Children's Home run by Lincolnshire County Council in Lincolnshire

Assurance visit report: SC042967 1 SC042967

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Information about this children’s home

This home may only provide care and accommodation for up to six children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2019 and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 12 December 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Sustained effectiveness

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assurance visit report: SC042967 2

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Findings from the visit

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit:

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Findings from the visit

 Failure to respond to a significant safeguarding concern.  Failure to promote children’s welfare.  Poor management oversight and monitoring of the home and of key documents.  Unhygienic and institutionalised environment.  Poor management of bullying and complaints in the home.  Children do not have an active voice in the home.  Physical intervention used by untrained staff; this has included floor restraint.

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The care of children

Staff do not fully understand the needs of the children they are working with. Children’s plans are not kept up to date. Not all staff are aware of the information in children’s plans. There is little evidence of how children have a voice in their plans or are consulted with.

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The care of children

The physical environment is not hygienic, homely or well maintained. Damage was evident to walls and doors in the home, including graffiti. Not all doors in the home are fire doors and some doors are still waiting replacement. Refurbishment of the home has been ongoing for a significant period of time.

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The care of children

Children cannot access food and drink without asking staff, due to locked doors in the kitchen. Children have not been provided with adequate physical necessities. One child has been sleeping on the floor because they had not been provided with a clean mattress. Although this was known, action was not taken to remedy the situation.

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The care of children

All children now have access to education, and there has been some progress in this area. Family time has been maintained through COVID-19. Additional technology was purchased to enable children to stay in contact with people important to them.

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The care of children

Professionals and parents provided positive feedback regarding some of the progress children are making. There has also been a reduction in incidents of challenging behaviour for some children. Children have enjoyed a range of activities, including a summer holiday and VE Day celebrations. Assurance visit report: SC042967 3

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The safety of children

During this visit, a serious safeguarding concern was identified. This concern had not been responded to by the manager. This has the potential to cause significant harm to a child.

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The safety of children

Risk assessments are not regularly reviewed or updated. The risks identified are not always individual to the child. Not all risk factors are identified in children’s plans. There is no indication of management oversight or staff having read the plans. This means that staff do not have a clear sense of what the current risks are or how to manage them.

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The safety of children

There are concerns around bullying in the home, including name-calling and physical assaults. There is no evidence of action taken in response to this. Children have said that there is no point in complaining because nothing gets done about it. The recording of children’s complaints and outcomes is not clear. There is a lack of management oversight and response to complaints.

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The safety of children

There is not robust management oversight of the use of physical restraint in the home. Staff have used restraint when not trained to do so. This has included the use of floor restraint. Reports do not contain enough detail. There has been no management oversight of the effectiveness or appropriateness of restraint practice.

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The safety of children

There has been police involvement in the management of behaviour. Not all significant incidents have been reported to Ofsted. Behaviour management plans are of poor quality. They are not regularly reviewed or updated.

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Leaders and managers

Management monitoring in the home is poor. There is a lack of management oversight of, and input into, key documents. Independent monitoring tools have not been used to improve practice. When concerns are raised, these have not led to improvements in the home. There is a lack of oversight of staff training needs. One staff member had his induction cut short and has not completed essential mandatory training, such as safeguarding. Untrained staff have been involved in using restraints, and this has not been questioned by the manager. Only one staff member is currently in date for restraint training. There has been no consideration of the need for a risk assessment in response to this situation. A staff member described a blame culture in the home. There is a lack of accountability for staff not completing tasks. There is no evidence as to how this is being addressed. Staff do not have regular, planned supervisions. Supervisions have

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Leaders and managers

been cancelled or changed at short notice. Assurance visit report: SC042967 4 There has been a lack of oversight and response to bullying concerns and complaints in the home. The manager has failed to sufficiently address shortfalls in the physical environment of the home.

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Leaders and managers

No action was taken in response to a serious safeguarding concern, despite this being recorded within a risk assessment. Management oversight and review had not been sufficiently robust in identifying this documented concern. Not all requirements from the last inspection have been met. These have been reset. Additional requirements have also been set.

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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 views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who – develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each child – is given appropriate advocacy support; 01/12/2020 Assurance visit report: SC042967 5 (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(iii)) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on –

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(iv)(xii)(xiii)) 01/12/2020

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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

* (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 01/12/2020

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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- 01/12/20 Assurance visit report: SC042967 6 that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d)) 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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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

* (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 01/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify Ofsted and each other relevant person without delay if –

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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

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home –

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who –

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understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 01/12/2020 Assurance visit report: SC042967 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff –

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live their comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(vii)) Subject to paragraph (6) the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that –

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Requirement Due date

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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a description of the measure and its duration;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (a)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)) 01/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Those with a leadership and/or management role should be visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their leadership and/or management responsibilities. Assurance visit report: SC042967 8 (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7)  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10) Assurance visit report: SC042967 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lincolnshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Offices, Newland, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN1 1YL

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Debra Moger-Gurupira

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Inspectors

Tracy Murty, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: SC042967 10 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

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Inspectors

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