Children's Home run by Break Charity in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 1 SC439153 Registered provider: Break

p.1

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This charity run home provides care for up to four children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma along with family and placement breakdowns.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in October 2020.

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 home on 29 April 2021 to carry out a full inspection. The report is published on our website.

p.1

This monitoring visit

This visit was conducted following concerns raised by a third party. At this visit, serious shortfalls have been identified in the leadership and management of the home.

p.1

This monitoring visit

There has been a serious incident during which three children left the home without any of the staff being aware. The staff were notified by the police that the children were in the local town because two of the children had been arrested. The children had left the home the evening before this incident, but, on that occasion, they had returned. Social workers raised their concerns, which are being investigated by the senior management team. The initial investigation indicates that the children left the home to engage in planned criminal behaviour at night.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Following the incidents, a safety plan was put in place to ensure that the children are safely supervised at night. The plan stipulated that staff should read the children’s risk assessments. However, the risk assessments have not been amended to reflect any of the current incidents and, therefore, do not ensure that staff are aware of the Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 2 current risks. The management team has asked night staff to stay on the first-floor landing between the hours of 10pm and 7am. The night staff logs do not include details of staff’s checks or whether the children are settled and asleep. This limits the staff’s understanding and ability to predict further incidents.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Despite an increase in the frequency and severity of incidents, there has been insufficient action to reduce the risks. There is a lack of leadership and direction. The management team has failed to provide any objective oversight and to prioritise the needs of the more vulnerable children. Although children’s individual needs are considered, the impact of group dynamics has not been sufficiently assessed. The staff are unable to safely manage the combined risks for the children.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The children living at the home are not compatible with each other. Extremely vulnerable children are placed with older children, and the staff have not been able to manage unsafe and influencing behaviours. This has led to risk-taking behaviour for three children and to the children’s poor attendance at school.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Staff morale is low. Several staff have left. There is a number of new staff, and the existing staff are spread thinly in the support of the new staff. Recruitment campaigns are ongoing, and new staff inductions are underway. However, the shortage of established staff continues to put pressure on the remaining staff.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The high turnover of staff has an impact on all the children. Established children miss staff who they have known for a number of years. The children who are new to the home cannot name staff who they have connected with. This is due to the number of different staff who are working at the home. The constant staff changes do not help the children to feel settled.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The senior staff have tried hard to ensure that shifts include a balance of experienced qualified staff and agency or relief staff. However, the rota does not provide a consistent accurate record of the staff who have worked at the home. Therefore, it is difficult to establish whether staffing arrangements are safe and adequately support children’s needs.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Children’s care continues to be affected by staff changes, poor communication and a lack of organisation. One child has been waiting for two months for support to open a bank account. Another child has missed several dentist appointments, and the staff were over an hour late collecting one child from school.

p.2

This monitoring visit

External professionals met with the senior managers to discuss the risks following the incident when the children left the home at night. Despite reassurance from senior managers, confidence in the service is dwindling. Social workers and parents have growing concerns.

p.2

This monitoring visit

A manager has been appointed and has started in her role. A deputy manager has been deployed from another home to support the new manager. The hazards in the Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 3 garden have all been removed, and there is an action plan in place to address the other shortfalls identified.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The three requirements and one recommendation raised at the full inspection have not been checked and are restated.

p.3

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/10/2019 Full Good 26/06/2019 Full Inadequate 20/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 4

p.3

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.4

Requirement Due date

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

p.4

Requirement Due date

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

p.4

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.4

Requirement Due date

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

p.4

Requirement Due date

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

p.4

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.4

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(b))

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, improve the detail and quality of the children’s risk assessments, and implement an effective system to assess the potential admission of children into the home to understand the combined risks of children living together.

p.4

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 May 2021

p.4

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— 18 June 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 5 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.4

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.5

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that there is a clear management assessment of matching and of the impact on group dynamics and of the combined risks that the group presents;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that there are sufficient staff with the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of children and keep them safe;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s management team implements effective monitoring and review systems, and provides staff with the necessary support, direction and oversight to enable appropriate action to be taken when managing serious incidents at the home;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that all risk assessments are kept up to date and implemented by the home’s management team and staff; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s management team and staff maintain accurate and up-to-date records. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 6 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.5

Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 May 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

p.6

Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 30 June 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 7

p.6

Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

p.7

Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Schofield House, 1 Spar Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 6BX

p.7

Inspector

Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC439153 8 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.

p.7

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 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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8