Children's Home run by My House Calow Limited in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 1 Registered provider: My House Calow Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to five children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably qualified manager is registered 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 3

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inadequate

There are serious safeguarding shortfalls in relation to one child which have resulted in an inadequate judgement across all areas.

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inadequate

Many of the staff who care for children are inexperienced and unqualified. This means that children with complex care needs do not receive individualised care and support. Some staff are anxious about how to manage children’s highly complex behaviours. The lack of management oversight has resulted in a living environment which lacks stability and order for children.

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inadequate

Children are living in two separate living areas. They are not supported to come together for evening meals or planned activities. This limits children’s opportunities to enjoy positive shared experiences.

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inadequate

Staff have not formed secure and trusting relationships with one child. He has been living in complete isolation for three months, with very minimal staff engagement. Inexperienced staff caring for this child have been so afraid to manage potential behaviours that food, drinks and medication have been passed to him through a window. One staff member said, ‘We just go in, leave his food and medication and come back out. We don’t even know if he takes it, but he isn’t safe to be around.’

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inadequate

The manager has failed to ensure that staff respond appropriately to children’s healthcare needs. One child has not received support to maintain their personal hygiene. This has resulted in the child suffering numerous infections. Despite specialist help from children and adolescent mental health services, one child’s psychological needs have been neglected by leaders and staff and have significantly deteriorated over the last three months.

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inadequate

There have been several medication errors. Leaders did not provide medicine administration records to inspectors when asked to do so. The limited records available do not demonstrate that effective action was taken after a medicine error. Also, staff are unaware if one child takes his prescribed medication when they hand it to him, as he is not observed.

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inadequate

Children are not able to participate in day-to-day decision-making about their lives. House meetings have not been frequent and there is a lack of creativity in gathering children’s views in line with their own communication style. Not all children have access to an independent advocate. This prevents the voice of the child being heard. Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 4

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

One child has been living in an annex separate to the main house. Conditions of neglect and squalor have been allowed to develop in his living area. The same child has been locked in a confined area, where all surfaces are heavily soiled with faeces and urine. One staff member said, ‘If a dog was living in conditions like this, the RSPCA would remove it.’ The living conditions do not create a safe environment for children to thrive. As a result, one child has developed infections and has been at risk of significant harm to his physical and emotional health.

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

Restraint is not used in accordance with a child’s behaviour support plan. During one restraint, the child’s eyes were covered. This practice is not child-centred and not agreed in his care plan or risk assessment. Incidents of restraint are not reviewed effectively. Children’s views have not been routinely sought or understood following incidents of restraint. For example, following one incident, a child made a complaint which was not responded to. This does not support restorative practice and does not ensure the child’s voice is heard.

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

Several fire safety risks in the annex have left a child at risk of significant harm. For example, a door which provides a safe escape route for the child is always kept triple locked. This is the only means of escape for the child. Also, an inside door handle to a child’s bedroom is missing. If the door were to be closed, the child would not be able to leave their bedroom in the event of a fire. This has the potential to cause harm.

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

The registered manager and staff have failed to implement safeguarding policies and procedures, leaving children at increased risk of harm. Despite concerns identified during this inspection, no staff members have followed whistle-blowing procedures. This demonstrates that staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding children.

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

Children’s risk assessments are not individualised. They do not address children’s known vulnerabilities effectively or provide staff with clear guidance on how to keep children safe. For example, one child is known to ingest fabric from clothing and their risk assessment fails to inform staff of the action to take if this happens. This has the potential to result in serious harm to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have not taken effective action or sufficiently challenged other professionals when child protection concerns have been identified for a child. This has significantly impacted on the child, who has suffered prolonged neglect because of leaders’ inaction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A newly registered manager leads the home. Management monitoring and review systems are poor. The manager has not thoroughly evaluated incident records and risk management plans. For example, they have not reviewed physical intervention Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 5 records, failing to identify poor practice from staff members. Opportunities for lessons to be learned are limited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has employed an independent person to quality assure the home’s care in line with regulatory requirements. However, this independent person has not visited the home each month as the regulations require. Also, the visitor has not seen and spoken to one of the children for several months. Therefore, opportunities have been missed to identify and escalate safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not provide staff with regular reflective supervision meetings. When supervision meetings do take place, discussions do not focus on children’s experiences and needs. The staff supervision process fails to ensure that serious and specific incidents are discussed and evaluated. This is a missed opportunity for managers to identify safeguarding concerns and improve the quality of care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are not suitably trained or qualified to meet children’s complex care needs. For example, staff have not received formal training in the use of children’s communication methods, such as Picture Exchange Communication Systems. This means that children have no voice in their care. Also, staff have not received sufficient or specific learning disability training. Staff do not have the skills to meet children’s individualised care needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders were not able to present inspectors with complaint records for the home. Inspectors were unable to establish if there had been any complaints or to inspect complaints records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to deliver care in the home in a way that is consistent with the home’s statement of purpose. This specifies that staff are experienced and trained to care for children with moderate to severe learning disabilities, which is not the case. The home is currently not able to provide specialist learning disability care as the statement of purpose indicates. Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

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 enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(i)) 2 September 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 7 This specifically relates to managers and staff having the required communication skills to enable them to seek the views of children and use these views to inform their care.

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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

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Requirement Due date

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

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require;

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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

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring the health needs of children are identified and appropriate action is taken to ensure these are met. This also refers to medication errors. 2 September 2022

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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— 2 September 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 8 that staff—

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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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understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children live in a safe and suitable environment free from hazards and risk. It also relates to risk assessments. This also relates to staff understanding their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children and ensuring that physical intervention is used in line with children’s risk management plans.

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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— Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 9 that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and (Regulation 12 (2)(d))

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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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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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

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ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 2 September 2022

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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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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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

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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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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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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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must— 2 September 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 10 provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of a fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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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 (1) (2)(a)(b)) 2 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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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: 2660470 11

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Inspectors

Rachael Sprigg, Social Care Inspector Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2660470 12 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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