Children's Home run by Oaktree Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 1 SC2740375 Registered provider: Rubik Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. One child spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered with Ofsted in August 2023. This is the first inspection after registration.

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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 and 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: 2740375 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A lack of clear leadership and guidance to the staff team has negatively impacted on the care provided to children. Since the home was registered, two children have moved into the home. Their transitions were not well planned. Leaders and managers failed to consider children’s individual risks and vulnerabilities to ensure that they could live together safely. Consequently, children do not consistently receive care that prioritises their safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Group living dynamics are not well managed. Incidents of children encouraging each other in acts of violence and aggression towards staff have had a negative impact on the experiences of children living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not always feel included or listened to. Their plans are not personalised to reflect their needs and are not written in a way that helps them to feel included or cared for. Despite one child having an advocate and completing direct work with staff, they feel they are not involved in decisions about their care and are unclear about their plans. This is something that managers are continuing to take action to address.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Both children have been helped to maintain their school placements. However, leaders and managers have failed to challenge professionals when one child’s timetable was reduced. This limits children’s learning and reduces opportunities for them to reach their potential in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s health needs are not consistently met. Staff do not understand their responsibilities in supporting children who use e-cigarettes. Managers inappropriately requested consent from one child’s placing authority to enable them to use e-cigarettes, despite the child’s age and this compromising their health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Communal areas are furnished to a good standard. However, a broken wardrobe in one child’s bedroom has not been replaced and holes in walls on the hall stairs and landing have not been repaired in a timely manner. This limits opportunities for children to develop a sense of belonging in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported to engage in a variety of leisure activities and are encouraged to develop hobbies and interests. However, the team has failed to challenge children’s access to age-inappropriate content in games, films and on social media.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to spend time with people who are important to them. They have advocated for children to spend additional time with their family in line with their wishes. However, there is a lack of guidance for staff around how to respond when children’s behaviours outside of the home are unsafe. Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 3

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

Safeguarding practices in the home are not effective. Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff understand their responsibilities to keep children safe. Consequently, some accepted practices in the home, such as a child using e-cigarettes or children being able to access age-inappropriate content including on social media, go unchallenged by the team and compromise children’s safety and well-being. Managers have also failed to ensure that concerns regarding a child’s behaviours outside the home are shared with relevant agencies. This does not give children clear messages about acceptable behaviours.

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

Approaches toward safeguarding in the home are reactive rather than proactive. Following a serious incident between children, leaders and managers spoke with the children but failed to implement any additional safeguarding strategies. This left children at risk of harm and was only addressed when raised by the inspector during the inspection.

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

Managers are not vigilant to risks between children. Children’s risks and vulnerabilities are not well understood and have not been considered in the context of group living. Children’s risk and behaviour support plans lack detail and do not always identify appropriate strategies for staff to follow to keep children and others safe. Some identified strategies place children and staff at risk of significant harm, for example, taking children out in the car when they are unsettled, despite there being incidents of children being unsafe in these circumstances.

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

Direct work has been carried out with children on topics such as internet safety and exploitation. However, staff do not check devices or respond effectively when there are concerns about children’s safety online. This leaves children at risk of exploitation.

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

Behaviour management in the home is not effective. Children’s behaviour is not always managed safely and consistently. There have been several incidents in the home that staff have not managed appropriately and on one occasion the police were called to manage children’s behaviour. This is distressing for children and has the potential for them to be criminalised, due to staff not having the skills to appropriately respond to challenging situations. Management oversight of these incidents is ineffective and does not identify shortfalls in staff practice or learning for the team.

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

Medication is not stored safely or securely. Children’s prescribed medication was stored in the manager’s office in an unlocked cabinet that was accessible by children. This places children at risk of harm.

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

Following allegations made by children, leaders and managers have informed children’s social workers and acted appropriately to safeguard the children. However, decision making around sharing information with relevant safeguarding professionals and Ofsted is not consistent. This increases risk to children as it limits external oversight of practice in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not ensured that there are clear expectations around practice in the home or that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. This lack of clear guidance to the team has compromised children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight of incidents is poor. The manager has failed to evaluate incidents effectively and has not implemented adequate safeguarding measures following serious incidents occurring between children. Opportunities to address shortfalls in staff practice and to identify any learning to improve the care provided to children have been missed. On one occasion, agreed staffing ratios were not adhered to and a serious incident occurred. This had not been identified by the manager until it was highlighted during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Systems to monitor and evaluate practice in the home are ineffective and concerns had not been identified prior to the inspection. The manager had not identified inconsistencies in records and does not evaluate incidents effectively to identify any shortfalls or learning. This reduces opportunities to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The team is continuing to develop, with many of the staff and the manager having previously worked together in another organisation. Staff say induction training has prepared them well for their roles. However, the manager has not assessed their knowledge and understanding of the training or how they implement their learning in practice. Staff have not completed additional training to meet children’s identified needs, including around substance misuse and self-injurious and sexualised behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision and attend team meetings. However, opportunities to identify poor practice, learn from incidents and to drive improvements in the home have been missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following this inspection, a case review was held where the decision was made to issue a notice of restriction of accommodation to prevent other children from moving into the home. Compliance notices were also issued, under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 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

*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

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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)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that:

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children’s risk assessments clearly identify all risks for children;

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children’s risk assessments contain clear strategies for staff to follow in order to reduce the risks to children;

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Requirement Due date

medication is stored securely; 25 February 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 6 concerns are shared with all relevant professionals and that staff understand their professional obligations to safeguard children, including around the use of e-cigarettes and online safety;

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Requirement Due date

staff have all completed training specific to children’s individual needs;

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Requirement Due date

staff take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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the home’s day-to-day care, including the arrangements for supporting children throughout the night, is kept under review so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

staffing ratios to safeguard children are adhered to.

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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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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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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ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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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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)(d)(e)(f)(h)) 25 February 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 7 Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

the management oversight of the day-to-day running of the home ensures that children are protected from harm;

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Requirement Due date

all staff, including the registered manager, complete training to meet children’s identified needs;

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the home is adequately staffed to meet the needs of children living in the home;

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Requirement Due date

there are robust monitoring systems in place to enable effective oversight of staff practice in the home;

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they use monitoring and review systems to evaluate staff practice and to identify shortfalls to improve the quality of the care delivered to children;

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children’s records contain current, factual information .

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The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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positive responses to other children and adults.

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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

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help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; 1 March 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(x))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are able to de-escalate children’s challenging behaviour effectively and that children are supported to manage their feelings and emotions. In addition, that children receive clear messages about acceptable behaviours.

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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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seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they provide sufficient professional challenge to ensure that a child’s education is meeting their needs. 1 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 1 March 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 9 ensure that staff—

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ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children are involved in their plans and that their views and wishes are clearly detailed.

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

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that any damage to the building or furniture is repaired or replaced in a timely manner. 1 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

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

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

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child’s records accurately reflect what is going on for that 1 March 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 10 child and are completed and maintained and that any shortfalls are swiftly resolved.

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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)) 1 March 2024

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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: 2740375 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rubik Care, Olympic Court, Whitehills Business Park, Blackpool FY4 5GU

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2740375 12 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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