Children's Home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited in Coventry

Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 1 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a large private provider. It is registered to care for up to five children who may have learning disabilities and are likely to have experienced early childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in October 2022. The manager has been registered since then and is working towards a level 5 qualification in leadership and management. This is the first inspection of the home.

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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 or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 3

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inadequate

Since the home opened, three children have lived there. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home.

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inadequate

Care planning for children is poor. Two children moved into the home and moved on in less than two months, due to staff not being able to meet their complex needs. Feedback from both children’s social workers was that care was not nurturing and that staff lacked the skills needed to help children calm down when they were distressed.

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inadequate

One child who has remained in the home for several months is settled. Their parent, social worker and school feel that they are happy in the home and get on well with staff. This demonstrates some progress for this child.

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inadequate

The quality of staff support to help children with their education is mixed. One child is now attending school when they previously were not. There is regular communication between school and the home to support them with their behaviour. However, another child was removed from a school they enjoyed when they moved into the home, due to concerns about them going missing. The manager failed to advocate for the child to ensure they had suitable education arrangements.

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inadequate

Staff do not understand or have the skills to care for children therapeutically. Staff told the inspector that they feel they are not equipped to care for children who have been through trauma, and they are not clear what the home’s therapeutic care approach is. This is demonstrated in incidents where staff lack the skills to support children, understand their therapeutic needs and reduce their distress.

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inadequate

Children have some positive experiences at the home. For example, staff support children with activities and hobbies. One child enjoyed going to a football match and another child went to swimming lessons during the short time they were living at the home.

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

Staff lack the skills to provide the care to children that they need to help them calm during times of distress. Serious incidents have occurred where staff have failed to intervene quickly to reduce risk and potential harm. Instead, staff have called the police when children’s behaviour has escalated. On some of these occasions, staff encouraged the police to give children formal warnings or to arrest them. Leaders and managers failed to recognise this poor approach, which criminalises children and impact’s negatively on their experiences. Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 4 Staff and managers do not take effective action to keep children safe. They fail to provide children with support for their emotional health and well-being. Staff have not sought medical attention for one child who was in distress. During one incident, staff ran and locked themselves away from the child when the child was upset. In

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

another incident, when the child was at risk of harm, they did not contact emergency services.

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

Leaders and managers do not follow safeguarding procedures. They fail to identify when children make allegations of harm or report them to safeguarding professionals as required. The inspector identified two occasions when children had made allegations of harm about staff which the manager had failed to report or take action on. This puts children at risk of harm.

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

The manager’s oversight of restraint is poor. Children are not always offered medical attention following restraint, even when incidents have been serious. Leaders and managers do not provide staff with timely debriefs, to help staff reflect and learn how to support the child more effectively.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff do not always follow safeguarding procedures fully. In one incident, staff followed the child but there was a delay in reporting them missing to their local authority. Once the child was located, staff failed to collect them immediately. This prevented the child from returning home to safety as quickly as they could have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a lack of continuity in the staff team. Several staff have left and most of the current staff team are new and many are unqualified. Agency staff are regularly used in the home. The manager recognises this is an area for improvement and has contributed to some incidents not being managed well with children, due to staff’s lack of skills. Leaders are working hard to recruit to vacant positions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not monitor the quality of care effectively and review safeguarding concerns. For example, the manager does not address poor staff practice or shortfalls in following safeguarding procedures. This means that poor practice has continued without being addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not have sufficient training to enable them to understand how to care for children’s complex needs. Managers are therefore unable to ensure staff provide therapeutic care in line with the ethos described in the statement of purpose. Staff have also not responded to children in a skilled way during incidents, to help them with their behaviour. The manager has very recently ensured that staff attended positive behaviour management training, however, this came after several months of poor practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers use monitoring systems to help them review numbers of incidents and trends. However, this monitoring has failed to bring about the required change. For example, senior leaders have identified shortfalls in the quality of visits Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 5 by the independent person, who often fails to consult parents or external professionals. However, this issue has not yet been resolved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers provide staff with regular supervision sessions at which they use a detailed template to discuss training, staff performance and children’s care. However, managers do not use this effectively to meaningfully reflect with staff on their practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The 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 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— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that, when helping children if they are distressed, staff provide care which is nurturing and takes into account children’s experiences of trauma. 25 June 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 25 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 7 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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2) (a)(iii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff keep children safe and act appropriately and in line with plans when there are safeguarding incidents. Also, that there are clear procedures to follow to support staff in acting effectively to keep children safe.

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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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring staff have the required skills to meet children’s needs, and that they properly monitor the care in the home and address shortfalls in practice in incidents when required. 25 June 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that they work effectively with children, staff and other professionals to plan children’s care when they are in the 12 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 8 home and, if the child needs to move on from the home, that this is done in as supportive a way as possible for them.

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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

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(viii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that any incident of restraint is recorded, including the duration of any holds, that children are offered medical attention and this is recorded, and that debriefs are held with staff in a timely way after incidents. 25 June 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

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 25 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 9

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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: 2692837 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Cowley, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Gabriella Arcidiacono

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Inspector

Fiona Roche, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2692837 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 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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