Children's Home run by Idem Living Limited in Devon

Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 1 Registered provider: Idem Living 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 registered to provide care for one child. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home, having moved in in February 2022. A different child lived in the home during November and December 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since November 2021.

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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 failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: A monitoring visit was carried out in August 2020. Shortly after the visit, the child living in the home at the time moved out, the registered manager resigned and the provider temporarily closed the home. The home reopened following the appointment of a new manager and a further monitoring visit by Ofsted in October 2021. Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 3

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inadequate

The child currently living at the home is not receiving the help and protection they need to keep them safe and to enable them to make good progress.

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inadequate

Staff do not respond with sufficient vigilance to safeguarding concerns or put in place consistent boundaries to help the child to develop healthy routines and to engage in educational activities when not in formal education. For example, staff have not found creative ways to encourage the child to get out of bed in time for education, to eat regular meals and to join in with formal and informal learning. At times, the child is up and awake at night, stays in bed until late morning, eats meals in her room and has excessive free time during the day.

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inadequate

A plan for education was in place before the child moved into the home. However, the child’s engagement with education has been sporadic and in recent weeks their attendance at college has declined and she is refusing to engage with home tuition. Staff have not taken enough action to address this and help the child to re-engage.

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inadequate

The staff have developed good relationships with the child. Professionals gave positive feedback about communication from the staff team and the relationships the child has developed in the home. Staff have been able to develop a helpful relationship with the child’s mother and friends and the child has been encouraged to have visitors to the home.

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inadequate

It is positive that the child is now engaging with child and adolescent mental health services and has specialist support in place. However, strategies to support the child and to help keep them safe are not always effective. There are ongoing concerns regarding the child’s vulnerability to exploitation and no notable reduction in the frequency or seriousness of substance misuse and episodes of going missing.

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inadequate

The home is well maintained and homely. The child has been involved in choosing furnishings for her bedroom and in making plans for the garden.

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

There are significant concerns about how safeguarding incidents are managed in the home. Recent incidents of concern include the child going swimming in the sea while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and a bag with white powder residue being found in the child’s pockets and kept in the home’s safe rather than handed in to police.

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

Permanent staff have limited experience in meeting the needs of children with complex behaviours. Risk assessments are in place, appropriate procedures are followed when the child is missing from home and incidents are reported as Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 4 required. However, plans do not provide staff with clear guidance about what actions they should take or with timescales for their completion. As a result, staff have not always responded to the child consistently or with an appropriate level of vigilance. The inspectors identified several incidents when staff lacked professional curiosity and challenge when managing safeguarding matters and the child has potentially been left at serious risk of harm. There has been no reduction in substance misuse and there remain concerns about the child’s vulnerability to exploitation in the community. Additionally, there has been an increase in the frequency and duration

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

of missing-from-home episodes, including several occasions when the child has been missing for two or three nights. More action is needed to help the child and to find ways to prevent these behaviours from continuing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team does not have sufficient experience and skills to meet the complex needs of a child who has experienced significant past trauma. When agreeing to move this child into the home, leaders and managers have not comprehensively considered how the needs of this child and the associated risks can be safely managed by this staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Recruitment of staff follows appropriate safer recruitment procedures. However, there are two full-time vacancies in the staff team. Recruitment is currently ongoing. Pending the appointment of new staff, staff from other homes in the organisation are being used to support the core staff team in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are positive about the support they get from their managers and about their visibility and approachability. Professionals are positive about communication from the manager. However, the lack of sufficient skills and experience in the staff team have had a negative impact on the home. The experiences, skills and knowledge of the staff were not considered in sufficient depth when matching the child to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight is evident in documents, although this has not led to a reduction in risk. This is because leaders and managers are not yet evaluating the quality of care effectively enough to provide guidance and direction that improves practices in the home. Supervision records are sufficiently detailed, with evidence of reflection. However, one member of staff has not yet had formal supervision from the home’s manager, despite working in the home for three months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do undertake core mandatory training but are not consistently accessing specialist training, such as in preventing child sexual exploitation and drug and alcohol misuse. Consequently, staff are unable to support the child effectively and to reduce the risks from these safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager actively challenges other professionals to obtain support for the child. Managers and staff are also good at gathering and recording the child’s views. For example, some documents are written in child-friendly language and the child has provided their views on how best to support them. Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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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)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the child has good routines and boundaries and that these are applied consistently by staff. The registered person should ensure that staff have the 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 6 relevant training and experience in order to meet the needs of the children in the home.

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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

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(x))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the child is supported to engage fully with education. The registered person should ensure that children have an appropriate education provision in place and that staff support them to attend consistently. When children are not in formal education, staff should support them to participate in educational activities and maintain day-to-day routines. 8 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 7 children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that staff are supporting children to maintain healthy eating habits and sleeping patterns. Children should be supported to access appropriate and effective support around drug and alcohol use. Staff should be appropriately trained and confident in addressing these issues with children.

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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;

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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; 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 8 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;

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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)(b)(e)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that staff are appropriately trained and experienced to respond consistently to specific safeguarding concerns, that plans and risk assessments have specific aims and timescales, and that learning from incidents is used to improve practice and outcomes for children.

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

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 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— 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 9 research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; 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) (2)(a)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that staff have the training and experience to enable them to consistently meet the needs of children living in the home, that learning from incidents is applied across the staff team and that all staff working in the home have access to regular supervision with the home’s manager.

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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: 2572552 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Stable Court Business Centre, Water Lane, Tarbock Green, Prescot L35 1RD

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Inspectors

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Tina Maddison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2572552 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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