Children's Home run by Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 1 Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd 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 owned by a small private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in February 2021. The home’s registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified.

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

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was carried out on 26 August 2021 in response to complaints received about the children’s home. Concerns were raised by a placing local authority about poor information-sharing and a lack of response to safeguarding issues. A second, separate complaint also raised concerns about poor communication from managers and staff and raised issues about how well staff manage children’s behaviour. Shortly after the monitoring visit, a further complaint Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 2 was received that indicated that the management of children’s behaviour was still a concern. Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 4

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inadequate

This home has had a difficult start since it opened in February 2021. Some of the children who have come to live at this home have made minimal progress. One social worker described children being contained, rather than supported to make positive progress. There are also concerns that some risks to children have escalated since moving to this home.

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inadequate

Concerns about the capacity of managers and staff to safeguard children means that the overall judgement is inadequate. Processes designed to safeguard children are often poorly managed.

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inadequate

One child has lived at the home since it opened. Other children have come to live at the home but have since moved on, sometimes in difficult circumstances. Some of the children living at the home at the time of the inspection have only lived there for a relatively short time. However, these children experienced good planning ahead of their move to the home. Consequently, they are settling in well and forming positive relationships with staff and with other children. Care has been taken more recently to develop good partnership working with the professionals involved with the children in the home.

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inadequate

The children interact well with each other. The house comes alive when the children are all at home. There is lots of music, talking and laughter.

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inadequate

All of the children live at some distance from their placing authorities, and they spend most weekends visiting their families. Staff support these visits to ensure that they maintain their familial links. A parent was positive about the home and the care children receive. She stated that she is in regular contact and praised staff for facilitating their family visits.

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inadequate

One child is due to start college. The other children are in full-time education and travel a great distance back to their home authority for this. Staff travel with them and remain in the local area during the school day. This is to ensure that they can provide support to the children if required. This commitment is enabling the children to maintain their education at a crucial point of their school lives.

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inadequate

The children have access to psychological support through the in-house therapists. Children are engaging in these informal sessions. They also have formal support through the child and adolescent mental health services.

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inadequate

Children’s health needs are appropriately met. They are encouraged to engage with specialist services to address issues, such as substance misuse. Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 5 Children are now taking part in cooking and planning meals together. This is enhancing the family feel of the home.

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inadequate

Staff use direct work, in the form of key-work sessions, to find out about children’s views, wishes and feelings. Children can also express their views at house meetings, and in general discussions with staff. Their ideas are responded to and used to enhance the home.

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

Initially, children came to live at the home without due consideration to whether they were a good match with the children already resident, or consideration of the skills and experience of the staff team. This had a negative impact on children, and placed children and staff at risk. Poor placement decisions by managers led to very difficult dynamics between the children, and there was an increase in incidents, including children self-harming. This was compounded by the staff team’s lack of experience and expertise to address these behaviours. The manager has now devised a checklist of information that she requires prior to agreeing to children moving in. As the home is currently at capacity, this revised admissions process has not yet been used.

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

Managers have failed to notify Ofsted of significant incidents, such as allegations being made against staff. Some notifications are made, but not in a timely manner. This prevents Ofsted from having oversight of significant events in the home and how any incidents are managed.

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

Staff have not received the appropriate training to ensure that they can safeguard children. This training is essential and made more pressing for staff with little or no prior experience of residential childcare.

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

The home went through a period of children going missing from the home. Incidents of children going missing were not managed well. Staff were not proactive in assisting in the search for children. Staff did not consider associated risks and they missed opportunities to further safeguard children. This includes not checking with taxi drivers where they had collected children from, and not considering risks of exploitation. Recording during this period was also very poor. Incidents of children going missing from the home have now reduced, but this is because the children concerned have moved on from the home.

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

Children’s support plans are written as a quick reference guide to their likes, dislikes and behaviours. These are then incorporated into a risk assessment document. Risk assessments are not always updated when changes occur. When risk assessments are updated, the changes are difficult to understand. Poorly written risk assessments, sometimes coupled with the omission of any new or known risk factors, do not support staff in safeguarding children.

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

Children’s records are not personalised. Files sampled contained inaccurate information and descriptions, including ethnicity. These errors mean that incorrect Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 6 information could be shared with other professionals. It could also cause delay in missing children being located.

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

There are significant omissions in recording and in daily logs. This includes information about children who have been missing from the home, such how children presented when they returned home.

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

The home’s location risk assessment still requires updating as it does not meet regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is registered for this home and a nearby home, owned by the same company. It is evident that the manager is struggling to work across both homes. Consequently, management oversight in the home is limited. The manager is not fulfilling her management role, and many essential tasks are not completed. Recruitment for deputy managers is underway.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff speak positively about the manager and they describe her as always being available to them and the children. Unfortunately, this availability is having a negative impact on her ability to manage the home effectively. There is very poor oversight of documents and little quality assurance. The manager has been unaware of errors in recording and in the information recorded by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual, currently unable to attend the home, is offering support remotely. The owner, consultant and in-house therapist are now offering the manager additional support. These arrangements are very new, so it is too early to see any positive impact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is clear about the plans and strategies in place for each of the children. Yet, much of this is not progressed due to delays in completing paperwork.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The five shortfalls identified at the recent monitoring visit have not been addressed. As such, the requirements set will be restated. The manager has started to make improvements, but some aspects have not been fully met. There are further concerns about staff supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not utilised training opportunities that would enhance staff practice. This includes an offer of staff training from the police, regarding their local missing- from-care protocols.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The monthly reports from the independent visitor rarely contain any feedback from external parties. This feedback is essential to inform the visitor’s evaluation of whether children are safe and well cared for. The manager often fails to respond to the recommendations made in the independent visitor’s reports in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose still fails to detail the staff team and their qualifications. This was raised as an issue at the monitoring visit. The requirement will be restated. Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 7

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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 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

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; 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 8 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. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to staff managing children’s behaviour more effectively in and outside 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 9 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring that concerns about children are responded to promptly and tenaciously, with effective and timely communication with relevant agencies. It also refers to ensuring that new children are appropriately matched with those already living in the home.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

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’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 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 10 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)(a)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the registered manager is enabled to fulfil their role and not relied on to cover shortfalls in staffing; that feedback from recent complaints is used to strengthen childcare practice and inform admission decisions; that leaders and managers only admit children to the home when there are sufficient experienced and qualified staff to meet their needs; and that staff receive training that better equips them for their role.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where ap- propriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the statement of purpose is up to date, that an updated copy is sent to Ofsted and that it accurately describes the care provided. 29 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 11 This specifically refers to ensuring that records are completed fully, with attention to detail and accuracy, and filed correctly.

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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—

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons, without delay, of any serious incident, as described. Notifications need to be shared with some urgency. Serious safeguarding matters should not be embedded within correspondence where there is a risk that the information may overlooked. 29 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. 29 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 12 The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure, where possible, that the visitor’s opinion on children’s safeguarding and well-being is informed by the views of parents and professionals.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they work closely with other agencies and organisations in the local community to ensure children’s needs are met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)

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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: 2625585 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 40 Harpur Street, Bedford, Bedfordshire MK40 2QT

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Inspector

Sonia Hay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2625585 14 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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