Children's Home run by Pilgrim Extra Care Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 1 Registered provider: Pilgrim Extra Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is the only home owned by this private provider. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager recently resigned from his post. The newly appointed manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. This manager is suitably qualified and experienced.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 24 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

p.1

inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

p.1

inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 2 Since the home was registered in April 2020, three monitoring visits have been carried out. Following the monitoring visit carried out on 24 March 2021, the home was issued with a notice restricting accommodation. This remains in place until 21 June 2021 and is subject to review. Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 3

p.2

Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected. Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 4

p.3

inadequate

This home has had periods of instability since its registration in April 2020. Managers and staff have sometimes failed to meet children’s needs and keep them safe. This has led to the home having a period of temporary closure. In addition, enforcement action has been taken in response to shortfalls in the quality of care provided. Consequently, not all children have had positive experiences while living at this home.

p.4

inadequate

There have been two separate occasions when children have experienced unplanned placement endings due to the inability of staff to manage children’s behaviour. With regards to the child who left the home most recently, staff had failed to follow the agreed plans and risk assessments in place to support the child. Staff have struggled to meet children’s complex needs. In particular, they have struggled to manage incidents of challenging behaviour.

p.4

inadequate

There is currently one child living in the home. This child is making good progress. He attends school full time and his needs are being met. He has good relationships with the staff team, and he described feeling safe and well cared for at the home. The staff meet his day-to-day needs through providing him with consistent routines and boundaries. Staff have a good understanding of the child’s needs and how to meet them.

p.4

inadequate

The child’s health needs are met, and there are plans to provide additional therapy and life-story work. Professionals gave positive feedback about the child’s progress and how well he had settled at the home.

p.4

inadequate

Family time is promoted and supported. Memory books are being developed by the staff and these are shared with the people who are important to the child. Communication between the home and professionals is described as good.

p.4

inadequate

The child has a voice in the home and he is regularly consulted about his care. The physical environment is clean and tidy and the child’s room has been personalised to reflect his taste and interests.

p.4

How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Recruitment practice in the home is unsafe. Staff have been permitted to start work in the home prior to the necessary pre-employment checks being completed. These checks relate to staff suitability to work with children, such as Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. References provided during the recruitment process are not routinely verified or scrutinised for their validity. This practice means that potentially unsuitable adults could be employed at the home and this could place children at risk of harm. Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 5 Not all staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. Staff are not clear about the action they would take in the event of an allegation or if they had concerns about harm to a child. Despite staff having training, there is not a secure understanding of whistle-blowing, and how to report a concern. This could place children at risk of harm.

p.4

How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Some incidents in the home have not been managed well. Staff lack sufficient skill, experience and knowledge about children’s behaviour, and they lack the strategies to manage behaviour positively and effectively. This has led to incidents in the home and in the community.

p.5

How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff have not consistently followed children’s risk assessments. This has led to incidents involving children that could have been avoided. Children’s risk assessments are now of better quality. They are more detailed and are individualised to the child.

p.5

How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

The majority of staff do not have a relevant qualification in residential childcare, nor experience, and they are still in their probationary period. Consequently, this means that inexperienced, unqualified staff are undertaking shift-leader duties. There are not enough experienced staff to supervise and mentor new staff effectively. There are periods when there are no staff in the home who are suitably qualified and experienced. There is a high turnover of staff, which further impacts on the stability of the home and the development of the team. The home’s manager is responsible for developing staff and for the day-to-day management of the home. This is a vulnerability in the home.

p.5

How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff do not always follow health and safety procedures. Fire-evacuation drills are not carried out regularly. Not all staff have received training around fire safety or health and safety. On one occasion, the home was left unattended and unsecured, with windows left open, including the office window. This was in breach of health and safety policy in the home, and means that a person without authority could have entered the home and accessed confidential information.

p.5

good

The home has had three managers since it opened in April 2020. Management instability has adversely affected the home and has led to inconsistency in management oversight. Consequently, there is no clear plan in place for the home’s improvement and development.

p.5

good

There are currently no members of staff who are appropriately skilled and qualified to manage the home in the manager’s absence. This leaves the home vulnerable, should an unexpected absence occur.

p.5

good

Shortfalls and weaknesses in leadership and management persist. This is due, in part, to a lack of senior staff who are qualified and experienced. This impacts on the Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 6 capacity of the manager to carry out management tasks, while being immersed in the day-to-day care of the child living at the home. There is some evidence of recent progress regarding the quality of the child’s plans and risk assessments. This is, in part, due to the stability of the current child’s placement.

p.5

good

The manager is able to reflect on the weaknesses in the home, and she is trying to address these. However, she acknowledges that there are limitations in the progress that can be made, due to a lack of experienced staff.

p.6

good

The manager does not have clear oversight of all relevant documents, processes and systems in the home. Incident reports have been updated and amended without the knowledge and oversight of management in the home. Management responses to complaints have not been robust.

p.6

good

Staff do not have regular supervision. This means that staff do not have appropriate, formal opportunities to receive feedback on their working practice and to discuss areas for development. Staff have access to a range of training. However, there is limited management review of the impact of training and whether staff apply their learning in their work. Staff have a limited understanding of safeguarding, despite having received training.

p.6

good

There is a current restriction of accommodation notice in place. This prevents the admission of any new children to the home. Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 7

p.6

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.

p.7

Requirement Due date

*The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(b)(e))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to staff understanding safeguarding and child protection. It also refers to the need to have more robust staffing arrangements and recruitment arrangements in order to keep children safe, and ensuring that practice in the home complies with health and safety guidelines. 14 June 2021

p.7

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— 14 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 8 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.8

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to staff having specific and relevant training to support children in the home.

p.8

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—

p.8

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.8

Requirement Due date

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

p.8

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)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 14 June 2021

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.8

Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.8

Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

p.8

Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that all staff have a DBS check prior to commencing employment and being left unsupervised with children. It also refers to the 14 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 9 need to ensure that references are relevant and are verified by the registered person.

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.9

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

p.9

Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

p.9

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pilgrim Extra Care Ltd

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 43 Woodville Road, Boston, Lincolnshire PE21 8AR

p.10

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Agness Karimazondo

p.10

Inspector

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2569519 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11