Children's Home run by Worcestershire Children First in Worcestershire

Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 1 Registered provider: Worcestershire Children First Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home was previously owned by the local authority. It re-registered in October 2019 when the local authority moved to be a holding company. The home is registered to provide care for up to four children who have suffered adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager is in post and has recently registered with Ofsted.

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Inspection date: 29 March 2022

Date of last inspection: 9 February 2022

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Inspection date: 29 March 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 29 March 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

During this inspection, serious shortfalls in the protection of children and the leadership and management of the home were identified. As a result, a declined effectiveness judgement was made, three compliance notices were issued and a notice restricting accommodation was served.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. One child had recently moved on. This child had lived at the home for several months and had enjoyed a settled period. However, when the child’s needs and behaviours changed and escalated, managers and staff were unable to meet this child’s very complex needs alongside the needs of the other children at the home. Although managers recognised this and considered alternative arrangements, they did not act quickly enough to escalating concerns. This resulted in an unplanned ending for one child as well as all children experiencing significant distress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has not been able to drive forward improvements as quickly as he would have liked to. This is because he has been heavily involved in the direct care of children and has needed to respond to a high number of challenging incidents. Subsequently, not all the requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection have been met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has not had the capacity to maintain effective monitoring of the service. His oversight of incident records is poor. As a result, incidents are not robustly reviewed, and learning is not implemented to reduce risks to children and improve the quality of care they receive. For example, when a child accessed a flat roof by climbing out of a window in an unlocked staff bedroom, the manager did not review this or take any action to mitigate risk in the future. In addition, records did not contain essential information about responses to a serious incident involving a vulnerable child who left the home during the night. These shortfalls leave children vulnerable to harm.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, children have told professionals that they do not feel safe living in the home. Since the full inspection, there have been 13 serious incidents in the home. During these incidents, children have been exposed to staff being assaulted by a peer and police have attended the home multiple times. Because of these poor experiences and level of disruption within the home, two children refused to return to the home after a significant incident occurred and one child no longer wants to live at the home due to his experiences. Failure by managers to respond effectively to the risks posed by one child’s challenging behaviour has left children feeling unsettled and at times, unsafe in their home. Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 3 Managers and staff have consulted with children about their views following incidents in the home. However, managers have failed to respond to the views and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

needs of children in their care when they have said that they do not feel safe. Despite being aware that one child was becoming increasingly frustrated with the challenging behaviour of his peer, managers did not act to ensure the children’s safety. Subsequently, a serious incident occurred which brought a child to the attention of the police and has increased their risk of criminalisation. The failure of managers to hear and respond to the views of children means that children have not received essential support and reassurance at a time of significant turbulence in the home. This has left children without a voice and vulnerable to harm.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Managers and staff have not ensured that all children know how to make a complaint and have access to advocacy support. One child told the independent visitor he did not know how to make a complaint. The manager did not speak to the child about this to be reassured that he knows how to share any concerns. Another child has not had independent advocacy support, which would have been useful given the level of difficulties and challenges they face. Failure by staff and managers to ensure that a child has crucial independent support could significantly impact on their progress and future outcomes.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Managers and staff do not keep children’s risk assessments up to date. For example, despite an increase in missing-from-home incidents for one child, his risk assessment had not been updated for six weeks. In addition, the missing-from- home protocol fails to provide sufficient information for staff to respond to such incidents. This does not fully promote children’s safety and welfare.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

When children go missing from home, staff work hard to try and locate them. Staff work in partnership with safeguarding agencies and use a variety of sources to try and obtain information that supports the safe return of the child. However, information from return home interviews is not proactively reviewed. A return home interview for one child contains information essential to assessing and responding to risk. The inspector found that the manager had not had sight of this information. This prevents the manager from putting arrangements in place to protect the child.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Notwithstanding the shortfalls identified, the inspector found positive aspects regarding the care children receive. The team of staff feel supported by one another. One member of staff stated, ‘We are a close team.’ The staff have faced considerable challenges since the last inspection. Despite this, they have tried their best to support children in the most difficult of circumstances. The manager and staff have shown a high level of commitment and resilience. For example, the home sustained damage because of incidents. The staff promptly responded to this by redecorating the home. This is because staff know that it is important for children to live in a warm and welcoming environment.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the last inspection, one child living at the home was completing a phased return to education. This child now attends school every day. Another child, who has lived in the home for two years, is now engaging with therapeutic support. This is Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 4 because he has developed trusting relationships with staff. As a result, his confidence in talking about his emotions has increased.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has addressed some of the requirements from the last inspection. Behaviour management plans for one child are up to date and ensure that staff are aware of effective de-escalation techniques. Records reflect that staff use these techniques when managing challenging behaviour. When there is a need to use physical intervention to protect children and staff, children receive debriefs with someone who was not involved in the incident.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has ensured that he has notified Ofsted of serious incidents in a timely manner. He has also reflected on this with the staff team and developed internal guidance to support the team’s understanding of notifiable events. Submitting timely notifications to Ofsted enables the regulator to monitor what has happened and how managers have responded. Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 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 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—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

has access to the home’s children’s guide, and the home’s complaints procedure, when the child’s placement in the 9 May 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 7 home is agreed and throughout the child’s stay in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

how to make a complaint or representations in relation to the home or the care the child receives and how any such complaint or representations will be dealt with; and

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(d)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers and staff consult with children to ascertain their views, wishes and feelings. In addition, ensure that children have access to advocacy support and understand how to make a complaint.

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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. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children receive support to enable them to rebuild positive relationships with staff and each other. 9 May 2022

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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

that staff— 9 May 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 8 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that each child has a thorough and up- to-date risk assessment. In addition, ensure that staff have access to up-to-date missing-from-home protocols for each child.

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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

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

In particular, ensure that managers review, implement and make use of monitoring and review systems to ensure that shortfalls in the quality of care are identified. In addition, ensure that incidents are thoroughly reviewed and that this informs plans to improve the care children receive. 9 May 2022

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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. 9 May 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 9 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers, including senior managers, take timely and effective action to review the placement of a child when they are no longer able to meet their needs.

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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 staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should maintain good employment practice to minimise potential risks to children from unsuitable people caring from them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. This should include and take account of information sourced from consultation with relevant agencies. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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: 2548569 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Worcestershire Children First

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester WR5 2NP

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2548569 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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