Children's home run by Tutelage Care Hatley Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 1 Registered provider: Tutelage Care Hatley Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This home and manager registered with Ofsted on 18 July 2022. This is the first inspection 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 failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: Not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 2

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inadequate

Weaknesses in leadership and management and safeguarding practice are compromising children’s progress and experiences.

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inadequate

The quality of the child’s care, experiences and progress has been negatively impacted by leaders and managers’ poor decision-making in assessing the suitability of the home to meet the child’s needs.

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inadequate

The child has not settled since moving into the home. There have been a number of significant incidents that staff have been unable to manage due to their lack of appropriate skills and experience. This has resulted in the child harming themselves and others, police involvement and an unplanned ending to the child’s placement.

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inadequate

Staff have been unable to motivate the child to engage in a range of activities offered. Records of the child’s day-to-day activities do not consistently reflect the child’s views, wishes and feelings. This is a missed opportunity for the child to develop structure and gain new experiences in the community.

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inadequate

Positively, the child has made some progress from their starting point. The child is encouraged to complete their own personal care. There are some positive and warm interactions between staff and the child. A relative of the child spoke positively about the care provided to the child; however, they are concerned about the number of incidents involving the child.

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inadequate

Staff support the child well with their health needs. Staff ensure that the child attends routine and specialist health appointments. Staff advocate for the child to receive appropriate healthcare. In addition, staff support the child with healthy eating and the child now regularly enjoys cooked meals. This has helped to improve the child’s health and well-being.

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inadequate

The home’s physical environment is safe for the child. However, leaders and managers have failed to ensure that repair work is carried out promptly, and some outstanding repairs were completed during this inspection. In addition, the garden is overgrown, and some old furniture and carpet is left at the side of the house. This does not provide a warm and comfortable environment for child.

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

Ineffective leadership and management are compromising safeguarding practice. Leaders and managers failed to consider, prior to the placement, the child’s full history, and if the staff team had the relevant knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of the child to determine if the placement was suitable. Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 3 The child and members of staff have sustained a number of injuries due to the poor behaviour and risk management of the child. On one occasion, the child required stitches from walking on cups he had broken. The child was able to access the COSSH cupboard several times during one incident and sprayed chemicals in one member of staff’s eyes, and threw bleach at himself and another staff member. This demonstrates that staff do not have the skills to keep the child and themselves safe.

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

Staff do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting children or know what action they need to take if there are signs that a child is at risk of harm. Staff are unable to keep the child and themselves safe due to them not being suitably trained. Not all staff are trained in positive behaviour management and restraint practice, so are unable to prevent and reduce the severity of incidents, placing the child and themselves at risk. The staff regularly rely on the police to assist them in managing the child’s behaviour. This has resulted in the child being arrested and detained at the police station on a number of occasions.

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

The child’s risk assessment does not include the strategies to manage the presenting risks. Leaders and managers failed to ensure that the child’s changing needs and risks were reviewed and included in the child’s risk assessment. The child’s risk assessment includes a chronology of incidents; however, the risk assessment does not evidence how leaders and managers have evaluated incidents and does not include strategies to help staff to manage incidents effectively.

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

Oversight of safeguarding procedures and practice is weak. Leaders and managers do not routinely review and evaluate significant incidents and concerns in order to identify any themes, patterns and/or shortfalls. Opportunities to learn and improve staff practice are missed.

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

The child has not been supported to understand the risks to them. The child has not received regular key-work sessions to discuss their care plan, risks, behaviour management plan and more general topics. The limited key-work session records do not include the child’s views. Records do not consistently reflect creative attempts to engage the child. This is a missed opportunity to help the child to learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

The child has not received appropriate help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings. The child has not responded well to positive reinforcement, despite the rewards given. In addition, consequences have not been effective, resulting in further incidents. Leaders and managers have failed to consider or identify alternative strategies to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home is weak, which has compromised safeguarding practice. Some staff have not completed all mandatory training, positive behaviour management training, or physical intervention training to equip them with the relevant knowledge, skills and experience to meet the complex needs Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 4 of the child in their care. As a result, the child’s needs have not been met and the quality of care provided to the child is poor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managerial oversight of incidents is of poor quality. Incident records do not demonstrate that leaders and managers understand the causes and triggers to incidents. Leaders and managers do not consider how staff can effectively manage incidents or identify the strategies and training required to help to support staff to manage and reduce risks. This was evident following an incident when a child accessed the COSHH cupboard several times.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have, on a number of occasions, been unable to manage incidents effectively, necessitating police involvement. A failure of managers to fully consider how staff could be further supported to manage incidents means that staff are not equipped with all of the skills and resources they need to manage incidents effectively. There were five crime reports generated in November 2022 alone, in addition to other calls made to police that month. The child has also received a police caution. This demonstrates that the poor and ineffective oversight of behaviour management has resulted in the child being criminalised unnecessarily.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not assessed effectively the skill set of the staff team, or taken action to ensure that staff are equipped for their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers failed to ensure that staff supervision has taken place regularly. This has contributed to staff feeling that they are not adequately supported, and has reduced opportunities for them to reflect on their practice and incidents. The failure to ensure that staff receive regular supervision has impacted on the manager and staff’s ability to reflect on practice and provide safe and effective care for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Positively, leaders and managers have worked well with the child’s professional network. Feedback from the stakeholders is positive. In addition, staff have received clinical support to try to help them to understand the child’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all known and potential risks to children are thoroughly considered and assessed at the point of referral, and that impact risk assessments consider if the staff team have the knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of children placed at the home. 29 January 2023

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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. 29 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities in protecting children from harm. Risk assessments must include details of all known and potential risks and the strategies identified to manage and reduce risks.

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home is led and managed in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos of the home, as set out in the statement of purpose. Leaders and managers must ensure that they understand, monitor and review the quality of care provided to children and take effective action to address shortfalls in practice. 29 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 7 *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;

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff undertake training that helps them to meet the needs of the children in their care. In particular, this must include all mandatory training, behaviour management and physical intervention training. 29 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 29 January 2023

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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; 29 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 8 engage with them; and

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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

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. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children in their care are helped to express their views, wishes and feelings, and these should be recorded and responded to effectively.

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Key-work session records should consistently reflect the creative attempts staff have taken to engage children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that, in order for the children’s home to be a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children, they maintain the back garden area so that it is a more user-friendly space and ensure that repairs in the home are completed promptly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

Inspector 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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 9 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tutelage Care Hatley Ltd

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Inspector

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2691579 11 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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