Children's Home run by Oakley House Children’s Home Limited in Staffordshire

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 1 SC447457

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Registered provider: Oakley House Children’s Home Limited

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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 owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for three children who have experienced childhood instability resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in December 2016 and is suitably qualified.

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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: SC447457 2

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Findings from the inspection

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

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Findings from the inspection

 Children’s risk management plans are not regularly reviewed and updated.  Staff do not follow children’s risk management plans to keep them safe.  Staff are not skilled to support children’s complex behaviour needs and to de-escalate serious incidents when there are serious concerns for children’s welfare.  Leaders and managers do not have effective oversight.  Partner agencies and a family member report confirm inconsistent care to children.

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The care of children

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out. One child’s move was a planned and successful move back to family members. Another child then moved in shortly after; this was planned and managed well. However, while the child made some progress in some aspects staff did not provide sufficient support to maintain this and help this child to progress further. The child moved out in an unplanned way. At the time of this inspection, there were no children living at the home.

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The care of children

Some progress has been made since the previous inspection. Requirements under regulation 20, regulation 32 and regulation 40 were fully met. In addition, some progress was made in meetings aspects of the other previous requirements. However, leaders and managers have not acted quickly to bring about sustained improvements since the home’s last inspection. Therefore, several requirements have been raised again at this inspection. The registered manager’s monitoring and oversight have failed to identify shortfalls that have had an impact on children’s progress and day-to-day experiences at the home.

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The care of children

Some aspects of the home are well maintained, comfortable and welcoming. However, this is not consistent throughout. For example, the home had broken windows that had not been repaired and presented a risk of harm. The registered manager had taken some action to address this concern. However, there is a potential ligature risk in a bedroom and the bathroom does not have a homely feel.

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The care of children

Some staff have healthy and positive relationships with children and know them well. However, other members of staff do not have a good understanding of the children’s complex behaviours and vulnerabilities and do not respond to their needs well. Staff do not always show patience and resilience. This does not help children to begin to develop trusting relationships. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 3 Children’s educational progress has improved. Staff supported one child with their learning and development. This child started attending in-house learning, and from their starting point they made some progress.

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The safety of children

Not all staff provide children with sufficient care and support to meet their behavioural needs. Some staff did not understand their role in implementing the behaviour management model detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. Serious incidents have recently occurred in which staff failed to provide the child with sufficient care and support. As staff were unable to support this child they telephoned the police for assistance. During these incidents, the child was outside the home, in distress and damaging the property. Staff failed to de-escalate the situation and help the child to calm. Feedback from partner agencies and family members also raised concerns about staff’s ability to manage the child’s complex needs. Managers failed to recognise this poor response to a child in crisis.

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The safety of children

Following these serious incidents, managers failed to provide the child with care and nurture or take action to ensure the child was safe for a significant period, even though they were aware of potential risks to this emotionally vulnerable child. They did not challenge other professionals’ advice which failed to promote the child’s welfare.

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The safety of children

Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff always have the most up-to-date information to support children’s complex needs. Risk management plans are detailed but they are not consistently reviewed and updated following serious incidents.

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The safety of children

Known risks such as behaviours involving physical aggression and damage to property are not always included in risk assessments. Therefore, staff are not fully informed about strategies to manage risk. This has the potential to increase the risks to vulnerable children.

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The safety of children

Staff are not professionally curious about the safety of children in their care. They are not inquisitive about children’s use of their electronic devices and mobile phones. Furthermore, staff do not follow children’s risk assessments to ensure that regular checks are undertaken or fully understand the amount of time children spend on these devices. This makes children more vulnerable to harm while online.

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The safety of children

Some staff have sensitive and meaningful discussions with children to help them talk about their feelings and difficulties. This aims to help children to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. However, this positive support is inconsistent. For example, these conversations do not continue to help children to develop their understanding of important issues such as exploring difficult emotions, racism and online exploitation.

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The safety of children

Children rarely go missing from home. On the one occasion a child did go missing, staff understood what they needed to do and responded quickly. However, children’s Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 4 missing-from-care protocols do not always contain the relevant information to advise staff about known risks in the community. This has the potential to limit staff’s ability to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered manager has not yet developed an in-depth understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. This means that they are not always effective in their monitoring and oversight of the home. As a result, the inspector found shortfalls that the registered manager had not identified. This limits the capacity of the home to improve. Due to the serious and widespread concerns a compliance notice was issued for regulation 13.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not always ensure they consistently review and update children’s risk management plans. Information about one child’s known risks was not fully included in the child’s risk assessments. Furthermore, the registered manager has not updated the home’s location risk assessment to reflect current intelligence. As a result, staff lacked knowledge and understanding about how to manage and reduce all known risks, to promote the child’s welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Partner agencies and family members have mixed views about the service. One social worker said staff are pleasant and welcoming but are not skilled to manage complex behaviours. Family members told the inspector, ‘They [staff] communicate and update on incidents, but I don’t think they managed [name of child]’s behaviour well.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered manager notifies Ofsted of all serious incidents that occur in the home. This means that the regulator can review whether appropriate action is taken in response to these incidents and whether lessons are learned to reduce the risk of the same thing happening again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

All staff hold appropriate qualifications for their roles. The registered manager has ensured that all core staff refresh their mandatory training to care for children. This ensures that staff can develop their knowledge and skills to care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Recruitment of staff is done in a way that promotes children’s safety. The registered manager ensures that the recruitment process and checks explore the full employment history of all staff before they start work. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/12/2021 Full Inadequate 19/12/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/05/2019 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that they escalate their concerns to the relevant professionals.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the previous inspection and is restated. 17 March 2023

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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

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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those 17 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 7 expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff supporting children to explore their emotions and build positive relationships.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the previous inspection and is restated.

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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

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. (Regulation 12(1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff ensuring they follow children’s risk assessments to keep children safe and that these are regularly reviewed and kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager and staff ensuring that they take effective action when there are serious concerns about children being at risk of harm. 17 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 8 This requirement was made at the previous inspection and is restated.

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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

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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

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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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) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager ensuring they use internal monitoring systems more effectively.

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Requirement Due date

Also, it refers to the registered manager ensuring that staff practice is consistent with the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the previous inspection and is restated. 17 March 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

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Requirement Due date

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 (ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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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 17 March 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 9 arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager ensuring that children have a positive experience when moving on from the home.

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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 regularly review and update children’s missing-from-care protocols. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that their review of the premises and all known local geographical information is reviewed and updated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oakley House Children’s Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit D, 17 Plumbers Row, London E1 1EQ

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC447457 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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