Children's Home run by Hopscotch Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 1 Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to two children. At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post who registered with Ofsted in January 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 and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or 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: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 3

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inadequate

There are serious shortfalls in safeguarding practice, care planning, and the leadership and management of the home. These weaknesses have a significant impact on children’s safety, welfare, experiences and progress. Staff do not understand children’s individual needs. Therefore, children are not receiving well- planned care that promotes their safety and well-being.

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inadequate

Ineffective decision-making regarding children moving into the home has meant that known risks are not fully understood or managed. This meant that consideration was not given to the needs of the child already living in the home, which placed them at risk of harm.

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inadequate

Staff have not been able to manage relationships between the children living in the home. Staff actions in response to incidents between children are ineffective. Staff are not helping children to develop the skills and strategies to manage conflicts or develop positive relationships.

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inadequate

Relationships between children and staff are not always positive. When a child made a complaint about a staff member, it was not addressed. This does not evidence that children are being listened to or that children and staff are being supported to develop positive relationships.

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inadequate

Children are not receiving help and support to maintain good routines. One child’s sleep pattern was highlighted as a concern prior to them moving in. Staff have not implemented appropriate structure and boundaries for this child and this has had a negative effect on their engagement with education.

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inadequate

Education is not consistently promoted for children that live in the home. One child has maintained good school attendance. However, one child did not have a school placement and staff have been unable to promote good routines and encourage them to engage consistently in educational activity throughout the day.

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inadequate

Managers and staff have failed to ensure that children have free access to all areas of the home. Children’s snacks and treats are stored in a locked cupboard, which means that children must request these from staff. Although some boundaries around children’s access to unhealthy treats is appropriate, this practice is not supporting children to develop their understanding of healthy eating or allowing them to make healthy choices for themselves. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 4

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

There are serious and widespread failings in the assessment and management of risk. Leaders, the manager and staff do not respond appropriately to safeguarding incidents that occur, or ensure that there are effective strategies in place to safeguard the children living in the home. Therefore, the children living in the home have suffered harm.

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

The manager and staff do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. Staff do not know or understand what the children’s current risks are. Staff have therefore been unable to safeguard children, which has led to them experiencing harm.

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

There has been an inadequate response to bullying in the home. Inspectors found evidence that there have been numerous incidents of bullying between the children living in the home. One child told staff that they were scared of another child and that they did not feel safe. Despite this, the manager and staff have not taken swift and effective action to protect children from continued harm. Managers and staff do not have an understanding or insight into the impact that continued verbal abuse and threats have on children’s emotional well-being.

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

Children do not benefit from clear and consistent boundaries or effective behaviour management strategies. Aggressive behaviours from children have at times been unchallenged by staff. Staff approaches have not been appropriate or effective and have sometimes led to escalation of incidents for children. Poor practice from staff, who lack the skills to understand children’s behaviour or how to manage this, has led to children feeling unsafe in the home.

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

Risk assessments do not provide clear or effective strategies for the staff to follow. As a result, the manager and staff are failing to appropriately respond to and reduce the presenting risks. This includes the risk of bullying and risks for children who are missing.

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

Leaders and managers do not always share accurate information with external professionals. Therefore, professionals make decisions about children without being aware of important details. As a result, some of these decisions may not always be in children’s best interests.

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

Care planning documents and risk assessments do not include all the known information about the child, and documentation is not kept up to date as new events occur. Furthermore, information provided by placing authorities is not included or considered in pre-placement planning. The lack of clear risk identification and planning to address concerns fails to ensure that the safety of all children is paramount. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a registered manager in post who registered with Ofsted in January 2021. Management oversight of children’s risk assessments and incidents has failed to identify shortfalls in safeguarding practice. Therefore, ineffective safeguarding practice has continued, which has placed children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Further to this, although the manager carried out an internal investigation into one significant safeguarding incident, they failed to implement the identified changes and actions. This does not evidence effective monitoring or robust safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have received regular supervision. However, actions from supervision, including when supervisors have identified further training needs for staff, have not been addressed. This means that opportunities for the manager to develop staff practice have been missed and ineffective staff practice has continued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Some staff have received training that is relevant to the needs of the children living in the home, such as ADHD. However, some staff have not received this training, including the registered manager and deputy manager. Therefore, not all staff understand children’s individual needs or how to meet them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Ofsted is of the view that the registered manager and staff are unable to reduce risks to children and an emergency suspension notice was issued on the provider during the inspection. Consequently, there are now no children living in the home. Ofsted will monitor the suspension Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must effectively challenge other agencies in a timely manner to ensure that children’s needs are met. Further to this, the registered person must ensure that relevant information is shared to ensure good- quality care planning for children. 10 August 2022

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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

engage with them; and 10 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 7 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 given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children are listened to when they express their views or feelings and that action is taken to address any concerns. Further to this, ensure that children know that they have been listened to and know what actions will be taken.

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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.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; 10 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 8 help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)(ix)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff have received training about bullying and understand the impact of bullying on children. Further to this, ensure that staff understand the impact of past trauma on children’s emotional and behavioural development and understand how to support children who have experienced this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 9 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are guided by robust risk assessments so that they can effectively manage risks to children. Further to this, the registered person must ensure that staff have the skills, knowledge and training to ensure effective safeguarding practice. 10 August 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

promotes their welfare. 10 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 10 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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 has sufficient staff to provide care for 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)(b)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they have oversight of all significant events and ensure that appropriate action is taken following these.

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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.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if— 10 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 11 the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(e)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all known risks for children are carefully considered prior to the child moving into the home. The registered person must ensure that the impact of these risks on children already living in the home is considered and that a plan is implemented to mitigate any risks.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that locks are removed from communal areas and that children have free access to all areas of their home. Further to this, the registered person must ensure that children can access all food items and that these are not placed in locked cupboards. 10 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 12

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Recommendations

 The registered person should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2617303 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopscotch Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Lancaster Road, Carnforth LA5 9LD

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Inspectors

Emma Thornton, Social Care Inspector Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2617303 14 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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