Children's home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2563818 1

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Reflexion Care Group Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company and is registered for three children. The home provides care for children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in January 2020.

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This monitoring visit

A remote monitoring inspection was conducted on 30 June 2020 in response to information received by Ofsted that raised concerns about the safety of a child.

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This monitoring visit

Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Ofsted has not carried out a physical visit to the home. The inspector has gathered evidence in several different ways, including talking to a local police officer, children’s social workers, members of staff and the home’s registered manager. The registered manager was also asked to provide electronic documents for the inspector to review.

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This monitoring visit

Since the home opened in January 2020, the staff have cared for two children. Managers have ensured that children are given consistent care by an experienced staff team.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are good at dedicating time to carry out child-centred key work sessions with each child to help them talk through their difficulties.

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This monitoring visit

Despite all the hard work of the registered manager and all the staff, the home has experienced a difficult period. Considerable time has been given to working closely with children’s placing local authorities to try to identify solutions and to promote the best possible outcomes for the children. Part of the difficulty has been children going missing from the home, sometimes without the staff knowledge. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2563818 2 Children have gone to great lengths to leave the home at night without being detected. Managers have taken prompt action to reduce the risk by replacing window restrictors, and to increase their monitoring and surveillance by ensuring that there are door alarms on children’s bedrooms, hallway monitors and external doors and that extra staffing is available. However, despite these measures, children have waited until the middle of the night to break these devices so that they have

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This monitoring visit

been able to leave the home undetected and have subsequently gone missing from the home.

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This monitoring visit

On one occasion, staff only realised that a child was missing from the home in the morning when they noticed that a child’s bedroom door was open, and the child was not in bed. The alarm on the child’s bedroom door did not activate because the child had been able to dismantle the door alarm. The child had managed to lift a floorboard in his bedroom to make a hole into the office below through the ceiling, and staff found the front door to the home was wide open. Staff only became aware that the child had left the home when they woke up in the morning. The child was located and returned to the home the following morning.

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This monitoring visit

A child placed himself at risk of serious injury by leaving the home through a first- floor bedroom window. The child woke staff up in the early hours of the morning and asked to come into the home. The child told staff that he had left the home because he needed some fresh air.

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This monitoring visit

On another occasion, when staff were dealing with one child missing from home, another child was also able to go missing undetected. Police found both children in a nearby village with a group of children who are known by the police to use illegal drugs. The provider has taken additional measures of monitoring following incidents by implementing window restrictor checks prior to bedtime and first thing in the morning and room searches to check for items or tools used to damage property.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has worked closely with the local police, social workers and the youth offending service and shared information and intelligence. The registered manager has called for strategy meetings for both children, to establish a multi-agency response. However, despite all the action taken by managers, the risk has not been sufficiently reduced to ensure that children remain safe from harm.

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This monitoring visit

Some risk assessments do not consider a child’s known risks or provide staff with enough guidance about how to supervise each child. Staff have not always used their knowledge of the child to inform decisions. For example, one child who has a history of self-harm and knife crime was left unsupervised by staff when he was using a sharp knife for cooking. He was able to leave the kitchen by climbing through the window taking the knife with him. When the child returned, he would not tell staff the whereabouts of the knife, which remains missing. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2563818 3 There are some gaps in staff training. For example, some staff have not received training in caring for children who have a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.

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Recent inspection history

This was the home’s first inspection. Inspection type Inspection judgement Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2563818 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— 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

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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 09/08/2020 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2563818 5 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

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

*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.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Reflexion Care Group Ltd, Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2563818 6 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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