Children's Home run by T-Junction Children’s Services in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 1 Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider owns this home. It provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties. Two children were living within the homes’ care at the time of the inspection. However, one child was residing in a separate property which the provider uses as holiday accommodation for children in their care.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that a serious incident that occurred at the setting since the last inspection is under investigation by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the incident were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.

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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. 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: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2023 Full Good 28/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/06/2022 Full Inadequate 12/04/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Widespread failures in the protection of children and leadership mean that children have poor care experiences and make limited progress, resulting in a judgement of inadequate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not live in an environment that promotes their safety and well-being. The home requires repair and redecoration in some areas to make it more homely. One child’s bedroom is in a poor state. When furniture is damaged, it is not always removed in a timely manner. On one occasion, this resulted in a child injuring themselves and requiring medical attention.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The manager and leaders do not always consider children’s needs and behaviours when they plan for children’s care. The experience of staff is not adequately considered in relation to the needs of children. During this inspection period, children have not had placement stability. One child’s experience of moving on from the home was poor. They were moved on three occasions over a short period of time. This had a significant emotional impact on the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff told the inspectors they do not feel the team are equipped to care for the children who are and have been in their care during this inspection period. Staff morale is low and there is an impact on staff recruitment and retention. A social worker said they felt staff were invested in their child, however when challenges arose, staff were not always able to manage their child’s behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are not in education. One child said they did not know what day of the week it was, due to not being in school. The structure and routine provided for children is limited. Children’s opportunities to learn and develop are limited. The manager does however, attend meetings with the relevant professionals, and advocates on the child’s behalf.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff support children to spend time with their family. However, staff’s recordings of family time are inconsistent. Staff do not always ensure that children are protected from harm during family time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are encouraged to explore activities and pursue hobbies. They benefit from a variety of experiences, which they enjoy.

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

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure there are enough staff on duty. At times, staffing ratios as agreed in children’s plans have not been adhered to. Staff have failed to supervise children. Despite risk assessments being clear and up to date, staff do not Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 4 consistently follow them and are therefore ineffective. Significant incidents have occurred where children have suffered or been at risk of suffering harm.

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

Staff fail to protect children who use derogatory and harmful language towards each other. One child has been exposed to racist language, causing emotional harm. The manager and staff did not consider and act on the experience for this child. A one-to-one discussion with the child asked whether they thought they could have done anything different with the situation. This implies blame on the child who was exposed to the derogatory language. This is not in line with the providers preferred model of care, which is to show empathy.

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

Staff fail to demonstrate the skills to support children effectively. Preventable and avoidable incidents occur. Poor communication with one child around the use of the car led to a serious incident requiring police support. This resulted in the child feeling that they did not want to remain living at the home.

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

There have been several safeguarding incidents, some of which have not been reported to Ofsted. This has, at times, left children and staff vulnerable. A staff member failed to apply the support strategies agreed in one child’s plan because they did not have the required training. A necessary intervention did not take place to protect a child from significant harm and risk. As a result, the child was arrested. Some staff say they feel ‘petrified’ and unsafe when trying to manage children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not monitor and oversee the day to day running of the home effectively. They do not take action to improve and develop the service, as they fail to use quality assurance systems effectively. There are missed opportunities for staff to learn from practice and improve the care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not keep records up to date. Key information about a child’s day is not always reflected. For example, within a meeting led by the provider’s psychotherapist, a comment was made about staff not intervening when a child had access to a hammer. There is no other record about this and the manager was not able to recall this incident. Some language used within records is not child-friendly and there is use of derogatory words to describe children’s behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive a range of training, including training that focuses on the specific needs of the children. However, incident reports do not reflect that staff consistently put into practice their learning. The manager has plans to ‘ensure all the dots are connected’ between staff learning and staff practice. However, this is not yet embedded. One member of staff has not yet completed the necessary qualification within the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive professional supervision with an agenda that supports discussion of children as well as their own needs. The manager challenges but supports staff regarding their Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 5 practice where required. The manager and deputy manager do not receive the level of supervision required. Gaps in these supervision meetings have developed at a time when they need support the most.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff retention and recruitment is challenging and has led to inadequate numbers of staff being on duty. The manager and deputy manager have worked a high number of hours directly with the children because of poor staffing levels. These concerns were shared with the responsible individual, however proactive steps were not taken by him to resolve this problem.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not feel supported by managers and in particular, support from managers outside of normal working hours. On call managers have not offered face-face support when this has been needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is regularly reviewed by an independent visitor. However, the independent visitor does not always provide the additional layer of scrutiny and oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The statement of purpose does not outline the experience, qualifications and skills of the staff team. There are ten new members of staff since the last inspection and nine members of staff who have left. There is a lack of stability in the team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet The Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

* The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

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)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that have the skills and training to supervise and support children in order to keep children safe. The registered person must ensure there are sufficient staff on duty to meet children’s needs. 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must implement a system to ensure effective monitoring and oversight of the home. In particular, ensure that improvements are made to training of staff and 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 8 incidents are robustly evaluated. Learning from evaluation must support development of staff practice and improve care provided to children.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to the registered person ensuring that children’s experiences are listened to, understood and acted upon. Staff must ensure that children do not experience emotional harm from their peers.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that careful and considered decisions are made when admitting children into the home and that children have a positive experience moving into and out of the home. 31 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 9 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that improvements required around the home are addressed without delay.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 31 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 10 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

The registered person must ensure that records are kept up to date, are informative and written in child friendly language.

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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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure all serious incidents are notified to Ofsted. This refers to two incidents that the manager and deputy manager agree should have been sent as a notification. 31 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff are registered on the diploma and complete this within the set timescale. 31 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 11 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.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that information relating to staff experience and qualifications is reflected in the statement of purpose and when any revisions are made, an updated version is submitted to Ofsted. 31 May 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: 2495951 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 27 The Pastures, Narborough, Leicester LE19 3DS

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Inspectors

Kathryn Hurley, Social Care Inspector Angela Duffus-Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2495951 13 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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