Children's Home run by East Sussex County Council in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 1 SC031698 Registered provider: East Sussex County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children’s home. The home can provide care for up to eight children with learning and physical disabilities. According to the statement of purpose, the home provides a short-breaks service.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2017 and is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

There are two children currently living in the home. Since the last inspection, no children have moved into or out of the home.

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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, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 16 September 2021

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/09/2021 Full Good 16/01/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/10/2019 Full Good 22/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 3

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inadequate

The home was operating as a short-breaks service. However, two children were placed as emergencies in 2019 and 2020 and have remained living in the home.

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inadequate

This was originally a temporary arrangement to help create space and enable assessments to be carried out to determine the best placements for the two children. However, despite the manager’s and the staffs’ best efforts to meet the children’s needs, a suitable placement has not been identified which has resulted in the children remaining at the home far longer than initially planned

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inadequate

One child’s needs fall outside the home’s conditions of registration. This has resulted in his primary care needs having to be met by an external agency.

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inadequate

The registered manager has implemented care plans to try to meet the children’s complex needs. However, she recognises this is not good enough for the children and has raised concerns with senior leaders.

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inadequate

Children experience barriers to their inclusion in society and are deprived of their liberty. The level of restrictions imposed on one child are so severe that he only leaves the home to attend medical appointments or for a short minibus ride under staff supervision. He has no interaction with other children and is not able to participate in any activities outside the home.

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inadequate

Leaders have not ensured that consent has been appropriately sought for the level of restrictions in place for this child. This is despite the registered manager’s continued efforts to advocate for the child and make clear that this is needed.

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inadequate

Access to education is wholly inadequate. Children are not being provided with meaningful education. One child is visited by a tutor for two hours a week. The other child has no formal education.

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inadequate

The registered manager and the staff have tried hard to support one child’s health needs. This resulted in the child having a surgical procedure to resolve an ongoing health condition which had caused him pain. The considerable planning and dedication of everyone involved was exceptional.

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

Children do not live in a pleasant home and staff practices create an institutional environment, such as the locking of doors.

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

The environment is bleak and unwelcoming. For example, in one child’s bedroom there is a stockpile of dirty sofa cushions and there are marks, holes and writing all Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 4 over the walls. There is a boarded-up window, with no confirmed date when this will be fixed.

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

There has been a lack of urgency to repair a child’s bathroom. There is a radiator missing from a wall which has not been replaced and, consequently, there is exposed pipework. Not enough consideration has been given to the child’s sensory needs, which have led to items such as toilet paper and soap being removed from the bathroom. The delay in addressing the needs of the child when accessing their bathroom has resulted in a deterioration in the child’s personal hygiene and their behaviour.

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

One child raised a complaint following a window frame falling out on him when he opened it after it had been repaired. The registered manager escalated this to an internal department and ensured that this was correctly fixed.

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

Staff do not have the skills, experience or knowledge to manage children’s behaviours. This failure has resulted in practices being used that impose restrictions to keep children safe. For example, to manage one child’s behaviours, there is a practice of locking the child in an area or room to contain them, while staff observe through a window. Other strategies include staff holding doors shut to keep themselves safe when children’s behaviours escalate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has been escalating concerns that the home is not able to meet the needs of the children, despite every effort being made by the staff. However, there has been too long a delay in dealing effectively with the concerns raised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff feel supported by the registered manager. They are provided with regular supervision. However, there are gaps in staff receiving annual appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

External feedback from stakeholders praises the registered manager and the staff for their dedicated work in trying to meet the children’s needs. However, there is recognition that this is not an appropriate or sustainable placement for one child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Although the registered manager has taken action to ensure that children are safeguarded when an allegation is raised, this is not sufficiently rigorous. These significant events have not been notified to Ofsted and referrals have not been made to the local authority designated officer. Furthermore, a staff member who was dismissed due to safeguarding concerns was not subject to the necessary referral to external agencies. Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(vii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii)) 20 November

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. (Regulation 8 (1)) 20 November

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. 20 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(b)(d)) 20 November

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 20 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 7 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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f))

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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

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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 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;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iii)) 20 November

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1)) 20 November

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; 20 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 8 is necessary and proportionate;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, the registered provider should ensure that following the dismissal of employees, referrals are made to statutory agencies. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: SC031698 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: East Sussex County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: East Sussex County Council, County Hall, St Anne’s Crescent, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1UE

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Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC031698 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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