Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 1 Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned by a large organisation. It is registered to accommodate up to six children with learning disabilities. The statement of purpose states that the home accommodates children with a diagnosis of moderate to severe autism spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in June 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 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: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/07/2021 Full Good 24/07/2019 Full Outstanding 06/11/2018 Full Good 26/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 3

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inadequate

There were three children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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inadequate

Children are being cared for by a depleted and exhausted staff team. This means that, although children have good relationships with the core staff members, the use of additional staffing means that they are often being cared for by people whom they do not know.

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inadequate

Two children attend the on-site school. One child is not in education and there are no suitable plans in place for him to start to attend. Staff find it difficult to engage the child in suitable activities and appear to be monitoring him, rather than providing care that will support him to engage in meaningful constructive activity. As a result, the child is not making progress with regards to being prepared for independence, education or employment.

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inadequate

Children are not being stimulated and the staff and management of the home are not aspirational in terms of the expectations that they have for children to thrive. There are not enough staff on shifts to provide interesting activities for the children. Due to a number of staff being inexperienced, the staff team does not currently have the capacity to meet the children’s needs and to support their progress.

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inadequate

There is a practice of locking doors in the home to prevent children accessing certain areas, due to concerns that they will break or damage items or rooms. This practice is not kept under review and there is no meaningful support being provided to children to help them to learn to use these spaces appropriately.

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inadequate

Children’s basic physical medical needs are being met. Medication is safely stored and administered as per protocols. However, healthcare plans contain inaccurate information and do not support staff to fully understand how to meet the health needs of children. This shortfall was identified at the last inspection and has not been addressed.

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

Children are not protected from harm effectively. Staff do not follow agreed safeguarding procedures in response to safeguarding concerns and allegations, and this places children at risk of harm. Staff recorded a number of allegations made by one child and these had not been shared with the relevant safeguarding agencies or appropriately investigated. There is no management oversight of these allegations and managers were not aware of them. In addition, some incidents of poor practice and safeguarding concerns have not been shared with partner agencies for their view or oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 4 Children’s plans make clear that no doors should be held closed as a behaviour management strategy. This has happened on at least one occasion since the last inspection. Staff feel ill equipped to manage behaviours and they are not confident in applying the behaviour management techniques to avoid the need for door

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

holding. They have not all been trained in the provider’s agreed approach to behaviour management and, as a result, there is no consistent approach to supporting children to make safer choices and improve their behaviours.

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

Children have a limited capacity to communicate how they are feeling, and therefore they do this through their behaviours. There is little opportunity for children to share their views. There is no sensory input from the school’s therapies team, meaning that children are not having their needs met with regards to their social development and emotional well-being.

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

There have been a number of serious incidents where Ofsted has not been notified, despite this being required by regulation.

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

Safer recruitment practice is followed when appointing new staff to the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The recently registered manager is away from the home for an extended period. In addition to the long-term absence of the responsible individual, this means that there is insufficient leadership, guidance or oversight of care practice in the home. The provider has made some interim arrangements to address this by employing a consultant and by providing some additional oversight from their quality assurance team. These arrangements are recent and have not yet had an impact in terms of ensuring safe and suitable care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff feel unsupported and they lack guidance or support. Managers are not providing regular opportunities for supervision or team meetings. In addition, one staff member said that they had had no training or guidance in their key-worker role. Staff are completing some training online, but struggle to find time to do this due to staff shortages.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not ensured that there are sufficient staff on duty to meet the assessed needs of the children. As a result, children are not making progress and do not have a positive experience of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not have effective oversight of the quality of records. Children’s plans and risk assessments are inaccurate and do not reflect the known vulnerabilities of the children. This leads to staff being ill-equipped to understand and meet children’s needs. This shortfall was identified at the last inspection and has not been addressed. Therefore, the requirement set at the last inspection in relation to this has been repeated. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 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 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

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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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)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(viii)(ix)) 27 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 6 This is with specific reference to making sure that children are not unnecessarily restricted to access communal areas of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to—

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Requirement Due date

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community;

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Requirement Due date

and that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 27 August 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

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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 that staff help each child to—

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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)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that healthcare plans are accurate and up to date. This is a repeated requirement. 27 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 7 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 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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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)) 27 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

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)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 27 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 8 This is a repeated requirement.

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 27 August 2022

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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: 1249259 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1249259 10 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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