Children's Home run by No. 57 Ltd in Stockton-on-Tees

Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 1 Registered provider: No. 57 Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2018. She holds suitable qualifications for this role.

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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 and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 18 October 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: 1244413 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2021 Full Good 27/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/11/2019 Full Good 05/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 3

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inadequate

Children’s day-to-day experiences are poor. One child has been physically assaulted by other children. Staff have been unable to de-escalate situations and manage children’s unwanted behaviours effectively. This has exposed children to harm.

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inadequate

Some children frequently experience name-calling, intimidation and threats of harm from other children. Many of these incidents go unchallenged by staff. On the occasions when this type of behaviour is challenged by staff, the challenge is ineffective. This means that staff do not help children to develop positive relationships with each other. As a result, children are exposed to continued risk of harm.

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inadequate

Children’s educational experiences vary. One child is regularly excluded and it is unclear what staff have done to address this. Another child who recently moved into the home has not yet had a meeting about a suitable educational placement. Managers and staff do not ensure that they advocate effectively for children. This means that children’s educational needs are not met.

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inadequate

Children are not always supported to have contact with those who are important to them, even when children have expressed a clear wish for this. This does not help children to feel listened to or promote positive relationships for children.

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inadequate

Some records contain stigmatising phrases about children. One child was referred to as ‘putting himself in danger’. This is blaming language and supports negative attitudes towards looked after children. Furthermore, a record written in this way is not helpful for the children if they request to see their files.

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inadequate

The living room door is locked every night. This practice has been in place for a long time to manage children’s unwanted behaviours. It has not been risk assessed or reviewed by the manager. This does not help to create a family environment where children have a sense of belonging to their home.

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inadequate

Some areas of the home are damaged and/or in poor condition. Repair work to one of the two showers in the home has been required for some time but is yet to be completed. This does not help children to feel cared for.

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

Staff fail to safeguard children from one another. Children regularly display sexually harmful behaviours towards each other. Staff do not intervene and any attempts to challenge these behaviours are ineffective. Children are at risk of continued harm from these unchallenged behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 4 Children’s risk assessments are not consistently accurate. They do not provide staff with clear direction and guidance on how to manage and/or reduce risks to children. The necessary safeguards are not in place to protect children. Known risks increase and there is a lack of regular and effective monitoring from staff. As a result, children have had significant exposure to sexual and criminal exploitation through the unsupervised use of their mobile phone and access to social media platforms.

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

Support and interventions that children require are not carried out effectively by staff. A lack of suitable guidance prevents children from accessing the help and support that they require. This leaves children at risk of, but not limited to, suicidal thoughts, exploitation and drugs misuse.

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

Children moving into the home are not appropriately matched with each other. As a result, children are not consistently safeguarded. There has been a failure to suitably risk assess the needs of all children prior to children moving into the home. This means that there is a lack of understanding and guidance for staff to help them mitigate the children’s competing risks.

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

Serious incidents and concerns have not been notified to the appropriate authorities, including Ofsted. This has prevented Ofsted from having a full understanding of these incidents and concerns and being assured that all the necessary actions have been taken to safeguard the children.

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

When children go missing, staff go out looking for them and make active attempts to contact them. However, on one occasion, it took staff 19 hours to search the child’s room after they went missing. This means that there were significant delays in finding any possible indicators of where the child might have been.

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

Staff have not pursued important documents about the children effectively. This includes one child’s health assessment, which took place eight months ago. As a result, plans for children may not reflect their current needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home are ineffective. This means that the home is not operated in line with the approach and ethos as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Poor management oversight means that this document has not been kept under review, nor is it shared with Ofsted in the regulatory time frame.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that concerns raised about staff’s behaviour towards children have been fully addressed. This means that staff who may pose a risk to children have continued to work at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not have the skills, knowledge and training to meet the children’s individual needs. This leads to staff providing an inconsistent approach to meeting the children’s needs. This leaves children vulnerable to harm. Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 5 Staff are not provided with sufficient support and guidance. They do not receive regular supervision. Furthermore, ineffective team meetings and supervision sessions means that staff do not have the opportunity to reflect on their practice or identify areas of practice that can be improved. This lack of management support to staff, and oversight of their practice, has had a negative impact on the care afforded to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s monitoring systems are ineffective. As a result, emerging themes relating to children’s care and safety are not quickly identified, and opportunities to address shortfalls and make improvements are missed. This includes failing to monitor the effectiveness of consequences made by staff and failing to respond to a child’s complaint about being bullied.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is poor communication with the regulator. There is significant delay in important documents, such as the six-monthly quality of care review and the independent visitor’s monthly reports, being sent to Ofsted. This means that the quality of care and progress of the children in the home cannot be not reviewed and scrutinised in a timely way. Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 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

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. (Regulation 7 (1)(c)) 5 March 2023

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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.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(x)(b)) 5 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 7 *The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b)) 5 March 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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 5 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 8 manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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

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

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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;

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use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h)) 5 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 5 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 9 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 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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

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

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is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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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)(iv)) 5 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that complaints are recorded and that an outcome is provided to the complainant within the relevant time frame. 5 March 2023

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

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

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there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 5 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 10 (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e))

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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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The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and

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the responsible individual (if one is nominated). (Regulation 44 (1) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 5 March 2023

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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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the quality of care provided for children;

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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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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

The registered person must— 5 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 11 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

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Requirement Due date

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

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children and provides a homely, domestic environment. This relates to the internal painting and shower repairs required. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  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. Staff should record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1244413 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspectors

Emma Ridley, Social Care Inspector Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1244413 13 to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for 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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