Children's home run by Archways Care Limited in Wolverhampton

Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 1 SC061837 Registered provider: Archways Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a small organisation. The home can accommodate up to four young people who have had adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not have a registered manager. A new manager has been appointed but has not applied to Ofsted for registration. The manager is currently absent from work and the deputy manager is in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 4 September 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted inspected the service in September 2019. The home was judged inadequate. A monitoring visit took place on 30 October 2019 to review six requirements. Three requirements were found to have been met and three were raised again. Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2019 Full Inadequate 02/01/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/09/2018 Full Inadequate 06/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; 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— provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(vii)) 28/02/2020

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

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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— 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)(2)(a)(ii)) 28/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must operate a disciplinary procedure in the interests of the safety or welfare of children. (Regulation 33 (2)) 28/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. The registered person must— maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b) Schedule 4 (3)) 28/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 28/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 4 The registered person must— 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 (1)(4)(a))

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 38, paragraph 8.11) In particular, when young people make derogatory remarks about other people, staff should challenge such behaviour and educate young people about why this is not acceptable.  Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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improvement to be good

Not all young people are happy in the home and they have mixed experiences. Although some relationships between staff and young people have improved, this is not consistently good. For example, one young person feels left out and not supported well by staff.

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improvement to be good

A young person who has specific needs struggles to accept medical help. Staff have not worked effectively or creatively to address this issue. In addition, staff have not acted promptly to ensure that another young person received an eye test in a timely way. This led to a delay in the young person getting an updated prescription for her glasses. A lack of staff support does not fully promote young people’s health and does not help young people to feel cared for.

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improvement to be good

The home environment has undergone some refurbishment since the last inspection. However, the curtains in a young person’s bedroom are damaged and need replacing. This shows a lack of care and attention and does not help young people to feel valued. Furthermore, the flooring in the downstairs bathroom has started to lift and has the potential to become a hazard.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not routinely encourage young people to add to their records. This is a missed opportunity for young people to actively participate in their plan of care. Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 5 When incidents between young people happen, the staff respond appropriately. Staff help young people to accept each other’s differences. As a result, young people have become more tolerant of each other.

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improvement to be good

Most young people enjoy attending school and college. Staff provide support and encouragement to ensure that young people’s educational experiences are positive. As a result, young people’s opportunities for learning are broadened. Young people above school age are actively seeking work.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to ensure that young people enjoy their free time in and out of the home. Young people now have access to a range of games in the home that encourage joint participation. Staff have adopted a new approach to reducing time spent on gaming devices. This new approach to accessing board games has helped to reduce challenging incidents for one young person and he is also learning about teamwork, which is enhancing his social skills.

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improvement to be good

Young people keep in touch with their families and people who are important to them. Staff provide additional support, when necessary, to facilitate this. As a result, most young people strengthen the bonds they have with some family members.

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improvement to be good

Young people learn some good independence skills, such as travelling on public transport, doing their own laundry and cooking. As a result, young people who are approaching adulthood are being well prepared to live independently.

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

Young people are protected from harm. They feel safe living in the home and do not go missing from care. Staff no longer use bedroom door alarms to monitor young people’s movements, in line with their needs.

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

Staff respond well to conflict between the young people when it arises. This intervention by staff helps to restore relationships before they deteriorate. As a result, young people improve their tolerance of each other, regardless of the difficulties they face.

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

Staff manage each young person’s risks well by helping them to understand how to keep themselves safe. This enables young people to spend positive time in the community and they do not place themselves in unsafe situations.

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

The manager ensures that any new staff undergo stringent recruitment checks before employment begins. This helps to ensure that staff are safe to work with young people.

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

Staff implement firm boundaries, which give young people a consistent message about what appropriate behaviour is. This consistency by staff has seen a reduction in incidents requiring physical intervention. However, on one occasion when a young person used racially derogatory language in relation to another person, this was not challenged. Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 6 Allegations against staff are managed well and referred to the appropriate agencies. This keeps young people safe from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

In the absence of the manager, the leadership arrangements are stretched. This limits the development of the home; however, some improvements have been made. A new independent visitor has been appointed, ensuring that there is no longer a conflict of interest for the person in this role with the organisation. The manager has updated the statement of purpose in relation to the use of bedroom door alarms. This document now explains what circumstances these would be used in and why. Managers also ensure that when a serious event occurs they notify Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Sufficient improvement has not been made to staff rosters, which still do not make clear which staff have worked in the home and when. In addition, staff have not acted promptly to address a health concern and did not follow this up. Managers have not been able to progress a disciplinary matter due to staff absence, but they have sought guidance about how to manage the process in light of this. As a result, while three of the requirements raised at the last inspection have been met, three will be repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers have not completed the review of the quality of care within required timescales. This means that managers are not reviewing and understanding the strengths and needs of the service and how the service can continue to develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers do not ensure that information about young people is updated quickly and shared with others. This lack of information sharing delays staff’s ability to provide consistently good support in line with what is written in young people’s plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All staff receive appropriate training and supervision to meet their development needs. Two out of six staff are qualified. The four remaining staff are undertaking the course and are due to finish in the next four months. Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 7

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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: SC061837 8

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Aristidou

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Inspector

Michelle Spruce, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC061837 9 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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