Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 1 Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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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 run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who have social and emotional difficulties. Four children currently live in this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit took place due to a significant increase in serious incidents in the home. Significant failures in how well children are helped and protected, ineffective staffing arrangements and concerns about how the home is managed were found. Consequently, children have been placed at risk.

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This monitoring visit

One child was not afforded safe care when they sustained injuries during a physical intervention. Staff failed to observe or monitor the well-being of this child for several hours and medical advice was not sought for a significant period. When the child was seen by medical professionals, the outcome was not recorded or shared with the wider staff team. As a result, ongoing monitoring of the child was not implemented.

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This monitoring visit

Some staff do not have the necessary experience and training to manage children’s behaviour safely and effectively. As a result, incidents between children have escalated quickly, without the necessary intervention. This has further resulted in damage to the premises, physical altercations between children and injuries to staff.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s risk management plans do not provide sufficient detail and guidance for staff to follow when risks present. For example, one child had moved into the home Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 2 several weeks before this visit, but they did not have a written risk assessment. Agency staff, who had not been to the home before and who had not met the children, had no knowledge of children’s risks or triggers or details of the strategies to use to help children. Consequently, a serious incident occurred, and children were placed at risk.

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This monitoring visit

Placement decisions fail to fully consider the relationships between children before they are admitted to the home. As a result, children who had been in previous conflict with each other were moved into the home together. This has been a catalyst for several of the serious incidents that have occurred. This has been further compounded by insufficient staffing, lack of risk management plans and poor management oversight.

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This monitoring visit

In the absence of the registered manager, daily oversight of the home has been ineffective. Children’s bedrooms were found to be in a poor state. This included unclean surfaces, floors and walls, dirty clothes and broken items. Following discussions with leaders, these matters were addressed during this visit. However, the interim management arrangements had failed to identify this serious shortfall in the first instance. Furthermore, serious incidents have not been consistently reported to Ofsted in a timely way.

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This monitoring visit

Some serious incidents have resulted in extensive damage to the home, for example, five windows had been broken, which were boarded up. This was already being addressed at the time of the inspection.

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This monitoring visit

During and following this visit, Ofsted sought assurances from the provider regarding the immediate safety of children. A case review was also held following the visit. The provider was subsequently issued with a notice restricting the accommodation of registration. This is to ensure that the provider does not admit any further children to the home. Two compliance notices have also been issued.

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This monitoring visit

Requirements and recommendations raised at the previous full inspection were not considered at this inspection and, therefore, remain. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2023 Full Good 23/11/2021 Full Outstanding 14/01/2020 Full Good 20/03/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 4

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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 with 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; and

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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;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)) 30 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

* The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 30 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; 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 arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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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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)(b)(c)(e)(f)(h)) 30 April 2023

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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

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 30 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 6 (Regulation 40 (4)(b))

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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

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)) 30 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(b)) 30 June 2023

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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 all staff know the importance of children understanding who they are and where they come from, and help children to understand their history by undertaking life-story work or other direct work. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. (‘Guide Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 7 to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  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. In particular, they should ensure that all information is up to date and relevant to the current risk management and care planning. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. In particular, the registered person should report all serious incidents to the appropriate professionals. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hampshire Council, 3rd Floor, Elizabeth II Court North, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG

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Inspector

Jill Sephton-Wright, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 1257065 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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