Children's Home run by Momentum Residential Care Home Ltd in Essex

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 1

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Momentum Residential Care Home Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children who may have experienced trauma that has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since September 2021. The acting manager has applied to Ofsted for registration.

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This monitoring visit

At the time of this visit, three children were living at the home. No children have moved into the home since the last inspection. The purpose of the visit was to monitor the provider’s adherence to a restriction of accommodation notice and to establish the provider’s progress in meeting the steps set out in the compliance notice that Ofsted served on 26 April 2022. The compliance notice was in relation to the leadership and management of the home.

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This monitoring visit

The inspectors found that the provider has taken insufficient action to meet the steps in the compliance notice. The provider has adhered to the restriction of accommodation.

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This monitoring visit

The home’s managers have failed to provide sufficient day-to-day management oversight and monitoring of the home. There has been no registered manager since September 2021. The acting manager recently applied to Ofsted for registration.

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This monitoring visit

Managers meet as a senior team. However, there are difficulties in communication between senior managers. There is no strategic approach to addressing the concerns raised at the last full inspection or the actions set out in the compliance notice. Managers do not monitor the home effectively. As a result, there is no effective identification of or action to address deficits in practice. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 2 Inspectors found shortfalls in safeguarding practice and a lack of professional curiosity. A child made an allegation against a member of staff. However, no records in relation to this allegation were available for examination and it is not clear whether this allegation has been shared with the local authority designated officer. The allegation has not been notified to Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans lack sufficient detail. This is of particular concern because all the children are highly vulnerable. One very vulnerable child has frequently gone missing from the home despite being supported by two staff. This child has been exposed to exceptionally unsafe situations. The risk assessments for this highly vulnerable child fail to clearly consider risks in relation to criminal, sexual, labour or extremist exploitation.

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This monitoring visit

Staff, on occasion, do not follow the children’s individual risk assessments and behaviour management plans. Consequently, known risks have not been mitigated, and staff’s actions have led to a highly vulnerable child going missing from the home. One child’s risk assessment notes that the staff are not to smoke near the home as this is likely to trigger some negative behaviours for the child. However, staff have smoked outside the house.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has improved the admission risk assessment for one child since the last inspection. The assessment now provides clearer guidance on the child’s needs and the impact of living with the other children. However, the assessment continues to lack clear information on how staff will keep the child safe from another child.

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This monitoring visit

There are concerns about the behaviours of a neighbour filming the children and swearing at staff. The manager has met with some neighbours in an attempt to form more positive relationships. However, the negative effect of these community relationships on children, and strategies to manage these, are not detailed in the home’s location risk assessment.

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This monitoring visit

The records of daily care do not demonstrate that staff take consistent and effective action to ensure the safety and appropriate supervision of children. On one occasion, when staff returned to the house at night, they were unable to get into the house. The returning staff were not able to raise the attention of the waking night staff. This was because the night staff were positioned in an outside building. This means that they were unable to monitor the children’s safety effectively. On another occasion, when staff were in hospital supervising a child, the staff let the child out of their sight in the company of an adult who staff had earlier noted as ‘undesirable’. Subsequently, the child went missing and was located by the police some hours later close to a busy dual carriageway.

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This monitoring visit

Staff have received training in de-escalation and physical intervention. One physical restraint has been used since the last inspection. The records demonstrate that the staff held the child to keep other people safe. However, the manager’s written review does not assess if the restraint was appropriate, proportionate and effective. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 3 The manager has not reviewed the record of one of the two financial sanctions applied by staff. The failure to review these records does not ensure that staff practice is monitored. Furthermore, it does not ensure that childrens rights are protected and that they receive effective care. Additionally, potential opportunities for reflection and learning for staff and the child concerned are missed.

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This monitoring visit

The quality of the training is not of sufficient quality and depth to ensure that staff can meet children’s needs. Ensuring that all staff access suitable training to meet the children’s particular needs was a requirement at two previous monitoring visits in February and April 2021 and at the full inspection in April 2022. This is particularly relevant as most staff are not experienced childcare practitioners.

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This monitoring visit

Record-keeping is chaotic and there is no clear shared understanding of how records are maintained. There is no clear monitoring of records. As a result, managers were unable to provide accurate information when requested during the inspection. Important records, such as supervision notes, are sometimes undated and unsigned. An employment letter sent to a member of staff did not include their full name. Significant documents, such as job descriptions, include outdated references to recruitment checks and regulatory frameworks and contain contradictory information.

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This monitoring visit

There has been substantial investment in the building and garden. The home now provides pleasant, homely accommodation which is of a good standard. However, managers did not note or address the fact that staff had propped open a fire door with a cushion.

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This monitoring visit

Some of the previous requirements were outside the scope of this visit and were not reviewed. These requirements are therefore restated.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 20/04/2022 Full Inadequate 20/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 4

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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 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

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)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that risks to all children are assessed before any new child moves to the home and that each child’s risk assessment states all known risks and provides strategies to reduce these;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that information in children’s risk assessments contains all relevant details and current presenting risks, and the actions that staff should take to reduce these risks;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that children’s individual risk assessments and behaviour support plans are shared with and implemented by all staff; 11 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 5 ensure that the process for managing allegations against staff is recorded, fully understood and implemented in line with recognised safeguarding procedure;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff understand and implement the home’s fire risk assessment. In particular, ensure that fire doors are not propped open with a cushion.

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that issues with neighbours are addressed and resolved and that children’s rights to privacy and dignity are respected. 11 July 2022

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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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular: 11 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 6 review the arrangements for the day-to-day and strategic leadership and management of the home. Ensure that each member of the management team is clear about their respective role and responsibilities in ensuring that safe and effective care is delivered by every member of the staff team to each of the children;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the respective roles of the management team are communicated to relevant parties. In particular, the local authority social workers named for the children living at the home;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the quality of the training provided is effective to meet the range of needs of the children living at the home and that training records are kept up to date;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that managers’ oversight and monitoring are effective in identifying and addressing shortfalls in staff practice to promote children’s welfare.

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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; and

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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”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; 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)(vii)(b)(i)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a clear and documented management review of each restraint and sanction.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated. 11 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 7 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. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 11 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the independent person should consult with children, parents and external professionals to inform their view of the quality of care. Reports should identify hazards and shortfalls and make recommendations to improve. In addition, the registered person should ensure that the reports are submitted to Ofsted promptly.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated. 11 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 8

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the provider’s adherence to a restriction of accommodation notice and to review the progress made towards meeting the steps set out in the compliance notice served on 26 April 2022 in respect of the leadership and management of the home.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Momentum Residential Care Home Limited

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Inspectors

Joanna Heller, Social Care Inspector Rosie Davie, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2621215 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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