Children's Home run by iMapcentre Limited in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 1 Registered provider: iMapcentre Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run. It provides care for up to nine children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There has not been a registered manager in post since 7 May 2021. A new manager is in post who is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted.

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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: 3 November 2021

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/06/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 3

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inadequate

Serious and widespread failings in practice in this home mean that the safety and progress of children living in the home are compromised.

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inadequate

Two children are currently living at the home. One child is making progress in his education and is developing greater confidence in expressing his preferences. He is accessing an increasing range of activities which promote his development and independence.

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inadequate

However, another child has not accessed school since before arriving at the home. Meetings have been held with the placing authority and education professionals. Leaders and managers have failed to escalate their concerns about the delay in identifying a new school.

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inadequate

The child has no education plan in place to track any formal or informal education activities to understand his learning journey. Furthermore, the staff do not promote a consistent routine to promote the child’s overall physical and emotional well-being, or to prepare him to return to school. Following an incident in the car, external stakeholders raised concerns with the inspector that the child’s opportunities to enjoy activities away from the home have been more limited until the delivery of a more suitable vehicle.

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inadequate

Children’s files do not contain current local authority plans and important documents to guide the staff in providing care that keeps children safe and helps them to develop and make positive progress.

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

Children living in the home are subject to deprivation of liberty orders and have high levels of supervision. Individual support plans outline when doors can be locked, for example, to restrict children’s access to communal areas so that their dignity is maintained when staff are helping them with personal care.

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

Records show that there are occasions when staff do not follow direction. Use of environmental restrictions, such as holding or locking doors, means that children’s welfare cannot be visually monitored to make sure they are safe. On one occasion, a child was locked in his living area alone so that a member of staff could go to an office in another part of the building. This creates unnecessary restriction to the child’s freedom. The manager is currently investigating a complaint from the child’s parent about this incident.

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

Records of the use of physical intervention do not meet regulatory requirements. Some reports include inconsistencies. They do not record observations of responses Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 4 of children who cannot express their views verbally, after a restraint. A lack of debrief of all staff involved in physical interventions and a lack of effective management oversight means that poor practice is not identified or addressed, to ensure that children’s welfare is safeguarded.

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

A child’s known behaviour was not risk assessed until after an incident took place. Despite a lengthy transition from another of the provider’s homes, the staff were not trained to identity and respond appropriately to the child’s specific needs. An investigation highlights that staff did not understand the potential serious consequences of their failure to act promptly to seek medical advice, or to record the incident immediately.

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

Poor shift planning leaves children and staff members at risk of harm. It fails to ensure that experienced permanent staff work with children at times when they may become upset and display behaviours that are more challenging to manage. The individual conducting the debrief of a member of staff failed to escalate the issue to ensure improvements to shift planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has not had a registered manager since 7 May 2021. Since then, the responsible individual has supported the deputy manager and staff team but was absent for a significant period. A director oversaw the management of the home in the interim. Although regular support was available to the deputy manager during this time, she did not receive formal supervision, despite a new child arriving at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

An experienced manager was appointed to the home in March 2022 and is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. He and the responsible individual are currently reviewing practice and revising documentation to make it fit for purpose. However, it is too soon to see if this is improving children’s safety and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A range of multidisciplinary meetings are held to support staff in their practice. However, the responsible individual was unable to confirm if staff who have worked at the home for more than a year have had an appraisal. This is a missed opportunity to reflect on staff members’ performance and identify any development needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager was unable to access recruitment records on the provider’s electronic system for staff who have started working at the home recently. This means that safer recruitment checks for those staff could not be seen by the inspector.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Reports completed more recently by an independent person do not consistently include consultation with stakeholders. The reports do not identify practice shortfalls to assist managers to drive improvement in the quality of care provided for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 5 Management monitoring systems have failed to identify practice shortfalls in the home. This means that shortcomings have not been addressed to ensure that the staff deliver care that keeps children safe and improves children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following this visit, a case review was held on 9 May 2022. Four compliance notices and a restriction of accommodation notice have been served. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 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, the 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 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

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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)(iii)(iv)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that risk management plans are in place that address individual children’s needs and vulnerabilities. The registered person should ensure that the staff identify and respond to risks as recorded in children’s plans. The staff should take appropriate action to keep children safe and ensure their well-being. 28 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 7 *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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider should ensure that the staff receive training that is relevant to the specific needs of children. Individuals with responsibility for reviewing and monitoring children’s plans and care should do so promptly to ensure that all staff deliver care in response to children’s changing needs and progress. Leaders and managers should ensure effective oversight of practice to drive improvement. 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

*The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; 28 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 8 help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the registered provider creates an education plan that documents any learning that staff complete with children. Current relevant plans should be obtained that relate to the child’s current home. Leaders and managers should continue to escalate concerns regarding delay in identifying an appropriate school to support children’s learning and development.

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person must ensure that—

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")— 28 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 9 has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, a record should be made on each occasion when a measure is used to manage a child’s behaviour and that this accords with permitted measures outlined in the child’s plan and deprivation of liberty safeguards order. The registered person should ensure that all staff who are involved in using the measure are spoken to. Alternative approaches should be implemented to record any response by a non-verbal child following the use of the measure. Leaders and managers should evaluate the record to identify any improvements to practice in behaviour management.

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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

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv)(ix)) 28 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 10 Specifically, that the staff follow children’s individualised plans to ensure that children’s care promotes their welfare and accords with their relevant plans.

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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. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring that the registered provider obtains all relevant plans and reports relating to children to ensure that the staff deliver care that meets placing authorities’ expectations. 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is an organisation or a partnership. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)) 28 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person appointed completes a rigorous assessment that identifies areas of practice improvement and regularly considers the views of stakeholders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that consideration is given to the frequency of supervision. Staff members’ performance should be appraised formally on an annual basis to drive improvements in practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.1 and 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that electronic records, for example in relation to recruitment, are easily accessible to individuals who legitimately need to view them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 11

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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 for children’s home: 2613341 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Imap School, Barrowmore Estate, Barnhouse Lane, Great Barrow, Chester CH3 7JA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anthony Yearsley

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Inspector

Karen Willson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2613341 13 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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