Children's home run by Social Care Services (Clayton) Limited

Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It offers care and accommodation for one child who may experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is managed by a registered manager who is supported by a small staff team.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: Not previously inspection

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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 concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit: Assurance visit report: 2597738 2  Children’s needs are not suitably matched to the skills and experience of the staff in the home.  Risk assessments do not provide the staff with suitable guidance on reducing or managing risk.  Children do not form trusting relationships with staff.  Staff have not gained information about children’s associates in order to keep them safe when they are away from the home.  Staff have not received up-to-date training on child criminal exploitation.  Where a child is at risk of child criminal exploitation, staff do not take effective action to protect the child, including monitoring the use of mobile phones and social media.  The inappropriate use of a mobile phone to incite violence has resulted in the home being under attack by members of the community.

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Findings from the visit

 Action plans to protect the child from further threats of violence are not in place.  Staff do not take effective action to stop the child from smoking in the property.  The child is not always cared for by staff who are able to carry out a physical intervention where necessary.  The staff team lacks the skills and experience to safely care for the child.  The education and healthcare needs of children are not met.

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The care of children

Children are placed in the home without due consideration of their individual needs. This has resulted in the two placements made by the home failing.

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The care of children

Placement plans do not reflect the historical difficulties children have in engaging with services. While plans detail the aims of the placement, there is little evidence of the work being done with children to help them engage in their plan or to accomplish the aims of the placement. As a result, children fail to establish trusting relationships with staff and are therefore disengaged with the service.

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The care of children

Educational attendance and attainment are poor. This is because children’s engagement in education is extremely limited. The staff say that the failure to engage in education is a behavioural matter. However, no suitable action is taken to address this concern. The failure to ensure that children are provided with an educational resource that is bespoke to their historical educational non-attendance continues to compromise their life chances.

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The care of children

The healthcare needs of children are compromised. Children are not provided with a consistent daily routine. For example, children remain in bed throughout the day and have minimal engagement with staff. Mealtimes are frequently missed, and sleep Assurance visit report: 2597738 3 patterns are not adjusted to help children develop good sleep routines. This means that children are nocturnal. However, the registered manager has not implemented any suitable support such as waking night staff. This means that the children who are placed on a two-to-one staffing ratio are left unsupervised throughout the night.

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The care of children

Children do not receive the help, support and guidance they need to support good emotional well-being. The theoretical framework used by the provider, therapeutic crisis intervention, is not applied in the home in order to help a child develop the skills required to regulate their own emotions.

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The care of children

Risk-taking behaviours that impact a child’s health are not addressed. For example, staff enable a child to continue to smoke in their bedroom. Staff spray curtains and bedding with a fire-retardant substance, rather than challenge and address the behaviour. This significant inaction places the child’s health and safety at considerable risk.

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The safety of children

The registered manager and staff fail to recognise, minimise or prevent the risks to children’s safety and well-being. The home’s arrangements to protect children from harm are ineffective. Risk assessments are not updated to include known information about children’s risk-taking behaviours or provide guidance on how staff will manage these risks. Furthermore, staff are not always aware of children’s risk- taking behaviours. One member of staff said, ‘I know there is a risk assessment, but I haven’t read it yet.’ This lack of regard means that children are not suitably protected, or their welfare preserved.

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The safety of children

The registered manager and staff do not have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in protecting children. They fail to take stringent action when there is a concern about children’s welfare and have made serious errors in decision- making that have placed children and staff at risk of harm. For example, the registered manager has failed to escalate concerns that the placement is not meeting the child’s needs or is able to keep children safe.

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The safety of children

Furthermore, although the child is known to be on the periphery of child criminal exploitation, staff fail to act on behaviours that could indicate further escalating involvement. For example, the failure to glean details of the child’s friends and associates means that staff are unaware of who the child is spending time with when they are away from the home including when they are missing from home.

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The safety of children

The registered manager and staff fail to challenge or manage the child’s continued use of a mobile phone throughout the night. This has led to the child being in conflict via social media with members of the community. This resulted in a serious incident where unknown males came to the home and caused significant property damage and made threats of harm to both the child and staff. The registered manager failed to implement a safety action plan, including the removal of the mobile phone, after this event to ensure the safety of the child and staff. Assurance visit report: 2597738 4 Work to help the child understand how to keep safe is poor. This is despite this issue being recorded in children’s risk plans.

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The safety of children

Behaviour management plans including the use of a physical intervention are deficient. Staff are not guided on how to manage the significant violent and aggressive behaviours exhibited in the home. Where there is a risk of harm or damage, physical intervention is not routinely used to prevent this. This is because there are not always two experienced staff available to safely undertake an intervention. This has resulted in the frequent use of police involvement to address and manage the behaviours of the child. This is contrary to the aims of the home’s statement of purpose.

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The safety of children

The registered manager’s lack of understanding with regard to the shortfalls in the care and protection of children is of concern. The registered manager confirmed that the home is unable to keep the child safe or meet the child’s complex needs. However, there is a failure of managers to take direct action and escalate these concerns in order to ensure that the safety and welfare of the child is protected.

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Leaders and managers

The leadership and management of the home is weak. The registered manager has failed to demonstrate a clear understanding of his role and responsibilities. He has failed to ensure that children are only admitted to the home where it is clear their needs can be reasonably met.

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Leaders and managers

Since the home was registered on 29 June 2020, two children have been admitted. One placement lasted for a period of 13 days before the child was discharged. Notice has now been served on the second child. On both occasions, the registered manager and staff were unable to manage the children’s known risk-taking behaviours which included a history of violence and aggression.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager fails to appropriately assess the needs and risks of each child against the knowledge, skills and experience of the staff team. Furthermore, action to address the inappropriate placement of children means that children’s needs continue to not be met and risks continue to escalate. This lack of leadership and vision has created an insecure and chaotic environment for children.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager fails to demonstrate that he inspires and leads a culture that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential. The registered manager is not leading and managing the home in a manner that is consistent with the aims outlined in the statement of purpose. For example, the service states the following: ‘Therapeutic crisis intervention is a comprehensive crisis management system, it aims to provide care staff with a range of skills and knowledge to prevent, de- escalate and manage acute physical behaviour.’ However, staff are unable to manage the children’s behaviours resulting in staff being significantly assaulted and the home being regularly damaged.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager fails to support staff in the management of a child’s behaviour. Staff are not provided with guidance or additional support when they Assurance visit report: 2597738 5 have been assaulted. Instead, staff are advised by the manager to contact the police if the child’s behaviour escalates. This is not in keeping with the therapeutic crisis intervention as detailed in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager does not have effective oversight of the home. Although he is aware of the significant failure to meet the child’s needs, he has not taken any action to address this. For example, the child’s persistent lack of engagement with the home has resulted in him not developing trusting and secure relationships with staff, not attending school, not having his meals with staff but choosing to eat alone when staff are in bed, and developing friendships with unknown individuals that may pose a threat. This cycle of inaction results in the child continuing to be placed at risk and his basic needs continuing not to be met in the home.

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Leaders and managers

Since the home was registered on 29 June 2020, HMCI has not received any regulation 44 independent visitor’s reports. Consequently, the regulatory body is not satisfied that the home is being regularly monitored by an independent person or that the shortfalls as identified at this assurance visit have been previously identified.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager has failed to demonstrate a clear and co-ordinated response to address the concerns as highlighted at this assurance visit. As a result, the home does not offer consistent planned and safe care for children.

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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

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

6: 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; 15 January 2021 Assurance visit report: 2597738 6 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— protect and promote each child’s welfare. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(ii)) 8: The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome

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Requirement Due date

any such barriers; help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment; raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(vii)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

11: 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; 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; 15 January 2021 Assurance visit report: 2597738 7 that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i))ix)(xi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

*12: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; are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. 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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(b)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

*13: 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; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 15 January 2021 Assurance visit report: 2597738 8 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each

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Requirement Due date

child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f) and (h)) *14: 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; that arrangements are in place to— ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

22: Contact and access to communications If the registered person considers it to be necessary for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of a child, the registered person may impose conditions, prohibitions or restrictions upon a child’s— contact with parents, friends or relatives; access to communications under paragraph (3) of this regulation. (Regulation 22 (5)(a)(b)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

16: Statement of purpose The registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (5)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

10: The health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met; 15 January 2021 Assurance visit report: 2597738 9 children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 44: Independent person: visits and reports The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month; the independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to— HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1)(7)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Social Care Services (Clayton) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Social Care Services Group, 31 Shaw Road, Stockport SK4 4AG

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Inspectors

Maria McGranaghan, Social Care Inspector Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 2597738 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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