Children's home run by CF Support Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 1

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CFSS Support Services Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to two children who are in the care of the host local authority and who are unable to be accommodated in either mainstream residential care settings or a foster placement. The children may display unpredictable and harmful behaviours to both themselves and others and may be at greater risk of exploitation, school exclusion and offending. The manager registered at the time of the home’s registration in July 2019. She is working towards a suitable level 5 qualification in leadership and management in children’s residential care.

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This monitoring visit

The home was judged as good following an inspection on 12 November 2019. Since August 2020, there have been increasing safeguarding concerns raised to Ofsted. The purpose of this monitoring visit was to assess how the provider has managed these concerns. No immediate safety or safeguarding issues have been found. However, this monitoring visit has identified several shortfalls.

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This monitoring visit

The staff have struggled to manage the children’s behaviours following a child moving into the home in September 2020. There were several serious incidents of the child going missing from the home and increasing violence towards other children and staff. This resulted in a placement breakdown whereby, eventually, a child was moved.

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This monitoring visit

The manager found this decision difficult to make. The manager failed to monitor and review the incidents and take necessary action. This allowed an escalation of risk-taking behaviours to continue and the children to be exposed to serious harmful incidents.

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This monitoring visit

The manager acknowledged that, despite sharing concerns with the social workers and placement team, she did not escalate these concerns or request action. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 2 Although a child protection investigation was held, the manager did not know the outcome of the investigation or have the minutes from the professionals’ meetings. This limited her ability to positively challenge police, placement officers and social workers to contribute to effective care and safety planning.

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This monitoring visit

The quality of the impact risk assessments is poor. The manager did not fully explore the details of a child’s sexualised behaviour or previous missing-from-home episodes. Limited thought was given to the needs of the other child at the home with some similar behaviours. This poor matching meant that the negative effect that the children would have on one another was not properly considered or mitigated.

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This monitoring visit

The staff and the manager have worked hard to build positive relationships with the children. The staff follow the missing-from-home protocol when children go missing. They have ensured that the children are supported in key-work sessions to understand some of the risks around their behaviours. However, the staff have not addressed all behaviours with the children, such as knife crime. Therefore, the children are not able to understand how carrying weapons can increase harm.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s risk assessments are overly descriptive with limited identification of specific strategies to reduce children’s individual risks. Consequently, the staff do not have a clear guide on how to work with the children to manage or reduce risky behaviours.

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This monitoring visit

Sometimes, the information in the risk assessment is conflicting. For one child, his aggression towards female staff is noted to be of concern, although the risk assessment also says that he gets on with all staff at the home. The manager deployed some female staff to support the child in respite care. In this instance, the child assaulted female staff; a situation that may have been avoided with clearer guidance.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has used long periods of respite care to contain the increasing risks and separate the children. Consequently, the children have experienced disruption to their routines and periods of instability. The manager has failed to consider the children’s individual risks and the specific nature of the respite care accommodation. The manager has used copied over templates that do not assist the staff in how best to care for the children away from the home.

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This monitoring visit

Following the separation of the children, there has been a more settled period. The remaining child is working well with staff and appreciates the support that she is receiving. The manager and the responsible individual recognise the challenges that they experienced and how they can manage them differently moving forward. Both have shown commitment to learning from this monitoring visit and making improvements to their practice. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 3

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 11/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

If they consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for a child’s protection investigation outcome, meeting minutes and action plans to be obtained. 31/12/2020

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff understanding and implementing each child’s risk assessment, and their role in keeping children safe, particularly with regards to work around knife crime and peer-on-peer exploitation. 02/02/2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 5 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the risk assessments are concise and include clear information on behavioural management strategies and techniques to reduce risk;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that respite risk suitability is assessed according to the child’s individual risks and needs and consider how the accommodation can meet those needs. 02/02/2021

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for managerial review of missing-from-home episodes, emerging risks and the implications for practice and staff deployment. 02/02/2021

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 31/12/2020 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 6 that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission; or

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Requirement Due date

the child requests a review of the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(f)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this monitoring visit was to assess how the provider has managed safeguarding concerns.

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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 address: Unit 11, Three Rivers Business Centre, Ipswich, Suffolk IP10 0BF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Joanne Henderson

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Inspector

Leemya McKeown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2532532 7 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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