Children's Home run by Tees-Valley Care Limited in Redcar and Cleveland

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 1

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Tees-Valley Care Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional and social difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered by Ofsted on 9 May 2018. The home does not have a registered manager. The previous registered manager left the home in October 2018.

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This monitoring visit

This was an urgent monitoring inspection to ascertain the current management situation and to assess children’s safety and protection.

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This monitoring visit

The home has been without a registered manager since October 2018. The responsible individual has failed to successfully recruit an appropriately qualified, skilled and experienced manager to lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the home’s statement of purpose. The current temporary manager has been in post since 13 May 2020. The lack of stable management is detrimental to the development of the home and the delivery of good-quality services for children.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s risk assessments do not provide staff with clear information on how to manage and reduce children’s risks. These documents contain out-of-date risk management strategies and information. This is confusing for staff and means that they may not use the most effective approaches to keep children safe.

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This monitoring visit

Most staff do not have the knowledge and skills to meet children’s individual and complex needs. The training matrix shows that the majority of staff have not completed relevant training regarding eating disorders, first aid, county lines, substance misuse, infection control or the use of ligature cutters. The lack of staff Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 2 training potentially places children at risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

Procedures in place to support staff to manage children’s risks are unclear. For example, staff complete bedroom searches when children are assessed to be at a high risk of self-harm. There is no clear procedure to ensure that staff understand how to search the room, where to search or what to look for. This lack of consistency places children at risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

There is no clear policy for the use or storage of ligature cutters. For individual children deemed to be at high risk of ligature use, there are no clear plans to guide staff on how or when to use these ligature cutters. In the event of a ligature emergency, this may cause an unnecessary and dangerous delay.

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This monitoring visit

Staff do not fully complete the overnight observation records used to monitor those children deemed to be at a high risk of self-harm. These records do not show which members of staff are responsible for the supervision and safety of children or when. This means that staff are not held to account for their actions or inactions.

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This monitoring visit

The poor matching of children’s needs has resulted in children’s behaviour having a negative impact on each other. For some children this means that they have re- engaged in anti-social and dangerous behaviours, including substance misuse, disruption in the local community and physical violence towards staff and peers. These incidents cause fear and anxiety for other children living in the home.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual does not ensure that the service adheres to safer recruitment procedures. There are gaps in validating references, some staff application forms are incomplete and managers do not consistently explore noted gaps in the employment history of staff. This failure potentially exposes children to adults who may not be safe or suitable to care for them.

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This monitoring visit

Managers and senior staff do not notify Ofsted of all significant or serious incidents. This means that the regulator is unable to review the suitability of any actions taken by the service to manage these incidents.

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This monitoring visit

Management oversight and monitoring arrangements are ineffective. Managers do not sufficiently review the quality of care for children or provide Ofsted with this information. This has an impact on the home’s capacity to develop and improve. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 3

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 12/08/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/09/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 4

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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 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—

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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

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 children that are assigned to them by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

*(Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iv)(v)) 21/06/2020

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 21/06/2020 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 5 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.

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Requirement Due date

*(Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) The care planning standard is that children 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

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 21/06/2020

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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; and the registered provider—

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

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)) 21/06/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. 21/06/2020 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 6 The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32(1)(3)(d)) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 21/06/2020

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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.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 21/06/2020 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 7 After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tees-Valley Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cargo Fleet Offices, Dormor Way, South Bank, Middlesbrough Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough TS6 6XH

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Inspectors

Jamie Richardson, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1272220 9 to 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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