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

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 1 Registered provider: Willow Tree Children’s Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider and is registered to care for up to four children who have social and emotional difficulties. It is set in a semi-rural location, near a major town.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since January 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 23 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: 2680923 2

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Findings from the inspection

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

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Findings from the inspection

 Poor staff deployment has compromised children’s safety. For example, the inspector noted that staff were not present on the landing as expected when children were in their bedrooms.  There is a lack of clear guidance for staff to follow when children go missing from the home. There is an over-reliance on following the home’s policy in isolation rather than linking the policy to individual protocols to ensure that staff know the appropriate actions to take for every child.  Management oversight has failed to identify and/or address gaps in records. This includes not ensuring that the records of when children are missing from home are completed in full.  Ofsted has not been provided with full information when notified of serious events, as required by regulation.  There are shortfalls in the management oversight and monitoring of the home. This has left children at risk of harm.

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The care of children

Children are cared for by a core team of staff, who they say they like and have some good relationships with. However, children do not say the same about some of the bank staff and agency staff who care for them.

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The care of children

Children are all engaged in some form of education. For example, tutors visit children at the home, and two of the children attend school-based lessons.

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The care of children

Staff support children to engage in a range of activities, although children do not always wish to join in with what is planned.

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The care of children

Children who play computer games are not always safeguarded effectively. For example, staff had not assessed the suitability of a game a child was playing. This was managed on the day of the inspection with the home’s manager. This included holding a conversation with the child and his parents, which resulted in the game being removed from the child. Games for other children that were not appropriate for their age had been removed when the children moved in and were already stored in the office.

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The care of children

Children’s views are sought with regards to menu choices and activities. They are also encouraged to share their views on their care. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 3 Children are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Smoking and the use of vapes are discouraged, with staff removing these when found. There is joint working with placing authorities to gain access to sexual health and drug and alcohol services.

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The safety of children

Staff do not routinely follow in-house procedures for supervising children when they are in their bedrooms. Children have been able to spend the night in each other’s bedrooms due to a member of staff not following set protocols. This has led to children being placed at risk.

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The safety of children

Children have had repeated missing-from-home episodes in the local area. On one occasion, a child went missing from the home for an extended period. Joint working with the police and local authorities has meant that there has been a coordinated approach to locating the children. Records when children have been missing are not accurate or completed in full. Consequently, there is no detailed record to show how children have returned to the home and the process that led to them being located.

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The safety of children

Staff now immediately take action when children go missing from home. On one occasion, staff have physically prevented a child from leaving the home. However, there is a lack of clear guidance in place for staff to follow. The home’s policy refers to individual protocols for children who are missing, but these are not in place.

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The safety of children

A serious safeguarding incident involving two children was not shared with the local authority and details were omitted from the regulation 40 notification sent to Ofsted.

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The safety of children

There are no set plans in place to guide staff on how they should respond when a child is at risk of self-harming.

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The safety of children

The recording of post-incident debriefs has improved. Records are now linked to the relevant incident form.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The recently appointed manager is working through the shortfalls identified at the last inspection. The responsible individual has devised more monitoring tools to help to improve the oversight of the home. However, this additional layer of monitoring has failed to identify several gaps and errors in records, plans and information shared through safeguarding notifications to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has chased gaps in pre-placement information. This has resulted in some information being made available.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The use of staff from other homes and agencies means that there is a lack of consistency or understanding of children’s needs. This places extra pressure on the management team to cover gaps in the rota, which contributes to the shortfalls Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 4 identified at this inspection. Recruitment is ongoing and new members of staff are due to start in the home soon. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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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 (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)) 14 April 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 14 April 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 7 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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 14 April 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2680923 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Willow Tree Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Assurance 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 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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