Children's Home run by Archways Care Limited in Worcestershire

Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 1 SC383941 Registered provider: Archways Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a small organisation. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager resigned in January 2022. A new manager has been appointed, who applied to register with Ofsted in October 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 are not protected or their welfare is not safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress.

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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 children’s home: SC383941 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/10/2021 Full Inadequate 09/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/06/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 3

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inadequate

Two children live at the home. One child has lived here for almost two years, and another has lived here for five months. One child’s experiences and progress have been significantly affected by shortfalls in how children are helped and protected and in leadership and management. Following this inspection, two compliance notices have been issued under regulations 12 and 23.

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inadequate

Poor leadership and management and failure to take effective action to improve the quality of care in the home have compromised children’s safety, experiences and progress. As a result of these findings, Ofsted has issued a notice restricting accommodation so that no more children can move into the home.

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inadequate

Children’s complaints have not been investigated. One child told staff, on numerous occasions, that they do not want to live at the home. Children have not had the opportunity to escalate these feelings or speak to an independent person. Managers have not taken action to follow this up and feed back to the child. Consequently, this has left them feeling like they are not listened to.

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inadequate

Children do not receive care that is planned effectively as managers do not have their most up-to-date plans from the local authority. Managers fail to escalate requests effectively to the local authority for these plans. This disorganised approach to the care planning arrangements for children has contributed to the children’s needs not being fully understood by staff and managers.

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inadequate

Staff support children to spend time with family and friends. The staff make the necessary arrangements and drive children to and from visits. Staff are sensitive about their supervision of this family time. This renewal of family bonds helps children to feel valued and make sense of their family histories.

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inadequate

Staff help children who have disrupted education to realise the value of going to school, socialising and learning. One child has successfully passed her GCSEs and is attending her second year in college. Staff work in partnership with teachers to ensure that children have every opportunity to reach their full potential.

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

Managers fail to safeguard children and protect them from harm. When a child has been missing from home, managers and staff have failed to take action to protect them. Staff do not actively search for children. Managers fail to provide staff with clear guidance on what to do should a child go missing from home. Additionally, not all children have received return home interviews.

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

Managers and staff do not identify child protection concerns or follow procedures to report these to the statutory agencies. For example, when one child made a Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 4 disclosure of potential harm, managers and staff did not promptly report this as required. They also failed to assess the potential risk and put measures in place to safeguard the child. Managers have also failed to report allegations of harm to the local authority designated officer (LADO).

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

Staff do not suitably supervise children to keep them safe. For example, one child has a deprivation of liberty order due to potential risk of harm. Despite this, staff have not suitably supervised the child to protect them. As a result, some serious incidents have occurred which have impacted negatively on the child’s experiences.

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

After incidents of restraint, children have not had the opportunity to reflect on what happened. Staff do not clearly record the behaviour which resulted to the measure being used. There is a lack of robust recording about actions staff have taken to keep children safe. This significant failure puts children at risk of harm.

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

Children have been put at risk of harm due to staff failing to administer medication safely. Medication errors have occurred which have impacted negatively on the child. On two occasions, a child was given too much medication. Staff sought medical advice, but lessons were not learned. A near miss occurred where the child identified that too much medication was about to be administered and informed staff. Managers did not report these concerns to the LADO or to Ofsted. Furthermore, managers have not put additional measures in place to reduce the risk of errors reoccurring.

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

The manager and staff do not adequately manage some children’s behaviours. Risk management plans are not updated following significant safeguarding incidents and information is not shared with relevant professionals, such as social workers. Managers do not make sure that there are comprehensive plans in place for ensuring that children are safe. Consequently, there is a lack of preventative work being done with children, which leaves them vulnerable.

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

The suitability of the premises has not been annually reviewed. This is a missed opportunity to further strengthen the safety of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager resigned in January 2022. Since then, one manager has been in post; however, they have not taken reasonable steps to apply to register as soon as possible. In October 2022, they submitted their application to register.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management remain consistently weak and have been inadequate since 2019. Leaders’ and managers’ monitoring and oversight are poor, ineffective and fail to keep children safe. Managers do not have good enough systems to review the quality of care and fully understand children’s experiences. Therefore, they do not understand potential risks to children and take steps to challenge poor practice and keep children safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 5 Managers are failing to take sufficient action to improve. Requirements made under regulation 13 are persistently not met. A requirement has been issued again because of poor leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management monitoring of the home is not effective. There are gaps in the managers’ knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Inspectors found errors in children’s important records and in restraint reports. In addition, disclosures made by children are not always acted on, and risk assessments do not address wider risks to children. This lack of oversight means that staff are not sufficiently held accountable for their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not taken steps to improve the quality of the independent person reports. The independent person has failed to identify the significant shortfalls found at this inspection. In addition, managers continue to fail to send Ofsted their review of the quality of care. Both these shortfalls were a requirement at the previous inspection and are not met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not provide staff with regular supervision, support or annual appraisals in line with the organisation’s internal policy. Managers are unable to assess whether staff are making progress and understand their roles and responsibilities in providing care to children and how to keep them safe. This exposes children to further risk, where poor practice from staff is not challenged and is normalised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose does not accurately reflect the staff working in the home. A lack of oversight means that the manager has failed to notice that relevant and vital information is missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Recruitment practice is not always robust. For example, managers do not always ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. This does not fully protect children from potentially unsuitable people working at the home. This was raised at the previous inspection and the requirement is not met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Partner agencies have mixed views about the service. Some professionals are pleased with the care provided to children. However, others recognise that the manager and staff fail to safeguard children effectively and are not helping children to continue to make progress and achieve their full potential. Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 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 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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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(b)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are supported to express their views and wishes and are given options to raise complaints if they wish. 6 December 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

that staff— 20 November Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 7 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

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)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that they recognise and understand risk and take action to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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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

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; 20 November Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 8 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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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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that they implement effective monitoring systems and identify concerns and take action to address these.

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Requirement Due date

This was a requirement at the previous inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specially relates to ensuring that local authority documents in line with Schedule 3 are received and that children are provided with care that is planned effectively. 6 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to— 6 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 9 a person who works at the home;

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Requirement Due date

a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a qualifying school, the Secretary of State.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (2)(a)(b)(d)(e) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The specifically relates to ensuring that the statement of purpose includes the names of staff working in the home and that door alarm risk assessments are in place.

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them;

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.

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Requirement Due date

Paragraph (2) does not apply to medicine which—

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Requirement Due date

is stored by the child for whom it is provided in such a way that other persons are prevented from using it; and

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Requirement Due date

may be safely self-administered by that child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3)(a)(b)) 20 November Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 10 The registered provider must ensure that medication is safely administered to children. They must also ensure that they review medication errors and improve managers’ monitoring of medication to address any competence concerns.

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (1) (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the responsible individual has effective oversight of the home and uses monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements to the quality of care provided in the home. 6 December 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.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 6 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 11 This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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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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)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 6 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 12 The manager must ensure that there is an effective review of physical interventions and that children are given the opportunity to speak to someone independent.

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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)) . 6 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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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— 6 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 13 children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the independent person is able to highlight any shortfalls identified in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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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”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and 6 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 14 make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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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 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This manager must ensure that a review of the quality of care report is submitted to Ofsted within the required time frame.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the previous two inspections and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

The manager must ensure that a review of the suitability of the premises is carried out on an annual basis and includes consultation with relevant people and children. 6 December 2022

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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: SC383941 15

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Archways Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hill Farm, Shawbury Lane, Shustoke, Coleshill, Birmingham B46 2RN

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Inspector

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC383941 16 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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