Children's home run by Derby City Council in Derby

Inspection report children's home: SC036243 1 SC036243 Registered provider: Derby City Council

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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 local authority owned and run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to five children and young people. The home looks after children and young people who are vulnerable or whose behaviour can be challenging. The registered manager has been registered since 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 and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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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: SC036243 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2019 Full Good 24/07/2017 Interim Not judged 30/03/2017 Interim Not judged 31/08/2016 Interim Not judged Inspection report children's home: SC036243 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 children’s wishes, views and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— take their wishes, views and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child's best interest when making decisions about the child's care and welfare; regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7(1)(c)(2)(a)(i)(iv)) 09/12/2019

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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. 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi)) * 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify Ofsted of any revisions and send Ofsted a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the 09/12/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC036243 4 registered person must— take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children's home; make arrangements for persons working in the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention; and ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25(1)(a)(c)(d)) The registered person must ensure that— at all times, at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first aid qualification. (Regulation 31(1)(2)(a)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(3)(a)(d)) In particular, this refers to securing documentary evidence of any qualifications relevant for the position and a full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation for any gaps in employment, in writing. 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experiences; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once in every year. (Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)(c)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(b)(c)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(b)(c)) 09/12/2019 Inspection report children's home: SC036243 5 The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. The registered person must supply to Ofsted, at Ofsted’s request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint. (Regulation 39(3)(5)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify Ofsted and each other relevant person without delay if— an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40(4)(b)(c)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person— if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents’, relatives and persons working in the home as the independent person requires; the independent person must provide a copy of their report to Ofsted. (Regulation 44(1)(a)(2)(a)(7)(a)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(2)(a)(b)(c)) * 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and taken into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46(1)(2)) 09/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Inspection judgements

Inspection report children's home: SC036243 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s welfare is not promoted, due to serious failures in relation to safeguarding practice. A judgement of inadequate has been made in relation to how well children are helped and protected. As this is a limiting judgement, the overall experience and progress judgement is inadequate. Children make variable progress in relation to their health, education and social well- being. Education provision is in place for all children. Their attendance and engagement is inconsistent. Records do not clearly reflect how staff support those children who refuse to attend routine health appointments. Case records do not provide a clear or accurate account of children’s health needs, or how they will be met. Some entries in case records are not signed or dated. Children know how to make a complaint and do so. A recent complaint from a child has not been clearly recorded or considered. The manager was not able to provide evidence

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

of what actions he had taken or the outcome. The child was not informed of the outcome of their complaint. Children’s wishes, views and feelings are not routinely sought. There is little evidence of children being consulted on their plans and risk assessments. There is no evidence of them being informed of the outcome of their complaints. Their views about how complaints or allegations have been dealt with are not sought. Some children have formed positive relationships with staff members. One child has been well supported by a staff member to access therapeutic support. The staff member has attended all appointments with the child. The staff member’s direct involvement in the therapeutic sessions has enabled them to share strategies with the wider staff team. The psychologist involved praised this staff member for their commitment to the child. The home has a self-contained flat attached to the main house. This is used for older

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

children, to prepare them for independence. One young person has successfully moved to adult accommodation since the last inspection. Another young person is currently living in the flat. A family member for this young person stated: ‘He is doing really well now that he is living in the flat. He is a completely different child and making fantastic progress.’

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

Risks are not clearly identified, understood or managed. One child’s risk assessment had not been updated for ten months. It did not reflect the frequency of self-harm incidents. It contained out-of-date information in relation to the level of supervision to be provided. No risk assessment was provided for a child who had recently been arrested by the police for a potentially serious offence. Managers are not able to evidence how they support children to become increasingly safe. Staff record details of when children go missing and follow missing from care procedures. However, there is inadequate monitoring and management oversight of this. Managers were unable to provide accurate details of missing and absent incidents for Inspection report children's home: SC036243 7 each child. There is no sense of how staff and managers work to reduce these incidents. Allegations against staff have not been robustly dealt with. One member of staff was

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

moved to work in another children’s home following an allegation being made. The manager was not able to provide a risk assessment to reflect how this decision was made. No records were produced to support the investigation, outcome or decision to allow that member of staff to return to work in this home. This was also the case for another member of staff. They have since moved to work in another children’s home, but no records could be produced by the manager. A recent allegation against a member of staff was recorded by the manager as a complaint from a child. The manager failed to contact the designated officer. The manager carried out an internal investigation into this allegation but there are no records of the action taken or outcomes. Children and staff are potentially placed at serious risk of harm due to such practices. Staff recruitment procedures do not protect children. A substantial gap in one member of

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

staff’s employment history was not picked up by managers during the recruitment process. Managers have also failed to ensure that relevant qualification certificates were secured for the same staff member. This potentially places children at risk of being cared for by unsuitable adults. The manager has failed to notify Ofsted of recent allegations and serious incidents involving staff and children. This does not provide Ofsted with the ability to have oversight of relevant regulatory requirements. Fire safety practices in the home are inadequate. There have been no recent fire drills for new staff or children moving into the home. It is not clear which members of staff have had recent fire safety training. A fire risk assessment was completed in February 2019. There has been a review of this assessment, in which a number of concerns were identified in relation to potential fire risks within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not know the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He is unable to provide evidence with regards to how children’s complex needs are known and met. There has been significant movement of staff to and from this home since the last inspection. The manager was not able to provide accurate information on the staff employed in this home, or their skills, qualifications or experience. The manager was not able to provide information in respect of what mandatory training staff have completed. There is no clear sense of which staff have completed restraint, first aid, fire safety or safeguarding training. This raises significant concerns in relation to staff rotas and ensuring that each shift has staff with the necessary skills and qualifications. Systems for recording supervision and annual appraisals for staff are confusing and unclear. There is no central matrix to reflect actual/planned supervisions. Paper files for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

staff indicate that they have not had an annual appraisal for several years. A combination of paper and electronic recording systems has led to confusion. This does Inspection report children's home: SC036243 8 not provide for robust or accurate management oversight. The home has not had the required monthly independent visits this year. Visits were made in February, June and September 2019. Given the areas of need identified during this inspection, it is imperative that these visits take place. They should inform the practices of the home and assist the manager in making improvements. There have been significant delays in Ofsted receiving reports from those visits which have taken place. Management tracking, monitoring and oversight of all aspects of the care provided is inadequate. The manager provided inspectors with data and information which was significantly out of date. This related to the number of missing incidents, allegations and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

complaints. The manager has a tracker system for complaints and missing incidents. He was not able to access this to provide details of complaints over the past year. Management monitoring reports do not provide detailed analysis or evaluation of the areas of concern or need for children. The manager has been recording allegations against staff as complaints. He has not reported all allegations to the designated officer. He was not able to provide evidence in respect of how allegations have been responded to. This potentially places children at significant risk of harm. It also does not provide staff with the support that they need during the process. The statement of purpose for the home is out of date. It does not reflect the current staffing team, their qualifications or experience. The manager has failed to update it or send a copy to Ofsted. The register of children does not include full or accurate information. This relates to the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

date of admission and date of birth for one child. Another child has moved on from this home, but their new address is not listed. The location risk assessment states it has been reviewed this year. It contains very out- of-date information in relation to local crime statistics and concerns. The manager has not provided any evidence as to who was consulted as part of the review process. Given the concerns for children in relation to child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation, this information would be valuable to include in the risk assessment.

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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 Inspection report children's home: SC036243 9 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: SC036243 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Derby City Council, Treasurers Department, Council House, Corporation Street, Derby DE1 2FE

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Inspectors

Tracy Murty, social care inspector Sarah Orriss, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC036243 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 children looked after, 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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