Children's Home run by Supporting Hands Care Services Ltd in Bradford

Inspection report children's home: 2598804 1 Registered provider: Supporting Hands Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and support for one child who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in April 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 failures that mean children are not protected or 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:

On 29 March 2022, an interim inspection identified significant and widespread failings in the leadership and management arrangements at the home. This impacted on the safety, protection and well-being of the child. As a result of the shortfalls, a decision was made to issue three compliance notices and two requirements.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The compliance notices related to regulation 12, the protection of children standard; regulation 13, the leadership and management standard; and regulation 40, notification of a serious event. Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 2 A further full inspection and a monitoring visit have taken place on 10 May 2022 and 5 July 2022 respectively. The compliance notice in relation to regulation 13 has repeatedly not been met and has been reissued for the fourth time. Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/05/2022 Full Inadequate 28/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 16/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 4

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inadequate

There is weakness in the quality of management oversight and safeguarding practice at the home.

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inadequate

One child lives at this home. They are settled and making progress. The child’s day- to-day experiences are enhanced by their engagement in different activities. They are exploring their interests, such as visiting farms and spending time with the animals, vising the cinema, eating out and growing their own produce. The child has enjoyed a short break away from the home in recent months. They invited a friend, which made for a positive opportunity for them to socialise and share positive moments together.

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inadequate

The child’s relationships and trust towards the staff continue to develop. Staff speak fondly about the child. They are familiar with the child’s personality, and they understand the child’s moods. The child’s participation in key-work sessions enables staff to have chats with the child about some dangers, such as social media risks and other topics that the child can relate to. Staff consult with the child regularly about their care and decisions, which demonstrates that they value and respect the child’s wishes and feelings.

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inadequate

The staff help the child to engage with primary and specialist healthcare services, which promote their physical and emotional well-being. The child has developed a good rapport with the clinician, and the joined-up work with the staff team provides wrap-around support. Staff encourage the child to eat regular meals and do exercise.

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inadequate

Staff support the child to learn. However, despite the best efforts of the staff, the child’s education has been poor and inconsistent. The child is due to study at college in the new academic year, which will allow them to work towards their goals and promote their independence.

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inadequate

The child lives in a more pleasant and comfortable environment due to the redecoration at the home.

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

The manager’s lack of professional curiosity and failure to respond to a potential safeguarding concern has exposed the child to the risk of harm. During an incident, the manager failed to ensure that staff used appropriate physical intervention and made a record of the intervention in line with the regulations. The manager, who is the designated safeguarding lead, failed to follow the appropriate safeguarding procedures when the child made an allegation following the intervention. This puts the child at risk of harm and fails to safeguard them effectively. Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 5 Leaders and managers have updated the child’s risk assessment with the current risks but have not ensured that all the information is recorded. For example, the child’s risk assessment refers to ligature as a risk to the child, but it does not specify in the document where the ligature cutter is stored. This does not promote a shared

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

understanding for the staff team. The child’s views, that are embedded in their risk assessment, have not been updated for some time.

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

Leaders and managers have not implemented a lone-worker risk assessment that clearly identifies the child’s complex behaviours and risks. This does not promote safe caring practices, exposes the staff to allegations, and could place the child at risk of harm.

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

The staff understand the known risks to the child and work together to minimise them. Staff continue to have discussions with the child about staying safe. Random daily monitoring of the child’s phone is helping to monitor the child’s online activities. The positive relationships between the child and staff enables the child to speak openly about their activities, which helps the staff to monitor them. The support from professionals in relation to the risk of child sexual exploitation online has not started yet. This is a significant delay since it was initially mentioned at the last full inspection in May 2022.

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

Health and safety checks have improved, which helps the staff to eliminate any risks to the child, staff and visitors’ safety both inside and outside the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The children’s home has not been led and managed in a consistently safe, efficient and effective way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring systems have been put in place to improve the leaders’ and manager’s oversight. However, concerns remain about their capacity to evaluate all matters to be monitored with sufficient competence and skill. Consequently, the compliance notice under regulation 13 is reissued for the fourth time. The leaders’ and manager’s persistent failure to address this breach in regulation does not safeguard and promote the welfare and protection of the child effectively and exposes them to risk. It does not improve practice or the quality of care that the child receives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Weaknesses in the monitoring and evaluating of incidents have contributed to the failure of the leaders and manager to identify and address poor staff practice. This does not prevent these actions being repeated. The failure of the leaders and manager to share the full details regarding incidents prevents Ofsted from having clear oversight of safeguarding practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leaders and manager have failed to ensure that staff know and follow physical intervention training, including recording. This has not promoted the safety and welfare of the child. Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 6 The manager has not evaluated and signed off documents, such as the child’s progress reports. This prevents progress and limitations being identified and acted on. Some of the records lack simplification, and they have not been quality assured to ensure that they are clear and precise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leaders and manager have not evaluated whether contacting the police to help de-escalate an incident in the home was a proportionate response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The step in the compliance notice in relation to safer recruitment practice has been met. The manager has taken measures to ensure that the child’s contact with unsuitable adults is minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has met the statutory requirements and recommendation that were made at the last inspection. This is in relation to improving the décor in the home, eliminating health and safety risks, and meeting the child’s specific cultural needs. Staff are promoting the child’s health and well-being. Staff are now studying towards a relevant childcare qualification to support them in their role. They continue to receive regular supervision, and the manager is now supervised by an independent person. Staff have a named person to whistle-blow. The recommendation relating to room searches has been addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The visits that are conducted by an independent person does not support the service improvements. The timeliness of the reports being received by Ofsted has improved, but it needs time to embed. The review of the quality-of-care report does not provide an accurate account of events in the home. The manager has not referred to the further decline in inspection judgements during the reporting timeline. The manager has failed to acknowledge the shortfalls and confirm the actions that they intend to take to improve. The manager has not consulted with staff and other stakeholders to inform and evaluate the improvements needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose has not been sent to Ofsted within the timescales. This limits Ofsted from reviewing any changes in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team is gaining in confidence as they continue to meet regularly to develop their knowledge about the inspection framework and quality standards. Staff speak in complimentary terms about the home and their role within it. They find the leaders and manager to be supportive and approachable. One professional commented on how well the staff team works with them to support the child. The Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 7

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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— 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vii)) 18 September

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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

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)(f)(h)) 18 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 18 September Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 8 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the provider must ensure that the independent person submits the reports to Ofsted after each visit to the home in a timely manner. The visits must support service improvements to inform the independent person’s safety and well-being opinions. 18 September

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality-of- care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality-of-care review (“the quality-of-care review report”). (Regulation 45 (3))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the provider must provide an accurate account of all events in the home and confirm the actions that they intend to take to improve. 18 September

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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. (Regulation 45 (5)) 18 September

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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 children’s home: 2598804 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Hands Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ovenden House, Ovenden Road, Halifax HX3 5QG

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2598804 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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