Children's Home run by Green Harvest Capital Consulting Ltd in Thurrock

Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 1 Registered provider: Green Harvest Capital Consulting Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the organisation in January 2023. A manager was appointed in February 2023, taking over the day-to-day management in March 2023. At the time of this inspection, the manager had not registered 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 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: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/12/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 3

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inadequate

There were no children living in the home at the time of the inspection. Four children have lived at the home since the last inspection. Two children were moved from the home in an unplanned way because staff were unable to meet their needs.

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inadequate

The home’s managers have failed to ensure the consistent delivery of safe and effective care for children. Staff have a poor understanding of safeguarding and have failed to recognise potential harm to children. Clear and predictable risks have not been identified or responded to appropriately. These shortfalls have placed children at risk of harm.

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inadequate

Children’s care plans lack detail and do not provide staff with the information they need to safely care for the children. This lack of guidance contributes to staff struggling to develop good relationships with children.

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inadequate

The home’s managers fail to ensure that known and emerging risks to children’s health, such as vaping and cannabis use, are identified in care plans. In addition, managers failed to respond to the child and adolescent mental health team, who had been offering follow-on support for a child. This contributed to the offer of support being withdrawn.

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inadequate

Children see their family and friends. However, one child was taken by staff to see friends without staff showing appropriate curiosity and considering relevant risks.

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inadequate

The house requires repair and redecoration in some areas to make it more homely. For example, the handles on the freezer door are missing, making it hard to open, and there are three burn marks on a wall downstairs.

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inadequate

Staff support children to pursue a range of interests. Staff take photos of the children enjoying these activities, to make memory books.

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

Leaders, managers and staff have failed to act appropriately when children have shared safeguarding concerns. Two children made safeguarding disclosures to staff. Staff recorded this information but failed to recognise that the information was a safeguarding concern. The current and previous manager also failed to identify the safeguarding concerns, and consequently did not follow safeguarding procedures by informing the local authority. Staff’s lack of understanding and failure to take action has placed children at risk of harm.

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

Guidance for staff on how to manage and identify risk is inadequate. Important information about children’s vulnerability is sometimes missing or is inconsistent Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 4 across plans. One child told the staff that they used illegal substances. Despite this, the child’s risk assessment failed to include this information.

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

Behaviour plans conflict with risk management plans. One child’s risk assessment stated that, when the child used inappropriate language, staff were to provide space for the child. However, the behaviour management plan stated staff should talk to the child. Two other children’s behaviour strategies were exactly the same, despite the children presenting with different behaviours. Approaches to behaviour are not tailored to meet the needs of individual children.

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

Staff lacked curiosity about one child’s time in the community, despite the child being at risk of gang affiliation and criminal exploitation. The external risks to this child were not identified or managed effectively.

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

Missing-from-home plans are in place for children, but they fail to provide clear guidance for staff. One child left the home at midday and was not reported missing to the police for eight hours. This is despite calls to the child being unanswered and the child being at risk of gang affiliation and criminal exploitation. The managers have failed to challenge the local authority when return home interviews were not held. This fails to provide the child with an independent person to talk to and was a missed opportunity for gathering information to reduce risks.

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

Physical interventions are only used when required, and to keep children and staff safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, a new management team has been appointed. The manager has relevant experience and is working towards the level 5 diploma. The manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and assurance systems are not established, despite the manager being in post since March 2023. A new senior manager has created a development plan based on internal and external monitoring. The progress with the plan to date is limited and it is too early to assess its effectiveness.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff fully understand their roles and responsibilities. As a result, the staff team lacks knowledge, skills and understanding of the children’s needs. This means that children have not always received appropriate responses from the staff. The new manager has started to address these concerns. However, a cultural change is required to embed new systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight has failed to address staff’s poor recording and language. Terms used to describe children’s behaviour and feelings are derogatory and archaic. Team meeting minutes show that some staff are ill equipped to meet children’s needs. At times, staff have given inappropriate and insensitive responses to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 5 Staff have undertaken the organisation’s mandatory training. They are either qualified or working towards the level 3 diploma in the agreed time frame. However, the manager does not keep the training matrix under review. Some training is not recorded. It is therefore not clear who has completed what training and when. This includes training relating to children’s health needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that their review of care includes the children’s views. This omission limits the additional layer of feedback available to drive improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive monthly supervision. The manager understands the importance of staff being encouraged to reflect. Children are discussed and action plans created. Staff spoken with said they felt supported by the new manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 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, 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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 25 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h)) 25 July 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;

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 25 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 8 help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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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) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)) 25 July 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 to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the relevant experience and skills to meet the needs of children moving into the 25 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 9 home and that plans provide clear and accurate guidance for staff.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home (Regulation 27 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager applying to register with Ofsted. 25 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (2)(b)) 1 August 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 the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of the children. The registered person should ensure all cigarette burns on the walls are painted over, the freezer door handle is replaced, fire doors should not be propped open with chairs and the privacy film in the downstairs toilet is replaced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, that the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 10 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: 2637805 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Green Harvest Capital Consulting Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Bromley Lane, Chislehurst BR7 6LH

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Inspectors

Mandy Start, Social Care Inspector Hannah Phillips, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2637805 12 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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