Children's home run by Alpine4care Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 1 Registered provider: Alpine4Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to two children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in April 2023. The registered manager resigned from his post on 9 May 2023 with immediate effect. The deputy manager is currently overseeing the home. They have not applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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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: 2721798 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 3

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inadequate

One child moved into the home in May 2023, and they were still living at the home at the time of this inspection. Four days after the child moved into the home, the registered manager resigned. As an interim arrangement, the deputy manager is the acting manager.

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inadequate

While the child has only lived at the home for a short time, their experiences and progress have been negatively impacted on by the poor leadership and management.

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inadequate

Care planning arrangements are poor. Leaders and managers have failed to demonstrate effectively how they ensured that they could meet the needs of the child before they moved into the home. The responsible individual was unable to provide inspectors with evidence that the child’s move to the home had been planned.

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inadequate

Managers have failed to provide the child with consistent care since they moved into the home. This has a detrimental impact on their ability to forge positive relationships with the child and help them to make progress. Four members of staff, including the registered manager, have resigned in quick succession. The child is currently being cared for by an inconsistent and inexperienced team of staff who fail to provide them with the stability they require.

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inadequate

The child’s placing authority raised concerns about the care their child is receiving. For example, the arrangements to support the child therapeutically are not as expected. They also said that communication is poor and there is a lack of support with regards to the child’s education.

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inadequate

Leaders and managers fail to ensure that the child’s basic care needs are met. While the child has attended some health appointments, staff are failing to meet his educational needs. Leaders and managers have failed to advocate for the child to ensure that they have a suitable education place to attend which meets their needs and abilities.

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inadequate

Despite the shortfalls identified, the child said that they are happy and settled. Since moving in, they have enjoyed gaming with staff, bicycle rides, walks and going to the park and the zoo.

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

The responsible individual does not provide the child with a safe and nurturing environment to live. Staff have failed to identify potential hazards around the home and garden. There are items in the child’s bedroom which could potentially cause Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 4 them harm. Inspectors also found tobacco in the lounge and cigarette butts in the garden.

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

Staff are not sufficiently supervising the child to ensure their safety and well-being. For example, inspectors observed the child answering the front door during the inspection. The two members of staff on duty appeared to be smoking in the garden and the responsible individual and deputy manager were in the office upstairs. At this time, the child was left unsupervised. This poor approach to care increases the child’s vulnerability.

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

Leaders’ and managers’ approach to supporting positive behaviour is weak. They fail to provide staff with the necessary skills to meet the child’s needs. Despite there being some known potential risk, not all staff are trained in restraint methods. While no restraints have occurred, the responsible individual said that if restraint was necessary, she would direct staff to telephone for police assistance. This approach has the potential to have a detrimental impact on the child, causing trauma and unnecessary police involvement in their lives.

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

Behaviour support plans are poor and do not include important information about the child, their needs and what may help them during times of crisis. Staff are failing to demonstrate how they offer emotional support when the child needs it. In addition, strategies that the child is known to respond to well have not been adopted by this home.

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

Staff are not knowledgeable enough about how to care for the child and minimise any potential risk. Risk management plans do not contain all the relevant information to help staff to support the child. Some known risks are not included in plans. In addition, there is confusion about the child’s mobile phone, which the child is currently not allowed to access. However, the manager and staff were not sure why or what potential risks there could be.

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

Staff have not yet built positive relationships with the child to enable them to help and support the child. Meaningful work is not carried out with the child to help them to progress and work through goals in their care plans to reduce risk over time.

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

Leaders and managers were unable to demonstrate that staff have been safely recruited. The responsible individual was unaware of convictions on the Disclosure and Barring Service certificates for two members of agency staff and consequently had not assessed if these adults posed any potential risk to the child. In addition, managers had not identified that the qualification held by a permanent member of staff is not a relevant qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management are ineffective and fail to safely care for children and provide them with positive experiences that enable their progress. The registered manager resigned quickly after the home registered and the child moved in. Interim arrangements have not been effective. The responsible individual has a lack of Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 5 oversight of the home, fails to provide staff with the leadership they need and does not identify poor care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite the instability of management and staffing, the responsible individual had intended to move a second child into the home. This is contrary to their reassurances at the time the registered manager resigned that no children would be moving in. During the inspection, the staff, the child and the child’s social worker all informed inspectors that a second child was due to move in. Ofsted issued a notice restricting accommodation following this inspection to prevent any further children moving into the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers lack an understanding of the training and development needs of the staff team. Not all staff have the training or skills to meet the child’s needs. Managers have not identified this or taken action to address the shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team lacks experience in children’s residential care. Only the deputy manager has a level 3 qualification in residential childcare. The responsible individual has failed to provide staff with necessary practice guidance to help them achieve the aim set out in the statement of purpose for staff to help children to reach their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have allowed a poor culture to form in the home and have failed to deliver care in line with the statement of purpose. The responsible individual failed to identify the shortfalls that were found during this inspection. Monitoring and review systems are ineffective. In addition, recording is poor and staff rotas do not accurately reflect who is working in the home or who is a trained first aider. Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 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

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

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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(vi)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that staff understand risk, take action to support children and minimise risk, and that written plans are updated to include relevant information.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to ensuring that staff fulfil their role and adequately supervise the child.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the provider ensuring that the environment is hazard free. 2 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 7 *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

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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that the manager has the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. They must meet the requirements specified in regulation 28 which relate to fitness of manager for registration, as required by section 11 of the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered provider ensuring that there are sufficient staff who provide continuity of care to the child.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered provider ensuring that they recruit staff in line with regulations and consider any potential risks from concerns raised in recruitment checks.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to ensuring that staff are skilled and experienced and deliver the outcomes and ethos as described in the statement of purpose. This includes implementing the model of care, any therapeutic offer they 2 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 8 state and ensuring that they support children with their education.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered provider ensuring that they understand the quality of care provided to children and they take action to identify shortfalls and rectify these. In addition, records and rotas should be up to date and available.

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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.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that they carefully plan children’s care. They should seek information about the child before they move into the home to ensure that they can meet their needs. 2 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(a)(b)) 2 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 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: 2721798 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Alpine4Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Mark Dickinson, Social Care Inspector Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2721798 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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