Children's home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd in Thanet

Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 1 SC023645 Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) 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 privately operated home is part of a larger organisation, which has a number of homes in the area. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven children who have social, emotional and mental health needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted on 11 January 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 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 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: 24 January 2018

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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: SC023645 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2018 Full Good 19/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/10/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; 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. (Regulation 5 (b)(c)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 31/03/2019

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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 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)) 31/03/2019

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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 help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(ii)) 31/03/2019

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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 31/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 4 registered person to ensure that staff have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(iii))

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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 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(v)) 31/03/2019

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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 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(vi)) 31/03/2019

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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 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)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children so far as is reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding; the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(c)(d)) 31/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 31/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 5

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 Children must feel safe and be safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission and how staff should support the child on return to the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)

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Recommendations

 The behaviour management strategy should be understood and applied at all times by staff, and must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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Recommendations

 As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, ensure that copies of relevant qualifications are obtained at the time staff are recruited.

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Recommendations

 Those with a leadership and/or management role should be visible and accessible to staff and be able to deliver their leadership and/or management responsibilities. Any registered manager employed in the home should have sufficient capacity to ensure that the Quality Standards are met for each child in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7) Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

This large children’s home is welcoming and has modern furnishings throughout. There were outstanding maintenance issues which the registered manager had identified and which were being addressed during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Inspectors observed positive interactions between staff and the children present in the home during the inspection. This is reflective of the supportive relationships staff have developed overall with children. Where physical intervention had been used by staff, in response to an escalation in a child’s behaviour, this was proportionate. Staff ensured that children’s views were ascertained following each incident. However, there is some inconsistency in terms of sanctions given by staff in response to children’s behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s health needs are supported well by staff overall. Staff are provided with good support from the organisation’s health and well-being team. Staff work well with health professionals to meet the children’s needs. However, the individual health needs of one young person were not appropriately addressed. The young person has not been referred to a specialist service for an assessment which is needed to meet these specific needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There was a delay in an educational placement being identified for a number of children, for significant periods of time in some cases. While this delay is recorded by the home, the records do not show consistency in terms of challenge to agencies. One young person has not been engaging in education or training since April 2018. Staff have not supported him effectively in developing independence skills. The impact being that the young person is not prepared for independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Planning for children moving to the home is effective. However, when a young person moved on from the home there was no record of an agreed plan in place. This was important due to the young person’s prolonged periods of being missing from the home prior to moving on. There was, however, a meeting with the new placement which ensured effective sharing of information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One young person has reached 18 and the placement no longer meets his needs. The registered manager has not challenged the placing authority sufficiently about the delay in moving this young person on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The staff team has remained in contact with a young person who has since left the home. The young person visited the home during the inspection. She spoke positively about her relationships with staff, which continue. The young person feels that staff are supportive and were consistently there for her during difficult periods in the past.

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 7 Safeguarding practice in the home is ineffective in consistently ensuring the safety of all children living in it. Staff have not consistently recognised indications that children may be at significant risk, or taken steps to minimise the risk. Staff did not recognise the potential risk from finding a knife in a young person’s room on two different occasions, a young person being observed by staff for possible drug dealing, and risks to a young person who was missing from the home over a prolonged period and was at considerable risk of sexual exploitation.

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

While some safeguarding concerns have been appropriately referred to the placing authority and there has been some effective partnership working with relevant agencies, this had not been consistent. The missing-from-home procedures have not been consistently followed by the staff team.

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

The majority of staff files contain all required information. However, a record of one member of staff’s qualifications was not held on their file. Staff are supported and are provided with regular supervision. This provides an opportunity for them to reflect on their practice. The annual appraisal of staff further supports the monitoring of this practice.

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

Fire safety in the home includes regular fire drills. However, these are only held during daytime hours. This impacts on children’s safety, as they are unfamiliar with the different procedure during night-time hours. This is particularly relevant due to the size of the home and the number of children accommodated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are a range of regulatory shortfalls identified at this inspection. The lack of monitoring and review has been exacerbated by the registered manager’s absence. During the month of October 2018, he spent time away from this home to help support the development of a new children’s home in the organisation. He has also undertaken additional responsibilities, which has meant that his focus has not been entirely on this home. These responsibilities included the registered manager providing supervision and mentoring to a new children’s home manager, in the organisation, for six months last year.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered provider and the registered manager have not ensured that all children make effective progress. This is despite there being systems in place to help team leaders to undertake their roles effectively. The monitoring of children’s progress, including safeguarding issues, is of concern. This has led to potentially dangerous situations being poorly managed by staff in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been no allegations made about the staff team. There are no recorded complaints. However, there are examples of children discussing things they wish to change, in children’s meetings. The response to these discussions is not clear. The registered manager was not aware of some of the issues raised. These included children asking for a change of their smoking area and staff confirming that this would be Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 8 considered. The registered manager is therefore not identifying potential concerns in staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and surveillance of the home is undertaken by the organisation. This is detailed in the information provided to children, their social workers and staff in the home. This information includes reference to surveillance cameras outside the front of the property and in the staff office. However, how the surveillance cameras are monitored is not made clear. The camera in the office is accessible via head office, by the responsible individual and the IT manager. The surveillance of the office is not explained, to either children or visitors to this home. Without knowing this, children, their friends who may visit, family members, children’s social workers and other visitors to the home are unable to give their informed consent to this form of surveillance. The registered manager was unable to articulate any clear reasons why this potentially intrusive measure is in place at the home.

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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: SC023645 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 424 Margate Road, Ramsgate CT12 6SJ

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Inspectors

Maria Lonergan, social care inspector Peter Hylton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC023645 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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