Children's home run by Cherished and Devoted Care

Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 1 Registered provider: Cherished and Devoted Care

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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 was registered in May 2019. The home is one of two operated by a private provider. The home is registered to offer care and accommodation for up to five children who have learning disabilities. The current manager has been in post since September and has yet to submit an application to Ofsted for registration.

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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 and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: first inspection since registration

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

First inspection since registration Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 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 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 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 each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(c)) 06/12/2019

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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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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting 06/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 4 children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) The leadership and management standard

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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

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use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 06/12/2019

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The care planning standard is that children—

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receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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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—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; 06/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 5 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(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv)) Medicines

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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

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there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider—

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is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 27(1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(2)(a)(b)) 06/12/2019

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Behaviour management policies and records

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within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration; 06/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 6 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

This home was registered on 7 May 2019. This is the home’s first inspection. There is no registered manager in post as they left the organisation on 24 May 2019. During this inspection, the inspectors identified poor practice relating to care planning, safeguarding and risk assessments. Children’s s welfare and progress are therefore hindered and the poor practice places children at risk.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are not protected from harm. A recent placement ended because the staff team did not have the skills or experience to meet the complex needs of the child or staff could not keep them safe. Inspectors were informed of concerns from professionals and a parent about the decline in the child’s educational progress when they were living at the home. Inspectors also heard concerns from the child’s s social worker about the child’s appearance, which was described as ‘dirty and unkempt’. Furthermore, the complaints made by the social worker and the parent to the home were not responded to in line with the home’s procedures. Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 7 The health needs of the children have not been met. One child who has intolerances to certain foods was able to access the kitchen at night, unsupervised, and overeat foods to such an extent that he was sick. As a result of this, he was unwell and missed school the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

following day. This information was not shared with professionals involved in the child’s care or included in his healthcare plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child should have been receiving therapeutic support as part of their placement arrangements. The social worker for the child told inspectors that the child has not received this service. This has impacted on the progress that the social worker expected for the child. In addition, there has been no effective liaison with other professionals involved in the care of the child to fully understand the health needs of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is spacious, and children’s bedrooms are personalised according to their interests. Records show that one child did not attend school due to being unwell. The child asked staff to unlock his living room during the day and this request was denied by staff. The responsible individual for the home told the inspectors that the child was denied access to the room because of his refusal to attend school, and that this was part of a planned response to prevent incidents. However, there was no record of an agreed plan in place to reflect these arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The transition into the home for one child was well-planned and sensitive to his needs. He has developed good relationships with staff and could identify staff who he liked. The child has learned to tell the time and has started attending swimming lessons since living at the home.

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

Safeguarding practice in this home is poor and does not promote the welfare and safety of children. Managers and staff are not fully aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children. Effective action is not always taken when there is a concern about a child’s welfare, and, as a result, children have not been protected from harm. For example, one child who had recently left the home showed staff bruises and grazes to his body. Staff failed to follow safeguarding procedures regarding these concerns. This included a failure to contact the child’s school about how the child had sustained his injuries and a failure to seek appropriate medical guidance.

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

Staff fail to follow, or consistently update, risk management plans for children. For example, the risk assessment for one child states that having contact with their parent is a high-risk situation. In addition, due to the associated risk, the risk management plan states that telephone calls should be fully supervised, but this is not happening in practice. Because staff did not follow the risk management strategy, the child was unsupervised during telephone contact with their parent and became extremely distressed and subsequently suffered harm from self-injurious behaviour.

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

The arrangements for the administration of medication to children are poor, leading to errors in the administration and recording of medication. Consequently, children have not Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 8 received medication in line with their prescriptions. The provider conducted an internal investigation when the errors were identified and provided further training for staff. However, inspectors found further failures in the recording of medication audits. As a result, staff were unable to account for discrepancies in the number of controlled drugs at the home due to a lack of clear audit trail.

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

When children have been physically restrained, records do not always provide a clear overview of the behaviour that led to the restraint, or provide evidence of an individual debrief with both the child and the staff member involved. Furthermore, managers do not evaluate the appropriateness or effectiveness of all measures used. Consequently, staff continue to use ineffective behaviour management strategies, and children are not learning to reflect on and improve their behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The management arrangements for the home have been inconsistent and have not been effective in ensuring that good-quality care is provided for children, in line with regulation. As a result, children have not been fully safeguarded and their health needs have not been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the home has been registered, there have been three different managers in charge of the home. The registered manager for the home left the service prior to any children moving into the home. Although a new manager has been appointed, he has not applied to Ofsted for registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has failed to demonstrate that it inspires and leads a culture in the home to promote children’s welfare and to enable childen to fulfil their potential. The manager is not leading and managing the home in a manner that is consistent with the aims outlined in the home’s s statement of purpose. The manager has failed to demonstrate that the care being provided meets the individual needs of the children and promotes their safety and welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a lack of robust systems in place to monitor and quality assure the standard of care provided at the home. The provider’s oversight of care planning and risk management is poor. The inspectors found that risk assessments and risk management plans are not up to date, and that managers have failed to evaluate all known risks to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not have the experience, qualifications and knowledge to understand the risks that children can face, or the skills to support children. The majority of staff do not have experience of working with children in a residential setting and are not qualified in line with regulation.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 9 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: 2503316 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cherished and Devoted Care

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 102 Mill Street, Liverpool, Merseyside L8 5UD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Phillips

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Inspectors

Jessica Forshaw: social care inspector Elaine Allison: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 2503316 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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