Children's Home run by Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 1 Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position has been vacant since 22 November 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 The environment is not helping children to enjoy or benefit from living in a comfortable home.  Children are not engaged in education, employment or training.  Children do not have good relationships with staff and say that they do not feel supported.  The manager does not yet have effective quality assurance processes in place, and this means that shortfalls are not identified or addressed.  There are gaps in recording, relating to medication administration processes and following incidents of physical intervention.

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The care of children

The home is not well maintained. Areas of the home need decoration and carpets are worn. Some children’s bedrooms are not kept in an acceptable state of tidiness. There is graffiti on the stairwell leading to children’s bedrooms, promoting smoking illegal substances. This does not provide an environment that children can enjoy and be proud to live in.

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The care of children

Relationships between staff and children are poor. Children spoke very negatively about the staff. One child said, ‘Staff are inconsistent, they do not de-escalate any problems, they don’t understand our behaviour [and are not] equipped to deal with it.’ As a result, currently, children are not happy. Senior managers have recognised these problems. They have commissioned an independent trainer to provide training to staff, including around behaviour management and focusing on improving the consistency of care practice.

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The care of children

Children are not in education, employment or training. An independent tutor provides daily support for one child. However, the child has refused to engage for some weeks and there is a lack of planning to get the child re-engaged in education. Older children were in college, but no longer attend. There is an absence of planning to ensure that children are motivated to engage in learning. Consequently, children stay in bed for long periods of the day and are living an unstructured life.

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The care of children

Children’s views and wishes are listened to. There are regular group meetings between staff and children. Children receive regular one-to-one key-work sessions. These sessions cover a range of topics that are specific to the care of each child. This ensures that the voice of the child is heard and taken into consideration in care planning. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 3

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The safety of children

When children are physically restrained by staff, the recording of these incidents is not of the required standard. One member of staff confirmed that they had not received training in the home’s preferred method of physical intervention. There are gaps in the recording of the type of physical intervention used and the duration of the intervention. This prevents managers from being assured that the actions of staff were appropriate and that children were not exposed to risks during these interventions.

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The safety of children

The recording of medication administration is variable. For example, there are gaps in records that fail to demonstrate whether the child took the prescribed medication, or whether it was refused by the child, if indeed it was offered. As a result, children may not be benefiting from medication prescribed to them.

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The safety of children

There has been a good response to children who self-harm. The children’s individual risk assessments address the issue accurately and provide guidance to staff on the actions to take to keep children safe. Children have been supported in sessions with staff, as well as receiving external support from mental health specialists. As a result, the level of self-harm by children has decreased.

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The safety of children

A training consultant is helping to increase staff’s knowledge of safeguarding. A monthly programme of training and development commenced in the summer of 2022. Topics include alcohol and substance misuse, self-harm, child exploitation, county lines and contextual safeguarding. This is developing staff’s practice around keeping children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager acknowledges that staffing has been problematic. There has been a large reliance on the use of agency staff, especially for cover at night. Some shifts have several agency staff working together. There are times when the required number of staff identified in children’s risk assessments has not been evidenced in practice. However, there has recently been a large recruitment of staff and an induction process is imminent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager does not use a monitoring system to quality assure care practice. The manager recognises this and is in the process of implementing systems to help monitor the quality of care provided. The absence of effective quality assurance systems prevents the manager from having the oversight required to ensure that the home and staff practice are safe and children are well looked after.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered manager left the home in November 2022. An interim manager was appointed and left. The current interim manager was a deputy manager at another home within the organisation. He is the interim manager of both homes. Recruitment is ongoing to appoint to manager positions. The changes led to one member of staff saying, ‘I don’t feel I know who to go to. I didn’t realise that [name] was the manager.’ This makes staff feel unsupported. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 4 Leaders in the organisation have introduced an electronic system for recording to replace the current paper files. Although there are some gaps in recording as highlighted, the general recording of daily life at the home has improved. This will help staff and the manager’s processes when fully embedded. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/09/2021 Full Inadequate Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 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 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

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)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the home is well decorated and maintained and that staff help children to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. 24 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; 24 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 7 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

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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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;

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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)(iv)(v)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the home having plans regarding children’s education and structuring days for children not in school, college or employment so they continue to learn.

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Requirement Due date

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

that staff— 24 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 8 help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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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

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(xi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that staff have the skills to address children’s behaviour and are consistent in doing so, and that positive relationships are made between staff and children.

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 24 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 9 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the manager ensuring that there are enough staff on duty to meet children’s needs as identified in children’s risk assessments; that agency staff are not working without a permanent member of staff; and that robust quality assurance and monitoring systems are in place, used regularly and recorded.

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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

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that all medication is recorded and the reasons for gaps are clearly explained. 24 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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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; 24 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 10 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, because of the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that, after any physical intervention, records are clear and detailed, recording all the information as stated in the regulation. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barratt House Office G3a, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton NN2 6EZ

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Inspector

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 12 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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