Purple Heart Project - Children's Services

Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project – Children’s Services 1 Purple Heart Project – Children’s Services St. Chads Vicarage, Ragpath Lane, Stockton-on-tees TS19 9JN

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This service is privately run, and is registered to provide parenting assessments for up to three families.

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Information about this residential family centre

The registered manager has been in post since the registration of this service.

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Inspection date: 7 September 2022

Date of previous inspection: 26 July 2022

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This monitoring visit

This residential family centre was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 26 and 27 July 2022. There were significant shortfalls in the assessment and safety for children and parents and in the leadership and management of the centre. These shortfalls placed families at serious risk of harm. As a result of that inspection, Ofsted issued a notice restricting accommodation and two compliance notices under regulation 11 and 13.

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this monitoring visit was to review the progress and actions taken to meet the compliance notices and the notice restricting accommodation. This monitoring visit included the review of documents, and discussions with the manager, the responsible individual, the staff and the family living in this home. The inspectors concluded from this monitoring visit that five steps set in the compliance notice with regard to regulation 13 were not met. This notice has been reissued as a result of this inspection.

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This monitoring visit

Family support plans are still not being developed from the instruction of the court or local authority plan. This means that there is no structure to the assessment work. Support plans are not reviewed or amended to reflect the family’s progress against Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 2 the instruction of the court or local authority plan. Furthermore, there is no evidence that these plans are shared with families at any stage of their assessment.

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This monitoring visit

There is no structure to assessment work. The family currently living at the centre does not receive a weekly timetable of planned education and observational sessions with staff. This unstructured approach means that parents are not provided fair notice of the expectations that are placed on them, and this limits their ability to schedule in their personal time. This approach also impacts on the assessment of a parent’s current ability and commitment to adhere to a routine for herself and her child.

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This monitoring visit

At the full inspection, the service was ill-prepared for families moving into this residential family centre. The manager’s knowledge of social care legislation and processes is limited and this impacts on their ability to request necessary documents and plans. The manager continues to provide assessment for families without the necessary documents, for example child protection plans for children and documentation from ‘public law outline (PLO)’ procedures. These records are crucial to the development of placement plans and risk assessments.

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This monitoring visit

Comprehensive risk assessments are not created for parents and their children. The manager has not sourced relevant assessments from placing local authorities to inform the parent or child’s risk assessments, including child protection plans. This means that staff do not have up-to-date information about children and families’ risks and vulnerabilities.

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This monitoring visit

The parenting assessments submitted to the families’ placing local authorities are still not completed or quality assured by a qualified social worker. Parents’ views of the assessments are not recorded or evaluated. The manager told the inspectors that they were in the process of appointing a social worker. However, the role and responsibility for this position have not been clarified, neither has the model of assessment that will be integral to the services framework.

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This monitoring visit

At the full inspection, inspectors identified that the assessments submitted to the placing local authorities lacked sufficient detail. These assessments did not draw on the family’s historical evidence, patterns of behaviour, or parental commitment to change. As a direct result of not having a qualified social worker, the manager submitted an end of placement assessment to the placing authority without an evaluative conclusion or parental feedback.

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This monitoring visit

Parents are offered a nurturing programme. At the last full inspection, the records from these sessions were poor, and in three examples the inspectors found duplicated recording in what should be individualised sessions for assessment. The quality of discussion with the parent still offers little reflection or testing of parenting ability. Parents are unable to reflect on their progress against the local authority’s instruction or plan. This is because the local authority’s instruction or plan is not within the families’ internal support plans or weekly reports as created by this residential family centre. Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 3 Families now live in a home that is free from hazards. The manager’s improved oversight of the maintenance of the home means the home is kept to a good standard and the risk of accidents and injury has been reduced.

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This monitoring visit

Fire safety and evacuation procedures have been reviewed. The manager has followed the specialist advice and assessment from the fire service regarding emergency evacuation procedures. The home has been adapted in line with the advice from the fire service and routine fire equipment checks are now completed by the manager.

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This monitoring visit

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) is fitted in the centre. The CCTV policy has been reviewed and parental consent for CCTV is now held on file. This means that families are now able to understand the policy and that their consent is now obtained and documented.

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This monitoring visit

The remaining seven requirements and one recommendation issued in July 2022 have not been reviewed at this visit and are repeated. Since the last inspection, no families have moved into this home. This means that the manager has adhered to the restriction of accommodation. Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 4

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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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall compile in relation to the residential family centre a written statement (in these Regulations referred to as “the statement of purpose”) which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep under review and where appropriate revise the statement of purpose and resident’s guide; and

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Requirement Due date

notify the [Chief Inspector] within 28 days of any such revision.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6) the registered person shall ensure that the residential family centre is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 4 (1) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 23 September

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person shall, before providing a family with accommodation in the residential family centre, or if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as possible thereafter, draw up in consultation with the placing authority a written plan (in these Regulations referred to as “the placement plan”) setting out, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

the facilities and services to be provided during the course of the placement;

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Requirement Due date

the objectives and intended outcome of the placement;

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Requirement Due date

an assessment of the risks, if any, which a resident at the residential family centre may pre-sent to their own health, safety and welfare or that of other residents or staff at the centre. 16 October 2022 Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 5 The registered person shall keep under review and revise the placement plan as necessary.

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Requirement Due date

In preparing or reviewing the placement plan the registered person shall, so far as practicable—

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Requirement Due date

seek and take account of the views of the members of the family;

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Requirement Due date

take account of any relevant assessment or other report relating to any member of the family which may be provided by the placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall supply a copy of the placement plan and any revision of it to the placing authority and to the parent within the family to which it relates. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2) (3)(a)(b) (4))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the parents’ capacity to respond to the children’s needs and to safeguard their welfare is monitored or assessed by a suitably qualified person in accordance with the requirements of this regulation. (Regulation 13A (1)) 23 September

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Requirement Due date

employ a person to work at the residential family centre unless that person is fit to work at a residential family centre.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1), a person is not fit to work at a residential family centre unless—

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to him in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2. (Regulation 16 (1)(a) (3)(d)) 23 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall also maintain the records specified in Schedule 4 in respect of the residential family centre. (Regulation 19 (3)) 23 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall establish a procedure (“the complaints procedure”) for considering complaints made to the registered person by a resident or a person acting on behalf of a resident.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that any complaint made under the complaints procedure is fully investigated. 23 September Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 6 The registered person shall, within 28 days after the date on which the complaint is made, or such shorter period as may be reasonable in the circumstances, inform the person who made the complaint of the action (if any) that is to be taken. (Regulation 20 (1) (2) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The person carrying out the visit shall—

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Requirement Due date

interview, with their consent and in private, such of the residents and persons working at the residential family centre as appears necessary in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the residential family centre. (Regulation 25 (4)(a)) 23 September

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Requirement Due date

If, in relation to a residential family centre, any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 26 (1)) 4 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that families receive a robust, fair and evidence-based assessments that is carried out by a registered social worker in a manner consistent with guidance in Working Together to Safeguard Children. (Residential Family Centre National Minimum Standards 1.2)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the residential family centre since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: VKYB Enterprises Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: St. Chads Vicarage, Ragpath Lane, Stockton-on- tees TS19 9JN

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Inspectors

Jennifer Fenlon, Social Care Inspector Catherine Heron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Purple Heart Project - Children’s Services 8 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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