Children's Home run by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Bolton

Assurance visit report: SC040723 1 SC040723

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children’s home that is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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.

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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: SC040723 2  Staff do not follow risk management plans when young people go missing from home.  Risk management plans contain inaccurate information.  Staff do not keep young people safe.  Poor decision making in relation to admission has had a negative effect on the safety and well-being of young people already living in the home.  Expectations around education lack structure.

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The care of children

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a number of young people moving in and out of the home. A number of staff have also been required to self-isolate or shield. This has brought some challenges and a change in the risks presented.

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The care of children

Staff say they enjoy their role and want to make a difference to the lives of the young people. During COVID-19, they have made attempts to engage young people with activities in the home. Incentive plans have been used to encourage young people to make positive choices. Unfortunately, one young person has not engaged with the plans and has spent most of her time in the community, where there are known risks.

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The care of children

Young people have been able to keep in touch with family members who are important to them. Staff encourage positive relationships and have conversations with young people about their wishes and feelings.

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The care of children

All of the young people are enrolled at an education provision. One young person was due to start in November but has refused to attend. There were no structured plans or expectations for her to engage in education at the home prior to this. As a result, she has not received any education since the beginning of the year.

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The care of children

Communication with other professionals is reported to be good. However, on the day of the visit, one young person, who had expressed very low mood, was dropped off at school without any information being handed over to school. Staff at the school later reported she had in fact not entered the school when dropped off and her whereabouts were unknown.

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The care of children

Young people would benefit from therapeutic support. One young person said he would not engage in therapy. Many staff have not received training in understanding child development and the impact of trauma. This is a missed opportunity for young people to receive appropriate support from staff in the home. Assurance visit report: SC040723 3

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The safety of children

The manager had completed an assessment of the matching of the young people placed and identified a number of challenges and risks. Despite these concerns, one young person moved in and this has put another young person at increased risk of exploitation.

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The safety of children

Multi-agency meetings take place to discuss concerns that young people are being sexually exploited. Plans are unsuccessful in reducing the risks.

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The safety of children

Contrary to feedback given by professionals, staff do not follow young people and encourage them to return to the home when they are known to be at risk. Risk management plans are not routinely adhered to regarding searching known frequented areas when young people are missing from the home.

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The safety of children

Staff do report young people missing to the police and do call the young people regularly to try to stay in touch with them. One young person has ‘safe words’ she can use if she is at risk when she is away from the home. However, the phrase recorded in the risk management plan is inaccurate. There are also no clear steps recorded for staff to take in the event that the safe words are used. This has the potential to leave her at risk.

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The safety of children

Substance misuse by two young people has increased since moving into the home. Staff have not received training in this area. There have been incidents when young people have been at increased risk when under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

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The safety of children

Sanctions are used and recorded but lack management evaluation or evidence that young people have been spoken to. One young person had her spending supervised due to smoking in her bedroom. This consequence has been ineffective in changing her behaviour and, as a result, puts others at increased risk of fires in the home.

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The safety of children

Staff have put measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including restricting visitors and social distancing. Young people are encouraged to follow guidance, however, do not always do so.

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Leaders and managers

The manager is registered for two homes. The proposed model regarding admissions to the home has not been implemented since dual registration was granted. It is likely that not following the model, along with the staff team being affected by aspects of the pandemic, has had a negative effect on the manager’s ability to oversee both homes. The manager had been away from work for a number of weeks at the time of the inspection. A deputy manager from another home was acting as manager.

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Leaders and managers

Staff receive supervision, however, records show this is not in line with the statement of purpose. Annual appraisals are also overdue. The acting manager plans to complete these next month. Assurance visit report: SC040723 4 Staff have made efforts to make records child friendly, however, some case records are missing information or have not been updated. Staff and managers have not signed documents or risk management plans.

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Leaders and managers

The team is experienced and some of the staff have worked for the local authority for a number of years. However, training in areas relating specifically to the needs of young people has not been completed by many of the staff. This was not identified by the manager as part of the impact risk assessment.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has not evaluated incidents when young people have gone missing from the home. This is a missed opportunity to identify that the staff have not followed risk management plans and require further training. Feedback given by professionals was inconsistent with evidence found during the visit. As a result, young people have continued to be at risk.

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Leaders and managers

Independent visits have been completed and detailed reports and action plans have been provided. However, long delays in the reports being sent to the home and Ofsted have reduced the opportunities for development.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has completed a detailed review of the quality of care, but has not sought feedback, or included that given as part of the process. This report was also submitted to Ofsted out of timescale.

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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, the 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; 04/12/2020 Assurance visit report: SC040723 5 understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))* 04/12/2020 Assurance visit report: SC040723 6 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(d)(g)(i)(h))* 04/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 04/12/2020 Assurance visit report: SC040723 7 within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and

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Requirement Due date

the responsible individual (if one is nominated).

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 44 (1)(7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 04/12/2020

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 04/12/2020 Assurance visit report: SC040723 8 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.

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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

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (see paragraph 15.2). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. The Statement of Purpose is an important document in the process of care planning as it sets out the needs of children the home is set up and equipped to care for. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Victoria Square, PO Box 29, Bolton BL1 1RU

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Inspector

Sylvia Eboigbe, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: SC040723 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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