Children's Home run by Innovate Therapeutic Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 1 Registered provider: Innovate Therapeutic Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have emotional or behavioural needs. There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The purpose of the home is to provide a 16-week placement during which assessment, therapeutic intervention and transition to foster care will take place.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in November 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected, their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and their care and experiences are poor.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some children have made good progress in certain areas. However, there are also examples where children’s progress has declined significantly since their admission. Not all children are receiving safe or effective care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff relationships with children vary in quality. One child felt that she was not always listened to and that her concerns were not taken seriously. Staff have failed to develop meaningful relationships with another child and as a result, are unable to engage him in the specialised support programme as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff understand the importance of education and work hard to support children to overcome any barriers to learning. However, one child’s progress in this area has declined significantly since he was admitted to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The matching of children is not consistently effective. Some children have been negatively affected by others; this is both in terms of their progress and experiences. For example, there are examples of previously settled children being drawn into negative behaviours by fellow residents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A child’s transition into the home was not well managed. At the time of the inspection, a child was due to be admitted to the home. Although some staff who were due to support him had met him on one previous occasion, they did not have an understanding of his care needs. Furthermore, there were plans to give the child a bedroom which was highly inappropriate for his gender, age and interests.

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

Risks to children’s safety and well-being are not well managed. In some examples, there is a failure to clearly identify risks. Where risks are identified, guidance is unclear and at times conflicting. This means that staff do not have sufficient understanding about the actions required of them to maintain children’s safety.

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

The manager seeks input from external professionals and communicates with the appropriate partners when concerns arise. However, multi-agency working does not result in robust risk management plans. As a result, one child in particular remains at significant risk of harm.

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

Relationships between children have been problematic at times. One child expressed upset about another child’s behaviour towards her. She felt that staff did not take sufficient action to address these behaviours and therefore she did not feel protected.

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

The manager and staff demonstrate good insight into children’s behaviours. They are able to de-escalate most challenging situations and as a result, incidents of physical restraint are not excessive. When they do occur, appropriate records are maintained. Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 3 However, these are not always monitored by managers and debriefs for both children and staff, following physical restraints, are not consistent.

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

Some environmental issues have not been addressed in a prompt manner. For example, a first floor fire exit door has been left in an unsafe state for several weeks, despite a number of staff raising concerns about it. Failure to address potential risks in the environment mean that children are exposed to avoidable harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in November 2020. The manager demonstrates a sound value base and a child-centred approach. However, he has not yet been able to translate these values into practice, therefore children are not receiving consistently good care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Care planning is poor. Staff are not properly prepared for new children being admitted to the home. Decisions to admit children are not informed by thorough impact risk assessments. As a result, two children who have been admitted to the home have experienced unsuccessful outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a large turnover of staff, which has been disruptive to the home. Staff morale is low and staff express frustration about a lack of communication from leaders. Some staff feel that their concerns are not taken seriously or acted upon.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are shortfalls in the quality of recording. Numerous examples of outdated or inaccurate records were identified. In one example, information belonging to a child was found in another child’s file. Records in relation to staff, including supervision records, are also badly organised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring is not being used effectively. In some cases, monitoring does not identify areas that require improvement. In others, required improvements have been identified but not followed up in an effective manner. Failure to monitor standards effectively or take action when concerns are identified means that children are not assured of an improving service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

During the inspection, the inspectors identified that Ofsted has not been notified about some significant events that have occurred in the home. This impedes its ability to monitor services and as such, this failure to notify significant incidents does not promote children’s safety or best interests. Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 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

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff ensuring that children’s complaints are heard and acted upon. 27 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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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 staff— 27 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 5 encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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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. 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(d)) 27 June 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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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

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; 27 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 6 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;

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

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the need to ensure that processes for monitoring standards of quality and safety are informed by the progress and experiences of children and that monitoring is effective so that poor or unsafe practice is identified and addressed.

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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; and

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have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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

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ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)) 27 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 27 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 27 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 7 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure.

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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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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 35 (3 )(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

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

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

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are kept up to date; and 27 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 8 are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 27 June 2021

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the safer recruitment tracker confirms that additional scrutiny has taken place where necessary, in relation to information received about a prospective employee. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 9

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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: 2612071 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Innovate Therapeutic Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 15 Friars Street, Ipswich IP1 1TD

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Inspectors

Marie Cordingley, Social Care Inspector Rachel Springford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2612071 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 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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