Children's Home run by Care 4 Children Residential Services Ltd in Lancashire

Information about this children’s home

The home is one of a number operated by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was no registered manager in the home at the time of this visit.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: Not previously inspected

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Not previously inspected

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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. 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.

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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: Assurance visit report: 2581237 2  Staff have failed in their duty to safeguard young people. Young people living in the home have been at risk of child exploitation and substance misuse.  Known risks for young people are poorly managed. Risk management plans do not contain clear strategies for staff to be able to manage risk safely, and some known risks have not been given due consideration at all.  Staff are not effectively supporting young people to understand and reduce their risk-taking behaviour. Individual work does not take place to help young people make progress.  The majority of staff are inexperienced and do not have the knowledge and skills they need to manage the risks presented by young people, such as sexual exploitation and substance misuse.  Serious safeguarding incidents have not been reported to Ofsted, as required

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Findings from the visit

by regulation.  Management oversight has been weak and ineffective. The home has not been operating in accordance with its statement of purpose.

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The care of children

Young people’s progress has been compromised by their risk-taking behaviour and staff’s inability to reduce young people’s risks. There has been a deterioration in some areas of young people’s development and progress.

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The care of children

The home has not been operating in accordance with its statement of purpose, which states that the home is a therapeutic community, offering emotional security and a monitored environment, supporting adolescents who are recovering from sexual trauma and exploitation. All the young people spoken to during this visit said that they did not feel this was a therapeutic setting and they were unhappy living in the home. Although, young people do have access to the organisation’s therapist, young people’s engagement is poor.

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The care of children

Some young people have moved into the home without their needs and risks being fully understood. This has caused disruption to the young people already living in the home, resulting in some placements ending quickly, as staff have been unable to keep young people safe.

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The care of children

Although the service was designed as a ‘step-down’ service, and was therefore set up with limited structures and routines, the young people that have actually been admitted to the home have required structure and routine. They have struggled to cope without this, leading to a deterioration in their behaviour. Young people told inspectors that the rules are constantly changing and staff are inconsistent. One young person said, ‘Staff say they are not sure about the rules. It is just confusing.’ Assurance visit report: 2581237 3 This leaves young people confused about the rules of the home and distrustful of staff’s decision-making.

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The care of children

There is an on-site school, which was registered in September 2020. However, young people’s attendance and engagement is sporadic. If they do engage, it is on their own terms. Young people did not engage in education on the day of this assurance visit, as there had been an incident in the home the previous evening, resulting in them being tired. However, one young person has recently started an apprenticeship and is doing well.

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The care of children

All the young people living in the home did participate in the assurance visit and were able to articulate how they felt. They were able to express their views clearly and they have aspirations for their future, which is positive. However, staff have failed to link these aspirations to young people’s current circumstances and risk- taking behaviour. No direct work is completed with young people or small targets set so that young people can see their progression and have hope for the future.

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The care of children

Staff support young people’s family contact. If direct contact was not possible during COVID-19 restrictions, young people were able to keep in contact via video phone calls. Staff appreciate that young people need to maintain these important relationships.

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The care of children

The home is large and has substantial grounds. There is plenty of room for young people to spend time together, but also to have some time alone if they choose to. The home was clearly well furnished at the time of registration. However, damage has been caused to the home and standards have slipped. At the time of the assurance visit, the television in one lounge had been shattered and young people’s bedrooms were in a poor state, with a missing blind and evidence of smoking in the rooms. There was also a shattered glass picture on the patio area outside the home. Young people report that the property was homely with many more items of furnishing, but these have been damaged and not replaced. This detracts from the homely atmosphere that the provider had intended to create.

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The safety of children

Safeguarding practice in the home does not sufficiently protect young people from harm. The assessment of risk, along with risk management, is weak. Furthermore, young people told the inspectors that they did not always feel safe in the home. This will have a negative impact on young people’s progress.

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The safety of children

Risk management plans contain minimal strategies for staff to help them manage risk safely. They do not give staff a sufficient level of direction and guidance to help them manage young people’s risk-taking behaviour. This is crucial as many staff are unqualified and have minimal experience of working in a children’s home. Without clear guidance, they are unsure what action to take, leaving young people vulnerable. These documents often refer to the significance of staff’s relationships with young people. However, these relationships are poor, and as such, are not a protective factor. Assurance visit report: 2581237 4 Managers and staff have failed to recognise when young people are at risk of harm. No rules or agreements support young people’s use of smartphones, despite them having a history of child exploitation. Even when concerns have then become evident, staff have not taken swift action to keep young people safe.

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The safety of children

Some young people do put themselves at risk by going missing from the home, although this is not a frequent occurrence. However, staff have not always responded in the most appropriate way when an incident has occurred. An example of this is when one young person had arranged to leave the home by taxi. Staff initially took the correct action and turned the taxi away. However, the young person then proceeded to walk off from the home, determined to get to her destination. While staff did initially follow her, they returned to the home after a short period of time and reported her missing. The young person is at risk of child sexual exploitation and later reported that she had accepted a lift from an unknown male. By leaving the young person, staff placed the young person at considerable risk.

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The safety of children

Behaviour management is weak. Staff do not have the knowledge and skills to challenge young people’s behaviour effectively. This has resulted in violent and aggressive incidents in the home and the targeting of staff and young people. On occasion, the police have been required to assist staff to manage young people’s behaviour. This leaves young people feeling unsafe and potentially with a criminal record.

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The safety of children

There are few rules and boundaries in the home to keep young people safe. An example of this is the rules on smoking. Inspectors noticed a cigarette lighter in a communal area of the home and cigarettes were seen in young people’s bedrooms, where young people were clearly smoking. On one occasion, a young person, who is known to misuse cannabis, was dropped off by staff at the home of a known drug dealer, despite the police advising staff to avoid the area. This practice does not help keep young people safe.

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The safety of children

On the day of the assurance visit, one young person had been told to self-isolate while she waited for the result of a COVID-19 test. However, staff were unable to get the young person to remain in isolation. The inspectors later observed staff take this young person out in the home’s vehicle along with another young person, potentially placing everyone in the vehicle, along with everyone at their destination at risk of catching the virus. This practice is not safe and staff demonstrated poor role modelling for young people.

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Leaders and managers

At the time of the assurance visit, there was no registered manager in post in the home. The previous manager had resigned following a short period of sickness. A new manager had been appointed but had not yet taken up post. A deputy manager was in charge at the time of the visit, but he lacked significant knowledge about the individual needs of the young people and about documents that need to be Assurance visit report: 2581237 5 maintained in a children’s home. For example, he was unaware of the requirement to keep an admission and discharge register in the home. When this was later located, it did not contain all the required information.

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Leaders and managers

Weaknesses in leadership and management mean that the home is unable to fulfil the aims and objectives outlined in the statement of purpose. The provider has lost sight of these and staff have been unsure about how to respond to young people. The ethos of the home is unclear, resulting in young people currently residing in a chaotic environment.

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Leaders and managers

Crucially, staff have not been provided with the necessary guidance and access to learning and development that they need to meet young people’s needs. The majority of staff do not have the minimum level 3 qualification in residential child care and many are new to the challenges of working in a children’s home. They have not had access to the necessary oversight, guidance or support to help them develop their practice and keep young people safe. Furthermore, the home specialises in caring for young people with a history of sexual exploitation, yet only one staff member has completed targeted training in this area. This leaves staff with a significant deficit in their learning and without the skills they require to safeguard the young people in their care.

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Leaders and managers

Inspectors found many shortfalls in the standards of recording. A number of incident reports could not be located during the visit, some daily recording was of poor quality and some recordings had incorrect information, such as the wrong date. This does not help when monitoring young people’s progress. Nor does it help to target specific work with the young person. A number of social workers also reported that they had asked for regular progress reports on their young people, but that they were yet to receive these, hindering their ability to monitor young people’s progress effectively.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has failed to notify Ofsted about a large number of serious incidents that have occurred in the home. This hinders Ofsted’s ability to review the information to ensure that the provider has taken the necessary actions.

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Leaders and managers

Some social workers reported that communication from the home was poor, with visits being cancelled and documents not being received when they had been requested. Many felt that the home was not supporting young people as they had intended.

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Leaders and managers

Management oversight and monitoring has not been robust. While an independent visitor has completed monthly monitoring reports, these have been conducted remotely because of the pandemic, with Ofsted yet to receive a report that has included an on-site visit. They have also been conducted by different individuals, which has not helped to monitor the progress of the home. The organisation did complete its own audit of the home in August 2020, which did identify weaknesses in practice and a comprehensive action plan was developed. However, insufficient action had been made to address these shortfalls at the time of this assurance visit. Assurance visit report: 2581237 6 This delay in making decisive change has had further negative impact on the young people living in the home.

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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 quality and purpose of care standard

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; protect and promote each child’s welfare. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)) 02/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; 02/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2581237 7 communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and

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Requirement Due date

understanding; help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; and that each child is encouraged to build positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix) (xi)(b))*

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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; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child

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Requirement Due date

effectively from harm; and that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. 02/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2581237 8 Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(e))*

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; 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

(Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h))* 02/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 02/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and 02/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2581237 9 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1)(3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 02/12/2020

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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 (1)(2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, a register of children admitted to the home containing the required information. 02/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; 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; a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))* 02/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Assurance visit report: 2581237 10

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care 4 Children Residential Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Care 4 Children, 1 Stuart Road, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport SK6 2SR

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Stephanie Hewitt

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Inspectors

Mandy Williams, Social Care Inspector Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 2581237 11 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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