, and minimise the risk to, the impact on the children who they live alongside.

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improvement to be good

Restraint records are disjointed and difficult to cross reference to the incident logs. Records to confirm whether they were accurate were not all signed by the manager within the required time frames. This lack of scrutiny undermines management oversight in considering proportionate and safe practice.

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improvement to be good

Staff create opportunities for young people to voice their views. However, these opportunities are not maximised. Meal options, for example, are not provided in a variety of formats each day that mirror children‟s communication needs. Staff offer the young people choices, but this was not observed to be embedded into practice. Minutes seen Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 6 from the young people‟s house meetings do not include follow up actions or responses to young people‟s requests. As a result, young people are not able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has been in post for five weeks at the time of this inspection. Plans made for a handover period were cut short when the registered manager left sooner than expected. However, with support from the leadership team, the manager has managed the transition well. Leaders and the manager acknowledge strengths and weaknesses in the home. An action plan is in place to ensure improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff morale has been low. While improving, some staff continue to feel unsupported. The manager is ensuring that she is visible and available to the staff to address this. The manager and leaders have acknowledged the difficult transition for the staff. They responded when they became aware of these difficulties and recognise that it is important for the staff to feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers have not provided staff with regular supervision. Some staff have not received their annual appraisals. Consequently, staff have not had enough support to help them to meet the needs of the young people who have significant complex needs. In addition, there has been insufficient oversight of the performance management and development of the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff work in partnership with external health services and parents to promote children‟s health and well-being. The staff know how to manage, administer and record medication appropriately. However, leaders have not ensured that all children have up-to-date, detailed healthcare plans which are reviewed regularly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Care planning does not focus enough on how the staff meet the young people‟s needs arising from their identity. Lack of information on culture and heritage undermines the staff‟s ability to ensure that young people have a positive sense of their identity. However, staff spoken to know the children well and there is a respectful culture within the home, with a diverse staff team that gives the young people an opportunity to celebrate and understand difference. Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 7

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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: 1271380 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Action For Children

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 The Boulevard, Ascot Road, Watford WD18 8AG

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Inspector

Anne-Marie Davies: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1271380 9 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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