Children's Home run by London Borough of Hounslow in Hounslow

Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 1 SC062128 Registered provider: London Borough of Hounslow Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care and accommodation for up to six children. The home’s statement of purpose states that individual care packages are provided for children who have faced significant loss and trauma in their lives. The home can provide care for children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager in post since 12 January 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 3 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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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 and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 18 February 2020

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2020 Full Good 20/11/2018 Full Good 14/11/2017 Full Outstanding 30/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 3

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inadequate

At the time of this inspection, six children were living in the home.

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inadequate

Children’s overall experiences and progress are poor, which is having a detrimental impact on their safety and welfare.

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inadequate

Leaders, managers and staff do not use all information they receive from children’s social workers to support children to make progress or to evaluate the impact of the group living dynamics. Children do not have tailored care plans that consider their previous experiences and how these have influenced their behaviour. For example, issues relating to culture, faith, sexuality and emotional responses are not always considered. Consequently, opportunities for staff to develop a greater understanding of children and their needs are missed.

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inadequate

Children do not feel well supported by staff. Children report feeling ‘demonised’ by some members of staff and ‘always in the wrong’. Children report that key-work sessions and/or residents’ meetings are ineffective as they do not trust staff. Children also report that staff do not take their concerns seriously, respond appropriately or provide feedback to them when they make a complaint. This lack of trust and respect results in children often isolating themselves in their bedrooms and leaving the premises without informing staff of their whereabouts.

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inadequate

Not enough is done to support children to repair their relationships with each other and with some staff members. Some children do not speak to each other, and use racial or homophobic slurs, verbally abusive language, and enter physical altercations with each other. When these incidents occur, children are not offered debriefs or helped to participate in restorative work to help to repair relationships. Consequently, the dynamics within the home are fragile and children’s behaviour can deteriorate quickly. The manager and staff have failed to reflect and learn from these incidents to develop opportunities to improve relationships.

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

Safeguarding responses to protect children are inappropriate. For example, staff have failed to follow one child’s safety plan when they were under the influence of alcohol. Furthermore, staff allowed the same child to leave the home despite the risks to their safety and well-being. On another occasion, three children were able to barricade themselves into the lounge. The response of the staff was to call the children’s parents. This resulted in a parent coming to the home and the incident escalating. This incident left children traumatised.

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

Staff are unclear of their roles and responsibilities in protecting children. Despite having the knowledge of a child’s complex family history, staff allowed the child to Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 4 have an unplanned and unsupervised visit with a family member. Staff failed to consult the local authority out-of-hours duty team, as the corporate parent, to secure an agreed plan and strategy to minimise the risks for the child. Following this contact, the child’s vulnerability to child exploitation escalated. The failure to follow safeguarding policies and procedures has resulted in the child being placed at significant risk.

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

Managers fail to ensure that allegations raised by children against members of staff are promptly referred to the designated officer. This failure to follow basic safeguarding procedures leaves children and staff vulnerable and unprotected.

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

Leaders and managers fail to ensure that children are offered debrief discussions following the use of a measure of control. Consequently, children are not afforded an opportunity to talk through their worries, and staff miss out on the opportunity to learn from incidents and to develop preventative strategies.

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

Poor safe recruitment checks of agency staff place children at risk of harm. For example, leaders and managers do not ensure that individuals have the knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of the children in their care, prior to their first shift at the home. Leaders and managers do not ensure that photographic identification is seen and verified. Consequently, recruitment practice is not safe, which compromises children’s safety and well-being.

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

Behaviour management practice does not promote positive relationships between children and staff. Staff appear unable to manage low-risk behaviours and have inappropriately used the police to reinforce messages such as when children have refused to go to bed. Children receive inconsistent messages and responses in relation to their behaviour. Consequently, this leaves children feeling frustrated and annoyed.

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

Staff do not know how to manage children’s presenting needs. One child was angered by a situation when staff inappropriately made threats to call the police and called parents to help to manage children’s behaviour. The child subsequently responded by causing damage to the home. Leaders and managers focused on the child’s negative behaviours and did not acknowledge that staff had acted inappropriately. Consequently, staff believed that the situation was resolved. However, the child has retained residual negative feelings which have affected future interactions and behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management monitoring and oversight of the home are weak. Although the six- monthly quality of care review has been completed, there has been a failure to include feedback from children, families, staff or professionals, and it does not include an action/improvement plan. Furthermore, information from staff and children in relation to their concerns about practice at the home is not used effectively to improve the quality of care provided to children. Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 5 Poor management oversight has resulted in a failure to identify shortfalls in practice. For example, leaders and managers have failed to identify inaccurate information about the number of children living in the home recorded in the independent visitor’s monthly report. For instance, an incident report was incorrectly dated, and the information included in the report was not consistent with records made in the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

staff logs. Safeguarding notifications continue to be submitted late to Ofsted despite this being highlighted previously. Children’s feedback following incidents are viewed as isolated incidents, so themes and trends are not identified and used to improve practice. Furthermore, leaders and managers appear disorganised and indifferent to the legislation that regulates the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not feel supported by senior management. Staff acknowledge that there are difficulties in staff dynamics and that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on staff consistency. Staff report feeling exhausted, and that staff morale is poor. Consequently, staff struggle to make good decisions and to develop positive relationships when caring for children with complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Although leaders and managers have plans to recruit more staff, current staffing levels are a concern. Due to the number of staff vacancies, there is a reliance on the core staff to continually work overtime with help from agency staff. Consequently, leaders and managers are not providing a fully functional staff team, and children are not offered continuity of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of this inspection, three compliance notices have been issued. Lead Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 6

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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.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to managers ensuring that information received from social workers is used to identify how staff will specifically help each child and support them to make progress. 20 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— 20 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 7 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—

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Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to staff providing a safe environment in which all children are able to see how their views and opinions have contributed to the care they receive.

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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

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

that staff— 20 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 8 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

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 9 that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to staff creating a culture in which children are supported to understand their own and others’ behaviours in a manner which reduces conflict in the home.

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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.

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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

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

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

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff’s understanding and implementation of each child’s individual risk assessment, and their role in keeping children safe, particularly with regards to risks of exploitation. 27 August 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 27 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 10 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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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)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to leaders and managers ensuring that staff offer children the best care possible and that they are fully aware of how staff are contributing to improving the care offered to children.

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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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Requirement Due date

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

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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 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;

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 20 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 11 manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

that, subject to regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(d)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to managers understanding the impact on children when changes occur in their lives, such as children moving into the home or changes to contact with family and friends. The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— (there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider— is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of— the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1) (a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(2)(a)(b)) This relates specifically to the appointment and registration of a manager. 27 August 2021

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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 20 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 12 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,

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Requirement Due date

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

This relates specifically to the manager being fully satisfied that all staff, including agency and temporary staff, are suitable prior to working with children.

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure. 27 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 13 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 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(vii)(viii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff using agreed behaviour management strategies and that children are offered a debrief following every measure of control, discipline or restraint.

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Requirement Due date

If there is a referral of a person working in the home pursuant to section 35 (Regulated activity providers: duty to refer) of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006(1), the registered person must without delay notify—

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (3)(a)(b)(c) (4)(a)(b)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to leaders and managers ensuring that all allegations against staff are referred to the safeguarding officer. In addition, this refers to managers ensuring that safeguarding notifications are submitted within the required time frame. 20 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint, at the registered provider’s expense, a person ("the independent person") to visit and report on the children’s home carried on by the registered provider. 20 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 14 Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), the registered provider may not appoint the following as an independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered provider is a local authority, a person who is employed by that local authority in connection with the carrying on of the authority’s social services functions (as defined by section 1A of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970(1)) relating to children. (Regulation 43 (1) (3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to the independent person having objective and independent oversight of the care given to children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to leaders and managers having clear systems by which to monitor and evaluate the care given to children and ensuring that all views are incorporated into the resulting quality of care review. 20 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 15 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: SC062128 16

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow TW3 4DN

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Inspector

Tolulope Sawyerr, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC062128 17 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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