Children's Home run by GAC Family Services Limited in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home: 2679276 1 Registered provider: GAC Family Services 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 and managed by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since 5 May 2023.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 3

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inadequate

There are serious shortfalls in the protection and safety of children and in the leadership and management of the home. Leaders and managers have not ensured they fully understand the needs of children before they move into the home. Shortfalls in assessing the impact of children’s known and emerging risks mean that staff have not been able to keep children safe. As a result, children have experienced harm, disruption and unplanned moves.

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inadequate

Leaders and managers do not provide staff with suitable support and guidance. A significant lack of effective management oversight and monitoring systems mean that shortfalls in staff practice and recording have not been addressed. Leaders and managers have not ensured that children’s care plans include all relevant health information or that any risks in the local area are assessed and reviewed appropriately.

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inadequate

Staff support children to attend health appointments and have encouraged one child to engage with specialist mental health services. Staff have completed training around one child’s physical health needs and know how to administer medication in line with that child’s health plan. However, important health information was omitted from another child’s plan, and the child went without prescribed medication for a period of time. Staff were unaware of the child’s health needs, which left the child at risk of harm.

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inadequate

Children have not made progress in education while living at the home. Staff do not consistently support children who are not attending school to complete learning activities. This means that children’s opportunities to learn and make educational progress are limited.

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inadequate

Children are provided with information about what living at the home will be like before they move in. Children visit the home and spend time with staff, which helps them to build relationships. These steps help children to manage any anxieties that they might have and to feel welcome.

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inadequate

The staff take steps to make the home welcoming. The home is clean and comfortably furnished. Staff encourage children to personalise their rooms. Staff have tried to meet the needs of the children. However, a lack of management oversight and direction has made this difficult for them to achieve. Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 4

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

Children have not always been kept safe while living at the home. Leaders and managers failed to obtain important documentation from the children’s local authority and other services before the children moved in. This meant that the manager did not consider if one child’s cognitive and communication needs were in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Consequently, the staff did not have the skills or knowledge to meet the child’s needs and keep them safe. This meant that risks related to the child increased while they were living at the home.

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

When children are missing from home, staff do not consistently follow plans to monitor their well-being when they are away from the home. Staff did not consistently maintain telephone contact with one child when they were missing.

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

Staff failed to carry out welfare checks when a child was known to be under the influence of substances. The child’s safety and well-being were not known by staff, which left them at risk.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured that children’s care plans and risk assessments are reviewed and updated. Children’s records are not consistently signed or dated. This means that there are gaps in the information available to staff and it is not clear what steps staff have taken to meet the children’s needs.

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

Staff do not document when children’s phones have been checked for safeguarding purposes. Therefore, leaders and managers cannot be confident that measures are in place to ensure children are safeguarded against unsafe or inappropriate content.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured that Ofsted has been notified when serious safeguarding concerns or incidents have happened. This means that the regulator cannot effectively monitor whether safeguarding responses to keep children safe are effective.

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

Staff complete searches of children’s bedrooms when appropriate. This has sometimes happened without children being present. Staff have not recorded when children are spoken with about the room search and any issues that may have arisen from the search. This does not show children that their privacy is respected.

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

There has been one occasion when a physical intervention was needed to keep children and staff safe. Staff used their skills to de-escalate the situation, which meant that only a low-level physical intervention was necessary. This was evaluated and reviewed appropriately at the time, and both the child and staff were spoken to about what had happened.

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

Safe recruitment practices are followed. This means that appropriate safety checks are completed for the staff who care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 5 There have been changes in the management arrangements since the home was registered in March 2023. There is no registered manager, and the responsible individual has not visited the home regularly. Staff are focused on helping children the best that they can. However, the lack of consistent and effective management oversight and guidance for staff has affected the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have completed mandatory training, and there is a system in place to identify when training needs to be updated. Leaders and managers do not ensure that new staff receive an induction or regular, reflective supervision. One member of staff has not received any supervision since starting in the role in March 2023. The acting manager has only had one recorded supervision since taking up the post. Staff are inexperienced and require guidance to enable them to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that there are systems in place to monitor and evaluate the quality of care provided to children. There is no oversight of the quality and accuracy of children’s records and other important documentation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not consult with other services when assessing any risks and hazards in the local area and any steps required to mitigate them. This assessment has not been updated to include new information about the local areas and individuals who present a risk to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home’s statement of purpose does not meet regulatory requirements. It does not include information about staff supervision, what the current management arrangements are or the steps that leaders and managers take to mitigate the lack of gender diversity in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following this inspection, an urgent notice to vary the conditions of registration of the home was served. The home may now provide care for one child only. Two compliance notices were also served under regulation 12 (the protection of children standard) and regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). All three notices will be reviewed in accordance with the regulator’s enforcement policy. Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 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’.

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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

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; and

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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)(iii)(v)(vi)) 28 August 2023

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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

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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; 28 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 7 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; and

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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))

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them 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

ensure that any care that is arranged or provided for a child that—

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Requirement Due date

is not arranged or provided as part of the health service continued under section 1(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006,

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Requirement Due date

satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who—

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Requirement Due date

has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(ii) (3)(b)(c)(i)) 28 August 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 28 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 8 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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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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 a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii)) 28 August 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

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

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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. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(v)) 28 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 9 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; and

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)) 28 August 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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to sexual exploitation;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 28 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b)) 28 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 28 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 10 The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) 28 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12 (2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 28 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2679276 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: GAC Family Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Link 29a, 49 Effra Road, London SW2 1BZ

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Inspector

Laura Grundy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2679276 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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