Children's Home run by CFS Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 1 Registered provider: CFS Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately owned and is registered to care for up to four children who may have learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager were registered with Ofsted in May 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: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 3

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inadequate

There are serious shortfalls in relation to care planning, safeguarding practice and the leadership and management of the home. These weaknesses have had a significant effect on children’s safety and welfare and have resulted in negative experiences for children.

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inadequate

Poor care planning means that three children who have moved to the home have left in an unplanned way due to staff being unable to meet their needs safely.

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inadequate

Staff have struggled to implement routines and boundaries in the home. Incidents of challenging behaviour have escalated and there have been inconsistent responses to children’s behaviour. This has been due to lack of support and training for staff and has led to some children feeling confused and out of control.

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inadequate

Staff who lack the knowledge and skills to meet the children’s needs have been responsible for their care. Children are therefore not receiving well-planned care that promotes their safety and well-being. Despite staff raising concerns that they felt unsafe and lacked appropriate management direction, they failed to escalate their concerns using the whistle-blowing procedures. This was not identified or addressed by leaders in the organisation.

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inadequate

Children are encouraged to engage in independence work that will equip them with skills that they will need in later life.

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inadequate

Staff support children to engage and achieve in education. One child is supported to attend college in their home city and the other has been enrolled at a local college. This ensures that children have access to further education which will help to prepare them for adult life.

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

Poor safeguarding and risk management practices have put children’s safety and welfare at risk.

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

Risk management plans are poor in quality and are not compiled, reviewed or updated in a timely way. One child’s risk management plan was not completed until after they had lived in the home for three weeks. This limited the information available to staff. Failure to include meaningful and up-to-date information in each child’s plans means that staff have had little written guidance on how to meet the needs of children, to ensure that they are cared for safely and effectively.

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

Staff do not take timely and effective action when children go missing. Staff lack professional curiosity and do not demonstrate that they understand indicators of Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 4 risks associated with children going missing, including potential child exploitation. This places children at risk of significant harm.

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

Staff have not taken action when a child complained about how they were treated by external professionals. This lack of action and advocacy for children does not help children to feel that they are listened to and that their concerns are taken seriously.

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

Leaders and managers have not considered whether the staff team has the skills and experience to support each child’s individual care needs. Consequently, one child’s placement was ended abruptly. In the absence of a new placement, the child was taken to hospital by staff and left there unaccompanied. This is neglectful care and emotionally harmful for the child.

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

Restrictive physical intervention for children is not always carried out safely or in line with regulation. Records lack sufficient detail and, on several occasions, records were not completed after a physical intervention was used. Case records confirmed that physical intervention had been required. However, no further documents were available to provide a clear overview of the behaviour that led to the measure and the holds used, and there was no evidence of an individual debrief with either the child or the staff member. Children’s views about the physical intervention have not been considered and the staff have not had the opportunity to learn from incidents, to prevent them from reoccurring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Shortfalls in the management oversight of significant incidents and poor staff practice leave children inadequately cared for. Staff have not responded effectively to safeguarding incidents, which leaves children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not consistently share concerns or report all safeguarding events to other professionals, in line with child protection procedures. In a serious event notification provided to Ofsted, the manager included information that was factually inaccurate about the staffing levels provided for a child. Despite an agreed staffing level of two-to-one staffing at all times for one child, there has been at least one occasion when this plan has not been followed, which resulted in a significant incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers moved children into the home without identifying and assessing their care needs and their compatibility with children already living in the home. Managers also did not consider if the staff team had the skills and experience to support each child’s individual care needs. Consequently, this has negatively affected children’s progress and experiences, including disruptions to their placements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not consistently evaluate the appropriateness or effectiveness of all restrictive physical intervention measures used and have not taken action when it became evident that required documentation was not being completed. The manager has signed off documents when she was involved in physical interventions, with no independent oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 5 Staff do not receive consistent supervision or support. There have been insufficient numbers of staff working in the home. The manager has worked several shifts herself, compromising her ability to have objective management oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of the serious and widespread shortfalls identified, Ofsted has issued a notice to restrict the accommodation of any further children at the home, to allow the provider time to address the concerns. Two compliance notices have also been issued, under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Ofsted will monitor the progress being made to improve the quality of care provided at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 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, the 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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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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

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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

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about— 21 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 7 how to make a complaint or representations in relation to the home or the care the child receives and how any such complaint or representations will be dealt with; and

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Requirement Due date

what advocacy support or services are available to the child, how the child may access that support or those services and any entitlement the child may have to independent advocacy provision. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)(i)(iii)(d)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, when children complain about treatment by a third party or professional agency, ensure that the child is listened to and has access to support to address that complaint.

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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

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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that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(e))

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In particular, ensure that children have up-to-date and relevant risk assessments which are shared with all staff. 21 October 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 promotes their welfare. 21 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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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ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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The care planning standard is that children—

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receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 21 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 21 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 9 The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure.

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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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has spoken to the user about the measure; and 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 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— 21 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 10 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation. The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b) (4)(b)(c) 21 October 2022

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

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

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

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

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a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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

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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)) 21 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 11 In particular, ensure that notifications are factually accurate, and any actions identified to reduce risk of harm are followed.

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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: 2678405 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Europa House, Suite 9, Europa House Business Lodge Bury, Barcroft Street, Bury BL9 5BT

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Inspectors

Cathy Wilkins, Social Care Inspector Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2678405 13 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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