Children's Home run by Arnfield Care Limited in Derbyshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 1 SC020133 Registered provider: Arnfield Care Limited

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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 home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight young people. It provides short- to medium-term crisis placements. The home is owned by a private company. Education is provided on site and through camps and outdoor education.

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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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 14 November 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2018 Full Outstanding 14/11/2017 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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

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ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii)) 04/07/2019

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

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develop positive relationships with them;

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

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is given appropriate advocacy support, and 04/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 4 ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(b)(iii)(d)(iii)) 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—

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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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help each child to understand how to keep safe.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) 04/07/2019

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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—

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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.

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The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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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—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the 04/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 5 home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)) The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 04/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (5) of regulation 22, the registered person must ensure that children are provided at all reasonable times with access to the following facilities which they may use without reference to persons working in the home— a telephone on which to make and receive telephone calls in private.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home; provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of a fire and make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and sets out the 04/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 6 procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect. The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular, provide for liaison and co-operation with any local authority which are, or may be, making a child protection enquiry in relation to a child accommodated in the home; provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 34 (1)(a)(d)) 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.

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improvement to be good

This inspection found that young people do make progress. They have lots of opportunities in terms of activities and positive experiences, but not all young people are happy about their care. Since the last inspection, leadership and management arrangements have been inadequate. This has led to a decline in the quality of care and how young people are helped and protected. Young people cannot access all areas of the home freely. Restrictions mean they are not allowed to go into their bedrooms without asking staff to unlock the bedroom door. This does not support young people to have privacy and their own personal space. Areas of the home are in poor condition. At the time of the inspection, bedrooms were very untidy and did not have locked cabinets for young people to store personal belongings. Children’s bedrooms have worn and tired bedroom furniture. Window frames are broken and let draughts in. This does not present as a homely environment or a

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improvement to be good

place of nurturing care practice. Young people do not have mobile phones but have use of a designated telephone. This telephone is in a locked cubicle. Young people are not able to freely make telephone calls to significant individuals. This limits their ability to raise concerns and complaints. Young people do not have access to independent advocacy. This means that they do not benefit from impartial advice and support on a range of issues. This is particularly important for young people who live a distance from their own community. Despite these shortfalls, young people do make progress from their starting points. One social worker said: ‘This home has worked with the young person to give her a wide range of learning opportunities, including work experience in the community. This makes her feel trusted.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 7 The on-site school provides a broad classroom-based and outdoor-activity curriculum.

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improvement to be good

Collaboration between the care and education staff ensures that there is cohesive care planning and shared targets for young people.

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improvement to be good

Young people say that they feel safe at the home. Some young people attributed this to the constant staff supervision and monitoring. While the high levels of supervision are good, this does not in itself educate young people about how to keep themselves safe and how to make safer choices. Some young people do not have the opportunity to take age-appropriate, measured risks that might support the development of strategies to keep safe. When young people first come to live at the home, an assessment is made of any risks and vulnerabilities. Managers and staff put plans in place to minimise the risk of harm. However, the risks are not formally reassessed. Risk assessments are not regularly reviewed, so they do not reflect any increase or reduction in the level of risk or changes in placement plans. This does not provide clarity to staff about managing risk with young people. The health and safety of young people, staff and visitors within the home have not been

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improvement to be good

prioritised. Fire safety requires improvement to ensure that there is better protection in the event of a fire. The home requires a deep clean and remedial work to address hazards and hygiene risks to young people. Incidents of young people going missing from the home are low. When young people are absent from the home, staff are proactive in locating them. Staff utilise protocols with the police to ensure a rapid response when needed. Upon a young person’s return to the home, staff encourage them to talk about the issues that led to them being absent. As a result, staff benefit from gaining an insight into the young people’s behaviours and the associated risks. The registered manager has effective and cooperative links with safeguarding agencies, social care professionals and the local police service. The multi-agency team acts on concerns about the safety or welfare of young people in a timely manner. However,

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improvement to be good

there are shortfalls in how concerns about staff conduct are managed, including when to refer situations to the designated officer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight of the home has declined in recent months due to the registered manager dividing her time between two homes. As a result, the quality of care and the safeguarding practice at this home have deteriorated. The registered manager recently returned to this home full-time. Investigations into poor staff practice are inconsistent. Managers have also failed to notify the designated safeguarding officer and other relevant agencies about potentially unsafe adults. This is not robust safeguarding practice. Supervision of staff takes place regularly. Annual appraisals include young people’s views, and highlight staff progress and further learning required. However, staff training Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 8 is not sufficient to meet the diverse needs of young people living here. Safeguarding training is not up to date. Many staff have not completed training in relation to sexual

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

exploitation, gangs, county lines or self-harm. Staff have been trained in equality and diversity and unconscious bias, and this has improved practice in these areas. However, some of the language used by staff and managers, verbally and in written reports, is poor and stigmatises young people. The home’s statement of purpose does not adequately reflect the level of training undertaken by staff. It has not been reviewed, updated or sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. Notifications of serious incidents continue to be sent to Ofsted on incorrect templates and do not provide an accurate, clear account of the events. Monitoring of the home by the independent visitor is not robust and does not provide sufficient challenge to poor practice. The three recommendations made at the last inspection have not been met. These relate to the safety of young people and raising standards within the home environment. The registered manager and responsible individual understand the shortfalls and are

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

clear about what actions are needed to drive improvement.

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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: SC020133 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Arnfield Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Arnfield Tower Activity Centre, Manchester Road, Tintwistle, Glossop, Derbyshire SK13 1NE

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Inspectors

Amanda Ellis, social care inspector Judith Longden, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC020133 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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