Children's home run by SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd in Sutton

Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 1 SC431807 Registered provider: SWAAY Child and Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

In accordance with the home’s statement of purpose, the home provides accommodation and specialist care for up to four adolescent males with histories of trauma, disrupted attachments and harmful sexual behaviour. The organisation has its own separately registered school and therapeutic team. The schools was not inspected as part of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2022.

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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 widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/05/2019 Full Good 19/12/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 3

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inadequate

This service is judged inadequate due to serious concerns for children’s safety and a lack of effective leadership and management in relation to oversight of the quality of care provided to children.

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inadequate

Despite some constructive relationships with staff and progress in some areas, not all children have had a positive experience of care. Staff have not intervened effectively to manage incidents of bullying. One serious incident involved a child being assaulted by another child at the home, including the misuse of cleaning fluid that could have caused damage to eyesight. The registered manager did not identify this as bullying and no action was taken to provide support for the child who was the victim of this assault or to check whether any medical attention was needed.

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inadequate

Children have regular house meetings with staff where the children set an agenda. They discuss any restorative work that may be needed in response to behaviours that may have had a negative impact on others, and praise is given for children’s progress. They also consider the practicalities of living together.

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inadequate

Staff ensure that children attend regular health check-ups, and there is a healthy menu that enables children to enjoy a wide range of fresh food. Staff are planning fun educational experiments with one child to teach him how much sugar there is in fizzy drinks. This demonstrates that children are learning about healthy living.

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inadequate

Communication with the children’s school is well planned. There is regular communication and planning between the home, school and therapy team. All children are attending school and making progress.

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inadequate

The home is large and spacious. There has been some maintenance work carried out recently to enhance the interior of the home and a new bathroom. The garden area was unkempt and unwelcoming when the inspector arrived at the home. Garden furniture was overturned, broken furniture was being stored there and children had no play equipment. These concerns were addressed during the inspection.

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

The children in this home are particularly vulnerable if they are unsupervised in the community, and they may also present risks to others. Despite this, on two occasions, children have been able to leave the home unobserved. The arrangements in place to prevent this happening were ineffective. The fact that this has happened on two occasions indicates that the manager’s oversight of safeguarding practice is ineffective. Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 4 When children have gone missing from the home, staff have failed to follow the agreed procedures and safety plans. In one incident, a child was not reported missing, despite this being required as part of his safety plan. In another incident, there was a delay of three weeks in recording and reporting information relating to a child who went missing. A further incident, in which a child went missing and potentially presented a significant risk to other children in the community, was not

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

reported to Ofsted as an incident of concern.

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

Incidents of children going missing and the actions that staff have taken in response are not well recorded. This creates a vulnerability in the manager’s ability to have a good understanding of care practice in an area where there is a high level of risk to children and others.

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

There has been one incident of restraint in the home. The recording of this incident lacked important details, such as the duration of the incident. Additionally, several staff are not trained in the safe use of physical intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers at the home is judged inadequate due to the poor safeguarding practices noted in the previous sections of this report.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The lack of management oversight of recording and care practice has led to children being placed at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a lack of clear planning by the registered manager to ensure that there are always staff on duty who are trained in key areas. For example, it is not clear how the manager ensures that there is always a trained first aider on duty. Similarly, it is not clear how they ensure that only suitably trained staff are involved in physical interventions. There has been only one low-level physical intervention since the last inspection, so the impact of this is low.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Sanctions are not often used at the home. However, when sanctions are imposed, records are not always clear on what the sanction was or whether it was effective. The manager’s monitoring of records has not highlighted this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Practice with regard to safer recruitment is weak. Checks on staff from overseas to ensure that they are suitable to work with children had not been completed, and some discrepancies in references used to inform a staff appointment were not fully explored .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff feel supported by the manager and have regular supervision. The registered manager feels supported by her senior leadership team and they meet regularly to discuss the children. Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 5 The registered manager has a good understanding of the home’s model of care and care programme. However, the manager has failed to recognise the shortfalls in keeping children safe. Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 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 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

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

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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

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(xi)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff de-escalating incidents between children, and the manager taking effective action when a child experiences bullying behaviour. 14 August 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—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)) 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 7 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

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

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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

In particular, ensure that staff who carry out physical interventions are suitably trained to do so. 14 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

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

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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)(b) (2)(h)) 14 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(b)(i)) 14 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. 14 August 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 8 The registered person may only—

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home 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. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that employment checks are reviewed to ensure all aspects of safer recruitment practice are being followed and all relevant checks are in place.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that records include the date and time to ensure that the regulation has been met. 14 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any [other] incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 14 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 9

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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: SC431807 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SWAAY Child and Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 591 London Road, Sutton, Surrey SM3 9AG

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Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC431807 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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