Children's Home run by Beaufort Care Group Ltd in Dorset

Inspection report children's home: 2623130 1 Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a charity. It is registered for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private provider which has several other homes in the area. This is the home’s first inspection since it registered with Ofsted on 22 December 2020. The manager registered with Ofsted on 23 December 2020.

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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.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2623130 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Since the home registered with Ofsted in December 2020, it has had a challenging time, which has included a significant safeguarding event and eight of the original staff team leaving. This has meant that children’s experiences have not been consistently good. For a time, only one child was living at the home. Another child has recently moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Staff have built and continue to build appropriate relationships with the children. The staff are caring and show the children they are cared for and wanted. Children are comfortable with staff and enjoy their company, which was observed during the inspection, with interactions being caring, respectful and fun. Despite this, the turnover of staff has meant children have been cared for by several different adults. This does not aid the continuity of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children are making progress. One child has completed over 130 AQA (A ssessment and Qualifications Alliance) awards and is actively seeking work. The other child is in full-time education and reported to be doing well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

The arrangements for new children moving into the home are generally appropriate. However, when formally assessing the suitability of a new child, the manager does not evaluate the skills of the staff team and its ability to meet the child’s identified needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children take part in a good range of activities. This range has been affected by the pandemic, but staff have successfully provided children with alternatives. Children have enjoyed hatching and rearing ducklings, which have added to the number of pet ducks in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires

Children plans require improvement. Currently, they do not provide staff with clear, current or consistence guidance on how to meet each child’s identified and emerging needs. In addition, they do not consistently contain information on review meetings or therapeutic input. The records maintained by staff also require improvement, as they are not of a consistently good quality, which reduces the effectiveness of these records in informing the children in their later lives of their time at the home. Inspection report children's home: 2623130 3 Staff have created a good quality, welcoming and homely environment for the children. It is spacious and reflects the personality of the children who live there.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding concerns have been appropriately addressed and appropriate records maintained. Senior managers have carried out a root-cause analysis into the significant safeguarding event. Outcomes for this are being used to improve practice.

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improvement to be good

Restraint is rarely used. However, there have been two occasions when staff used holds they were not trained to use. These were used as, at the time, only one member of staff on duty was trained, and the attempt by this member of staff to use an authorised hold was unsuccessful. Staff, including new staff, are now all trained in the home’s restraint practice.

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improvement to be good

The quality of incident records is variable, as they do not consistently provide all the information required. These reports describe the incident and what the child was doing, but they do not provide consistently clear evidence of what staff did to prevent or resolve the incident. Language used in these reports, on occasions, is vague, emotive and institutionalised. There is evidence of reflection on incidents with staff and children.

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improvement to be good

The management of the children’s behaviours varies. In addition, children’s behaviour management plans require improvement, as they do not provide clear guidance for staff. There have been incidents when staff chose to ignore the child’s behaviours and sometimes remove themselves to the office, leaving the child/children unsupervised. This is not appropriate childcare and does not safeguard children. For example, during one incident staff did not stop the children from taking the home’s car keys and entering the vehicle. Staff did remove the keys but left the children unsupervised inside the car resulting in the children releasing the handbrake and being placed at risk of harm. At times, the police have inappropriately been called to manage children’s behaviours. The manager has correctly refused to involve the police during a more recent incident

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improvement to be good

In general, missing-from-home events are managed effectively with one exception. This involved staff inappropriately involving the police once they had found the children.

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improvement to be good

The management of risk requires improvement. Children’s risk assessments contain a lot of information but, again, they lack consistent clear guidance for staff on how to address and mitigate the identified risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment requires improvement. Although references are verified, there is no record of what was asked during this verification or what responses were received. Inspection report children's home: 2623130 4 Where staff have stated that they have a professional qualification, there is no evidence of this on their personnel file. In addition, where staff have an identified medical condition, the manager has not completed a risk assessment, which could leave both parties vulnerable. The manager has carried out an audit of the recruitment files recently and has signed each file to say they were complete, which was not the case.

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improvement to be good

Agency staff records do not contain the required information. In the home’s workforce development plan, it states only agency staff who have safeguarding training will work at the home. On two of the four agency staff files sampled, there was no record of any safeguarding training. One of these agency workers has had a safeguarding concern raised about them, which has been appropriately addressed. The manager did gather this information during the inspection, but these staff had already worked at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This is the home’s first inspection since registration. The registered manager does not have an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement. Senior leaders had identified concerns about the management of the home prior to this inspection. They have undertaken a review of the home and formulated an action plan. There has been one review of this plan, and senior leaders have identified that not enough progress has been made on the actions set. Senior leaders are taking further action. In addition, the manager fails to use the reports from the independent visitor effectively to develop and improve practice at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The current workforce development plan does not reflect the manager’s vision for the home. The manager is caring and has good relationships with the children and staff but has not fulfilled effectively the role as a registered manager. The manager monitors the records, but has not effectively identified or addressed all of the shortfalls found at this inspection. The manager has not ensured that significant events are consistently notified to Ofsted. One event was found during the inspection which Ofsted should have been notified of. The manager made a retrospective notification during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Significant changes in the staff team have affected the development of the home. Leaders have reflected on this and provided exit interviews for staff who have left. However, only two staff took part in these interviews. Staff vacancies remain. Staff are currently doing extra hours to cover shifts, and agency staff are being used. Staff rotas do not currently accurately reflect who is or has worked at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

All staff spoken to during this inspection said they felt supported by the manager and each other. Formal staff supervision is not consistently carried out regularly as required. This does not support the team to develop. Inspection report children's home: 2623130 5 The staff have developed good working relationship with other professionals. The one social worker who contributed to this inspection praised the team for its commitment to the children and its communication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers will challenge and have challenged other professionals effectively when they feel a child’s needs are not being met. However, on one occasion, this should have been escalated in a timelier manner.

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

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— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children’s plans must be current, complete and contain clear guidance for staff on how to meet the child’s identified and emerging needs. These records must also be written in a way which is meaningful to the child in later life. 31 August 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—

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Requirement Due date

mutual respect and trust; 31 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2623130 6 an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same; de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(x)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In addition, records of incidents must be of a consistently good quality and include actions taken by staff to prevent or manage the incident. Staff should not use vague, emotive or institutionalised language within the child’s records. Also, police should not be used to manage children’s behaviours.

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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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 31 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2623130 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph 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;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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; 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

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, 31 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2623130 8 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

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)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In addition, records must be maintained as to the information gathered during the verifications of references, and the registered manager must ensure that any agency staff who are to work at the home have the experience and relevant qualifications to do so. The registered manager must carry out a risk assessment where staff have identified health needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 31 August 2021

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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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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated; or

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 31 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2623130 9 A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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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. (Regulation 44 (5)) In particular, the registered manager must implement the recommendations in the independent visitor’s report in a timely manner. 30 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child. Plans which are agreed between the home and their placing authority must include details of the steps the home will take to manage and mitigate any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 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 that the staff have the skills and qualifications to meet these needs. They must also fully consider the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children and vice versa. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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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) Inspection report children's home: 2623130 10 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Hollygrove Business Park, Verwood Road, Ringwood, Dorset BH24 2DB

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2623130 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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