Children's Home run by T-Junction Children’s Services in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 1 Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is one of three homes owned by a small private provider. This home is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since June 2020. The appointed manager 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/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the inadequate judgement at the last inspection, two compliance notices were issued. These compliance notices were made in relation to regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/04/2022 Full Inadequate 28/04/2021 Full Good 27/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 3

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inadequate

This inspection was carried out to ascertain the provider’s progress since the last inspection and to see whether the steps set out in the compliance notices had been met. Shortfalls in safeguarding practice and in the leadership and management of the home continue to affect the quality of care provided.

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inadequate

Children are making progress in many areas, and they are reported to be happy and settled.

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inadequate

Children have positive relationships with staff, and the staff know and understand the children well. Most professionals consulted with were positive about the care children receive.

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inadequate

Children are being supported to re-engage with education and, as a result, attendance has improved. Staff attend school with children, when necessary, and they are working with school staff to enhance and develop a shared understanding of the children’s needs. This has led to a reduction in incidents at school.

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inadequate

Children have had opportunities to participate in a range of activities in the home and community. There were concerns about a child’s safety at the local skatepark and the manager worked with other agencies to manage this. The manager took steps to ensure that the child was safe when they were away from the home and these concerns have now reduced.

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inadequate

One child had an unplanned ending to their time at the home when the management team decided they could no longer meet this child’s needs and keep them safe. The information shared with the child regarding the reasons for them having to move was contrary to the wishes of the placing authority. This was not a positive ending and the child had to move to unregistered accommodation until a suitable home was identified.

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

Allegations against staff have not been managed safely. On one occasion, a staff member was allowed to stay on shift following a child making an allegation of physical harm against them. This member of staff was asked to work unsupervised with another child at the home. At the end of their shift, the member of staff was suspended from work. This had the potential to place children at risk of harm.

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

Recruitment checks designed to prevent unsuitable adults working at the home are not consistently carried out. The provider has failed to scrutinise the authenticity of the references being provided. References are being provided by colleagues rather than line managers, or suitable representatives within employing organisations. This Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 4 practice limits opportunities for previous employers to share disciplinary or safeguarding concerns. This has the potential to expose children to the risk of harm.

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

Agency staff are used to cover staff shortages. Not all recruitment checks, or identification checks, have been carried out or recorded in the home. Agency staff are not consistently documented as being on the rota. These practices prevent managers from having clear oversight of the staff working in the home and their suitability.

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

Staffing ratios for children, as contracted by placing authorities, are not consistently applied. On several occasions, there were insufficient staff on duty for a child who has a two-to-one staffing ratio due to her complex needs and risks. There was no agreement from the placing authority for staffing levels to be reduced and no risk assessment to mitigate risk in the event of staffing shortfalls. This practice places the child and staff at risk of harm.

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

Some additional training for staff, and the management team, in safeguarding children and in recognising and responding to bullying has been completed. However, not all staff have received this training.

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

Staff are not well equipped to manage children’s self-injurious behaviour, and staff and managers are naïve about the risks. There are inconsistencies between the protocols for staff to follow in the home and children’s risk assessments. Despite incidents of ligature use at the home, the majority of staff were found to have not read the home’s protocol.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Internal monitoring and quality assurance processes still fail to identify areas of weakness in the home. In particular, there are shortfalls in the management of allegations. This includes the need to report concerns to external professionals without delay. One recent example is of a staff member continuing to work unsupervised with children following an allegation of physical harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Registered persons have failed to ensure that staff have had all necessary checks, in line with good safe recruitment practice, prior to working in the home. The suitability of references has not been considered, which places children at risk of unsuitable people having direct contact with children. This extends to agency staff working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff have completed the training courses allocated to them. Staff have not received annual appraisals of their work. This prevents staff from developing knowledge and having their performance and practice reviewed. This limits opportunities for reflection and the professional development of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staffing levels in the home are not consistently in line with agreements in place with placing authorities. Shortfalls have not been risk-assessed or discussed with social Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 5 workers. The management team is covering shifts. This affects the managers’ capacity to provide consistent and effective oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s six-monthly review of the home has not considered the views of children, professionals or the staff team. This limits opportunities for others’ views to inform ongoing development of the care being provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not fully evaluated events and incidents. This is a continued weakness, particularly in safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

During this inspection, progress was monitored against the steps set out in compliance notices. There has been insufficient progress against the steps, and therefore these have been reissued. Due to continued shortfalls in practice, a restriction notice has also been issued. This notice prevents the provider from accepting any more children into the home, but also recognises that the children currently living at the home are making progress and want to remain there while improvements are made. Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 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 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

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

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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to management of allegations, and assessment of risk and risk assessments. 1 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

*The leaderships 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 to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to– 1 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 7 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

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)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the management oversight and monitoring of all aspects of the home. This also relates to staff training to meet the needs of children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children–

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to supporting children to have positive endings, particularly when their placements end abruptly. It also requires the provider to work positively with placing authorities in how these endings are managed. 1 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; 1 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 8 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the checks required on permanent and agency staff employed to work at the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which–

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular–

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to reporting safeguarding concerns to the placing authority without delay. 1 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees–

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every six months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating– 1 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 9 the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (4)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2495951 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 27 The Pastures, Narborough, Leicester LE19 3DS

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Inspectors

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Amanda Ellis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 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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