Children's Home run by First 4 Children Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 1 Registered provider: First 4 Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home has been registered with Ofsted since 10 March 2023. This home provides care for up to three children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2023. Since the home has opened, there has been a change in the responsible individual.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first full inspection.

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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/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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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: 2711236 2

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inadequate

Since the home has been registered, two children have moved into the home and one child has moved out.

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inadequate

Not all children receive a positive experience of living at this home. In part, this is because the manager does not consistently obtain the most up-to-date information in relation to children’s needs and risks. This has resulted in one child moving into the home when staff were not equipped with the training and skills to protect the child from causing harm to themselves and others. As a result, this child moved from the home in an unplanned manner.

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inadequate

Children’s care plans do not accurately reflect their needs. This includes a lack of information on children’s day-to-day care and their health, educational, behavioural and emotional needs. As a result, children’s individualised needs are not well understood by managers and staff.

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inadequate

Partnership working with external professionals is ineffective. One social worker told the inspector that the placing authority had not received a 12-week therapeutic assessment from the provider as agreed at the point of admission. In addition, the registered manager does not escalate concerns with placing authorities regarding the quality of the information they have received before a child’s placement. Furthermore, they have not escalated their concerns regarding a child’s plan of care going forward. This means that children do not always receive the support they need in a timely manner or that plans for children are reviewed to ensure that they remain in the best interest of the child.

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inadequate

The child currently living in the home is making progress in their education. This is a result of staff working closely with the education professionals. As a result, the child achieved a positive end-of-school report.

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inadequate

Staff have been successful in supporting children to keep in contact with people who are important to them. Children enjoy regular activities with their families. This helps them to receive an enjoyable experience with their parents.

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inadequate

Children spoke fondly of the staff. One child told the inspector that they like the staff.

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

Managers and staff do not take children’s concerns seriously or think the unthinkable in order to act to keep them safe. A child made an allegation of abuse against someone who did not work at the home. This was not referred to the local authority designated officer (LADO), and the child continued to see this person. The deputy Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 3 manager told the inspector that the allegations could not be true because the child has a history of making false allegations and he had observed positive interactions between the child and the person the allegation was about. This lack of professional curiosity and the failure to act on a child’s concerns placed the child at risk of abuse.

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

On other occasions, the registered manager and responsible individual have not made referrals to the LADO in a timely manner. For example, one child told a staff member that a member of staff had caused harm to them during a restraint. This was not referred to the LADO. Two weeks later, the child shared the allegation again with another member of staff, and again, this was not referred to the LADO. At the time, the registered manager was on annual leave and when they returned, they identified this shortfall. Despite this, they still did not refer the allegation to the LADO. This resulted in a significant delay in the allegation being referred to LADO. Staff and managers’ failure to report allegations of abuse in a timely manner exposes children to a greater risk of harm.

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

Leaders and managers have not shown sufficient professional curiosity to explore and understand children’s histories, needs and risks. As a result, they were unaware of information shared with the inspector by other professionals during the inspection. In addition, leaders and managers have admitted children into the home without plans in place to manage and safeguard against a child’s known fire-setting risks. This compromises the safety of all the children living at the home and the staff members who support them.

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

Managers and staff do not protect children from bullying. There have been several incidents of bullying in the home. However, staff have failed to intervene to prevent these incidents from occurring. This includes allowing the child who was being bullied to have joint activities with the child that was alleged to be bullying them. This resulted in incidents where the child was punched in the stomach, and their toys and personal belongings were damaged. The failure to respond to these bullying incidents has exposed children to harm.

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

The registered manager does not make notifications to Ofsted about allegations made by children, instances where children are taken to the hospital and incidents that are considered to be serious. This prevents the regulator from having oversight of serious incidents in the home, in line with regulation.

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

The new responsible individual’s safer recruitment checks are not compliant with regulations. Leaders have not explored with the responsible individual their reasons for leaving previous employers or sought employment references from all previous childcare employment. As a result, leaders have not satisfied themselves that the responsible individual is suitable to be employed in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders’ oversight of the quality of care is poor. The new responsible individual has additional responsibilities that include that he is the responsible individual for one other organisation, a nominated person for a supported living accommodation Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 4 provider and carrying out independent visits for five other children’s homes. This has had a detrimental impact on his capacity to provide the required oversight of this home. This means, since commencing employment for this home, he has failed to identify and act on shortfalls in the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s monitoring of the home is inadequate. This is because they have failed to identify the shortfalls found during this inspection or challenged poor practice. These concerns have been further exacerbated by the failure of the independent person to identify the shortfalls in practice. This has hindered the registered manager and responsible individual in understanding the home’s strengths and areas of development, and it has resulted in concerns regarding children’s safety not being identified or reported appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The recording of restraints, significant incidents and the care provided to children is not always completed by staff or is not completed in a timely manner. This means that children’s care records do not always accurately reflect what has happened. The deputy manager told the inspector that the staff had a backlog of records to complete. This is because the staff have been responding to several incidents at the home, which has resulted in them not having the capacity to ensure that care records are kept up to date. This means that care records do not accurately reflect the child’s lived experiences at this home and prevents the registered manager from having a good oversight of the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children’s care records cannot be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them. At the time of the inspection, the deputy manager and responsible individual had difficulty locating care records that were stored electronically. These challenges prevent senior leaders and managers from being able to monitor, review and evaluate the quality of care provided to children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff have the skills and experience to meet children’s needs. For example, staff have not received training in global development delay and caring for children with specific communication, mobility and sensory needs. Managers have not received training that helps them in the management of allegations and carrying out internal investigations. These shortfalls have a detrimental impact on children’s safety, experiences and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of this inspection, a notice restricting the accommodation at the home and three compliance notices have been raised under regulations 12, the protection of children standard; 13, the leadership and management standard and 26, the fitness of the registered provider. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager escalating their concerns with all professionals to ensure that they receive up-to-date information relating to children’s needs and risks. 8 October 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and 8 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 6 are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that risk management plans accurately reflect children’s individual risks, that all staff understand the safeguarding procedure and how to report abuse and that there is a review of all safeguarding incidents. In addition, concerns should be reported to all relevant professionals.

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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

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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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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)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the staff have the skills and understanding of the needs of the children, that they implement effective monitoring systems to review the quality of care provided to children and that all significant incidents have been reviewed to consider lessons learned to inform their future practice. 8 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 7 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 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

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that an assessment of needs and risk is carried out for all children before their admission. 8 October 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that a suitable responsible individual has been appointed, who has undergone safer recruitment checks, that can demonstrate effective oversight of the home and registered manager. 8 October 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;

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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 (c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that they inform Ofsted of all serious incidents in a timely manner. 8 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 8 The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that a suitable independent visitor has been appointed that reviews the quality of care and safeguarding arrangements for children. 8 October 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 all care records stored electronically can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them and, if required, to reproduce them in a legible form. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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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: 2711236 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First 4 Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Mulvaney

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 10 regulates and inspects 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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