Children's Home run by The Serendipity Centre Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 1 SC478315 Registered provider: The Serendipity Centre 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 is a privately owned home which is registered to care for up to four children who have complex behavioural difficulties. The organisation which owns the home also has sister homes in the local area, and a therapeutic education setting. The home specialises in caring for girls who have experienced physical and/or emotional trauma in their past.

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Information about this children’s home

This home does not have a registered manager. The post has been vacant since 1 November 2018.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 February 2019

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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: SC478315 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2019 Full Good 13/12/2017 Full Good 18/01/2017 Full Outstanding 31/05/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to ensuring that staff do not give children misleading messages regarding inappropriate images stored on mobile phones. 13/10/2019

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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—

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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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to assessing and managing risk, ensuring that safeguarding concerns are effectively reported to the relevant professionals, and providing children with guidance on the actions they should take to keep themselves safe. 13/10/2019

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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— 13/10/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 4 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

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; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(d)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to assessing effectively the likely impact of new admissions, ensuring that staff support one another during serious incidents, ensuring that new staff meet the organisation’s selection criteria, ensuring that there are always sufficient staff on duty to meet the needs of the children at all times, and using effective systems to monitor the quality of care being provided. 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. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 13/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24(1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to reviewing effectively the need for closed circuit television in communal areas of the home and undertaking risk assessments relating to the likely impact of this measure. 13/10/2019*

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)(a)) 17/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 13/10/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 5 ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33(1)(a)) The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located. (Regulation 34(1)(b)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to following the home’s policy which indicates that in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff, a referral will be made to the designated person in the local authority before undertaking an internal investigation. Referrals should be made in a timely way. 13/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there. (Regulation 36(2)(c)) 13/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40(4)(c)) 13/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 45(4)(a)) 13/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 6

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Recommendations

 Regulation 11(2) sets out the expectations on staff in building a positive relationship with each child and helping the child develop skills to have positive relationships with others. ‘Others’ includes individuals both inside and outside the home such as other children in the home, staff, family members, siblings, previous carers and friends (in accordance with their relevant plans). The care planning standard (page 55) provides further detail in respect of contact with parents, relatives and friends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.6)

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Recommendations

Specifically, ensure that staff support children in the home to build positive peer relationships and resolve disputes without the need to resort to aggression.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Serious shortfalls in the standard of safeguarding and child protection practice, along with inconsistent and weak management of the home, have resulted in children receiving a variable standard of care. Children do not consistently enjoy a positive day-to-day experience at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The staff have been able to develop some positive relationships with the children and this has resulted in some children being able to share their worries and concerns. However, the staff have not always responded appropriately when discussing sensitive issues with the children, and on one occasion a child was given misleading information in relation to socially acceptable behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Although there are times when the children relate positively to one another, there are also periods of conflict. The staff have not always been able to de-escalate these situations and support the children to adopt a less aggressive approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

All the children have made some progress in terms of their engagement with education. Some children have made significant progress in terms of their school attendance. The staff have been proactive in helping the children to find the most appropriate educational setting to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s privacy is not sufficiently prioritised. Closed circuit television (CCTV) is used in communal areas of the home, although it is acknowledged by the manager that not all children require this level of surveillance. No consideration has been given to how the negative impact of being monitored could be addressed with the children affected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Sanctions used to promote positive behaviour often have a restorative element to them. Children are consulted over the use of sanctions, but the child’s response is not always Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 7 recorded in the child’s own words. The effectiveness of sanctions is not always analysed. This is indicative of the wider shortfalls relating to monitoring the quality of care being provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children are offered a wide range of activities, both in groups and individually. This has helped the children develop new skills and interests. This approach has resulted in the children taking pride in their achievements and has benefited their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There is a positive approach to enabling the children to express their wishes and feelings. Independent advocacy services are promoted, and the children are consulted on some aspects of the day-to-day running of the home. This has resulted in staff acting on the children’s wish to have a sensory room. This new facility is popular with the children, who benefit from having a room where they can relax when feeling anxious or distressed.

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

The managers and staff have not communicated effectively or consistently with placing authority social workers and other safeguarding professionals when there have been concerns for a child’s safety and well-being. In one case, managers took the decision not to notify the police of a safeguarding matter without consulting external professionals. Despite being advised by one placing authority that concerns related to children sharing explicit images on mobile phones should be reported promptly to the out-of-hours service, managers failed to take appropriate action when a similar incident occurred in recent weeks.

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

A social worker who was spoken to during this inspection was not aware of two safeguarding concerns that had arisen in the last five months. Staff had provided brief details to the social worker by email, but failed to follow this up when there was no response. The failure to communicate effectively has had a negative impact on safety planning for children in the home.

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

There have been shortfalls in the management of allegations made against members of staff. This is partly attributable to managers and staff not implementing the home’s policy effectively. The policy states that the designated person in the local authority will be consulted prior to the matter being investigated internally. On more than one occasion, staff and children have been interviewed about an allegation before there has been any consultation with the designated person.

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

The managers and staff do not always recognise the potential for a child’s safety to be compromised. There was a lack of professional curiosity when it became apparent that a child had been filmed in the community. A risk assessment was not undertaken, and the child did not receive guidance on how to respond if there was a similar occurrence. Some individual risk assessments have not been updated after a significant event has occurred. The strategies contained within risk assessments are not always implemented in practice. For example, there are no records of the content of a child’s phone being Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 8 checked or regular keywork sessions focused on internet safety being provided to a child. Both these measures are recorded in the associated risk assessments as steps that should be taken to keep the child safe.

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

Some children are making gradual progress in reducing the frequency of their unacceptable and aggressive behaviour. However, the inspectors identified occasions when the staff have failed to de-escalate challenging behaviour effectively. On one occasion, this resulted in a member of staff being repeatedly targeted and subjected to violent attacks from a child.

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

The overall standard of practice relating to the protection of children is weak. This has been compounded by ineffective monitoring systems that fail to identify poor practice and promote a learning culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager resigned from her post in October 2018 and the post has been vacant since 1 November 2018. The senior leadership team’s efforts to find a suitable manager have been flawed. A manager was appointed in April 2019 but within a short period of time it became apparent that this manager was deemed to be unfit for the post. He left the organisation on 2 August 2019. The home is currently being managed by the deputy manager. The organisation has not kept Ofsted fully informed of the change of managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The induction of the manager appointed in April 2019 was poor. There is no record of him receiving formal supervision during his first two months in post. He was not offered training in relation to the supervision of staff or on transitioning from previously working with young adults to working with children in a residential setting. There are no records to indicate that his knowledge of safeguarding was explored during supervision meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are serious weaknesses in the systems for monitoring the quality of care being provided. Senior managers, including the organisation’s designated safeguarding lead, have failed to identify weaknesses in safeguarding practice when monitoring serious incident reports. In June 2019 the manager reviewed and signed off a physical restraint report, despite the fact that he had been involved in implementing the measure. He failed to identify that during the incident the child was left alone with a member of staff who she had attacked, when she should have been on a 2:1 staffing ratio.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The inspectors were informed that records of keywork sessions that staff undertake with children are reviewed by managers. However, managers did not identify that during a keywork session a member of staff made inappropriate comments to a child regarding indecent images on the child’s phone. A senior manager informed the inspectors that, until recently, the home’s managers did not monitor and review serious incident reports.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been times when staff have struggled to meet the needs of all the children. Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 9 This has often been during periods when there have been three staff on duty although one child, as agreed with her placing authority, has required 2:1 supervision. On one occasion the staff failed to work as a team and this resulted in a member of staff being left alone with a violent child. An incident also occurred early one morning when the children were up before the sleep-in staff had come on duty.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are weaknesses in the admissions process. An impact risk assessment was undertaken for a child who recently moved to the home, but this failed to take into account significant issues from the child’s past. Consequently, the impact risk assessment did not analyse whether the staff team had the knowledge and skills to support and care for this child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not demonstrated the capacity to raise the standard of care being provided. Two of the three requirements made at the last inspection, in February 2019, have not been met. Consequently, children’s confidential information is still not consistently kept secure and there has been a failure to ensure that the use of CCTV in communal areas of the home is kept under review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The children’s risk assessments in respect of CCTV are not personalised and they do not provide clarification on why CCTV is needed to protect each individual child from harm. Leaders and managers cannot demonstrate that they have reviewed the need for CCTV effectively, and what the potential impact might be on a child that does not need this level of surveillance to be kept safe. The staff do not have a clear and consistent understanding of why CCTV is being used in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a failure to communicate effectively with Ofsted and provide the information required under The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. A notification was not made following an allegation made against a member of staff. The organisation has not provided Ofsted with updated versions of the home’s statement of purpose. The organisation has not ensured that Ofsted has been provided with the independent person’s reports, or the quality of care review reports, in a timely way.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 10 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: SC478315 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Serendipity Centre Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1st Floor, Goodlands House, St. Lukes Close, Hedge End, Southampton SO30 2US

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Inspectors

Stephen Collett, social care inspector Suzy Lemmy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC478315 12 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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