Children's home run by Willow Tree Children’s Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 1 Registered provider: Willow Tree Children’s Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered for up to four children who cannot currently live with their families. It is set in a semi-rural location, near a major town.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered in June 2022. The manager was registered at the same time.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not currently have a named responsible individual.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Since the home was registered, two children have had poor placement endings. One ending was unplanned following a serious incident. The other was ended prematurely by the managers at the home. Until the point of moving on, the child had been making good progress towards learning some independence skills, including, with staff support, meeting friends in the community and learning to use a mobile phone safely.

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improvement to be good

Children are listened to. They help to choose some of the interior decor, as well as choosing what they would like to cook. The child living in the home is engaged in making decisions about her education and activities and who she spends time with in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children have typically been out of education for a significant period before being placed in the home. Two children were not in education at the time that their placements came to an end. The child at the home is currently in education and staff are supporting her well to sit her mock exams and engage in positive activities during the day. She has not been in the home long and staff are still getting to know what she would like to do.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met according to their plans and they are encouraged to attend routine appointments. Staff have liaised closely with local child and adolescent mental health services as needed. This helps to achieve consistency in the approach to promoting and managing children’s emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children are well supported to maintain positive relationships with friends and family. Staff actively support children to meet with appropriate people and they arrange transport and supervise this when necessary.

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improvement to be good

The child living in the home says she feels safe and that staff would help her if she needed it. However, staff have not always been able to keep children safe. In particular, the behaviour of one child led to the child and staff being unsafe, despite sound pre-placement planning.

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improvement to be good

Pre-placement risk assessments have not fully incorporated the information that was available to the managers in the home. For example, one child broke a large mirror, even though her records showed that she should not have had access to mirrors. Another had a history of using a pull cord as a ligature, but the staff did not remove Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 4 pull-cord light switches. Other practices in the home, such as propping fire doors open, continued during the inspection, despite the inspector bringing this to the attention of staff.

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improvement to be good

Practice in the home is still influenced by the needs of children who have now left. For example, the window in the bedroom of the current child in the home is locked, despite there being no risk of her going missing. The downstairs toilet has unsightly holes in the wall where the mirror was broken by a child who lived in the home some months ago. This indicates care is not being focused on the needs of the child currently living in the home.

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improvement to be good

In most cases, children have been kept safe from avoidable or identified risk. Staff have followed court-ordered restrictions of liberty as required to keep children safe. In the main, risk assessments show consideration to keeping children safe, while allowing them suitable and age-appropriate freedom.

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improvement to be good

Staff know how to respond to any child protection concerns, in accordance with the organisation’s policy. Additionally, they are aware of partner agencies to contact if they have concerns and know how to whistle-blow if necessary. Records of child protection concerns are clear and show appropriate responses and sharing of information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has been without a responsible individual since the end of October 2022. There was a delay in informing Ofsted and submitting the required information about who would be taking on this role. This has now been submitted. The registered manager is currently working her notice period and the senior leaders in the organisation are interviewing for a replacement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight and leadership of the home have been weak at times. This has led to concerns such as a misunderstanding about the permissive nature of a deprivation of liberty order, resulting in an untimely placement ending for one child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Gaps and inaccuracies in plans and records have not been noticed by managers. An impact assessment indicated that a child would be cared for by staff who have a specific approach to care. However, only one member of staff had had the required training. Additionally, staff reflections and debriefs following incidents or when a child has moved on are not recorded. This means that valuable insight is lost regarding how best to support children in the future or whether further training is required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff say they are well supported by the manager and they find their regular supervision valuable. It is clear that the manager leads by example, and she works alongside staff into the evenings to support children living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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)(a)(b)(iv)(vii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii)) 31 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 6 In particular, that the home and care are set up in a manner that meets the needs of the children living there at the time, and in accordance with any orders made by the court.

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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 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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the environment is made safe, in accordance with children’s known risks, before they are placed. 31 January 2023

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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—

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the training as identified in children’s plans, that management oversight is used to monitor effectively the quality of records and ensure that post-incident debriefs are recorded and show a reflective approach to practice. 31 January 2023

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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 31 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 7 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

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)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children have planned and positive endings to their placements.

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Requirement Due date

An organisation may only carry on a home if—

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Requirement Due date

the organisation has notified HMCI of the name, address and position in the organisation of the responsible individual. (Regulation 26 (4)(ii)) 31 January 2023

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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: 2680923 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Willow Tree Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Tony Waite, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 9 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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