Tundra House

Inspection report children's home: SC043814 1 SC043814 Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services 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 owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager has worked for the company since February 2019. He is working towards completing his level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has over 5 years‟ residential experience. He has submitted his application to become the registered manager.

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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. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 28 November 2018

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC043814 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/08/2018 Full Inadequate 11/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC043814 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 involve each child‟s placing authority effectively in the child‟s care, in accordance with the child‟s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child‟s needs;

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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. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)) 12/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the home‟s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to understand and apply the home‟s statement of purpose; ensure that staff— understand and apply the home‟s statement of purpose; protect and promote each child‟s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child‟s needs, as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans, taking account of the child‟s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 12/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the 12/08/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC043814 4 children‟s care and welfare and their lives. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) 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

support each child‟s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(ii)(viii)) 12/08/2019

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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;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

understand the child‟s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child‟s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child‟s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)) 12/08/2019

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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— mutual respect and trust and an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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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

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 socially aware behaviour and are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do 12/08/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC043814 5 the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(x)) 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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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm and 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)(v)(vi)(b)(d)) 12/08/2019

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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—

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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 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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 12/08/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC043814 6 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

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Requirement Due date

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)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h)) The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the registered person or authorised person speaking to the child did not take part in the restraint. 12/08/2019

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Requirement Due date

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 and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 12/08/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children live in a home environment that is poorly maintained and hazardous. For example, exceptionally poor hygiene compromises children‟s health. This failure means that children do not receive good-quality care that helps them to feel valued and promotes their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

High staff turnover means that children do not benefit from consistent care by staff who know them well. In addition, multiple staff changes affect children‟s ability to form and maintain trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not regularly and effectively seek children‟s views about their experiences of living at the home and changes that are going to affect them. For example, managers and staff do not fully consider how one child‟s behaviour and needs can affect other children‟s experiences of living at the home. They do not offer sufficient reassurances about this and consider different ways that they can support children. Records show that staff did not talk to a child about him needing to change bedrooms until he saw staff moving his furniture, and staff do not help children to understand that food is being kept in the office and not the kitchen because of concerns about hygiene. Lack of regular consultation with children contributes to children feeling unsettled and, at times, Inspection report children's home: SC043814 7 unhappy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children‟s educational progress is mixed. One child now engages in education after a long period of non-school attendance. However, another child is not engaging consistently with a tutor, after being excluded from school due to teachers being unable to manage his complex needs. When the child is not receiving education, staff do not support him to engage in constructive activity during the school day. For this child, not accessing regular and suitable education is affecting his learning, progress and limiting his opportunities to socialise with others. In addition, managers have not escalated concerns about this with the child‟s placing authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although staff do their best to care for children, they are not adequately trained to do this well. They do not have the skills to provide children with effective support to address their behaviours and meet their complex physical and emotional health needs. Staff do not provide children with individualised care. As a result, children do not make good progress and, for one child, his behaviour and emotional health have significantly declined since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff encourage children to develop interests and participate in activities. For example, one child is learning how to play golf and staff are enabling another child to develop her interest in caring for animals. One child has moved on successfully to foster care since the last inspection. She made good progress at the home and staff supported this child‟s transition on to her next steps. Staff promote family contact well. This enables children to maintain contact with people who are important to them.

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

Children live in a hazardous environment. This resulted in a complaint being made to the home‟s local authority environmental health department, which is undertaking an investigation. It is of significant concern that the manager and responsible individual failed to take proactive action to address concerns about hygiene standards. Although the provider had started to take some steps to address the concerns, these were slow and insufficient. Children and staff have been placed at risk of harm due to poor arrangements in managing of infection control.

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

Staff do not regularly and effectively review children‟s risk assessments. These do not consistently include up-to-date information about children‟s risky behaviours, such as going missing from home. For example, one child‟s risk assessment stated that when the child goes missing she tends to remain close to the home. This is inaccurate, because the child is known to „jump‟ trains and has been found at a location 36 miles away from the home. Inaccurate information in risk assessments has the potential to mislead staff and this has the potential to compromise children‟s safety.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff mostly take action to try to locate them and return them safely to the home. However, on one occasion, an agency member of staff did not know enough about the child to give relevant details to the police when reporting the child missing from home. Furthermore, records kept in the home do not Inspection report children's home: SC043814 8 clearly show whether children have the opportunity to talk to someone independent soon after their return, about why they went missing from the home and what happened while they were away. In addition, managers and staff do not use this information to inform risk management plans and consider any additional support that the child may need.

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

Staff, in an effort to be proactive, talk to children about behaviours that cause children and others concern. However, this is not effective and does not promote children‟s welfare. For example, when a child told staff she had self-harmed, staff did not ask more about this, nor did they find out if the child needed medical attention. In addition, on at least two occasions the staff have called the police in response to children‟s challenging behaviour, which increases the risk of children being criminalised. This shows that staff are ill-equipped to deal safely and effectively with children‟s behaviours.

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

When restraint incidents occur, records show that this intervention is only used as a last resort to keep children and others safe from harm. Staff do not ensure that children have the opportunity to talk to someone who was not involved in the incident about what happened.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A new manager has been appointed to the home. He has submitted his application to become the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home does not have sufficient staff to provide children with consistent care. The home has experienced significant staff changes since the last inspection. The manager has used agency staff to cover staff shortages. This leaves children without the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with people who they can grow to trust. In addition, children are cared for by staff who do not know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff receive adequate training to enable them to consistently meet children‟s needs. For example, the organisation adopts the playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy (PACE) approach in caring for children. Currently, only two members of staff have received training in how to implement this approach. This means that the majority of staff are not able to care for children using the therapeutic approach as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. In addition, not all staff have completed training in health and safety and infection control. This leaves staff without the essential knowledge to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and review systems are weak. They have not enabled managers to identify and act on shortfalls to improve the quality of care afforded to children. Further, managers fail to understand the impact of poor standards of care on children‟s welfare, experiences, safety and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not always consult with other professionals and use feedback to inform the development of the home. Furthermore, no direct work is undertaken with children to explain how decisions about their care within the home have been reached. This is a Inspection report children's home: SC043814 9 missed opportunity to seek the views of children and professionals which, in turn, could improve service delivery.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some children‟s plans contain inaccurate information about children‟s likely next steps and this shows that written plans are not reviewed and updated. This does not help staff to deliver coordinated and targeted support to help children to progress.

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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: SC043814 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Educare Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC043814 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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