Children's Home run by Midas Manors Ltd in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 1 Registered provider: Midas Manors 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

This home is owned and operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who experience social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since December 2023. The acting manager, who has been in post since January 2024, has made an application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living at the home at the time of the 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

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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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: 2573447 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/05/2023 Full Good 25/10/2022 Full Good 29/11/2021 Full Good 10/08/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 3

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inadequate

The children’s progress and experiences living at this home are mixed. Leaders do not always make child-centred decisions. This resulted in one child leaving the home after leaders decided to end their placement. This left the child blaming themself for the decisions made. Whereas one child’s risks have significantly reduced, they have achieved in their education and have future aspirations.

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inadequate

Plans for children moving into the home are poor and lack detail. Managers do not fully consider each child’s needs when admitting a new child to the home. Children are not helped to manage the impact change can bring after being introduced to one another. Two separate teams are working in the home which has helped to facilitate the divide between children. This does not provide children with good experiences.

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inadequate

A child’s early experience of living at this home has impacted upon their ability to trust adults. They were deeply unhappy about their experiences and spoke of feeling let down by managers and staff. The child commented, ‘I don’t feel listened to,’ and, ‘I don’t like it here and want to move.’

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inadequate

Children receive mixed messages about the day-to-day routines and expectations. Children’s plans are not followed. For example, staff do not request a child to hand in their vape at the agreed time. Furthermore, staff are ineffective in helping one child to have a structured daily routine often resulting in the child getting up in the afternoon. Regular take away food means that the child has not had regular nutritional meals despite them saying that they want to lead a healthy lifestyle.

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inadequate

Staff do not always follow medical professional’s advice, such as failing to administer pain relief prior to a child needing to go to hospital. Staff hold different views and understanding about the appropriate use of pain relief medication and when they can administer this to children. This leads to children experiencing inconsistent care and not having their health needs met. Furthermore, the manager does not have a monitoring system to have oversight of how staff support the child’s health needs.

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inadequate

A home education programme facilitated by a tutor has helped a child to excel in their education. The comfort of their home and support from care staff help to create a safe environment for the child to learn. They now have the confidence to attend their chosen college course. The child’s social worker said, ‘[Name of child] is well supported by the staff. They have done amazing achieving their GCSE results.’

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inadequate

Children take part in a variety of activities with staff. Important friendships are promoted by children spending time with their friends in the comfort of their own home. One child who has lived at the home for a longer period values their experiences and commented, ‘The best thing about living here are the staff.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 4 Independence is promoted for children to help them to prepare for life beyond the home. Children enjoy developing their capabilities in areas such as cooking, budgeting, shopping, and independent travel. This helps to develop the children’s confidence to try new things and learn new skills.

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inadequate

The homely environment is enriched by a variety of displayed photos that show the children having enjoyable experiences with staff. Children personalise their bedrooms to their liking. However, insufficient cleaning in the home is evident with dust and cobwebs throughout.

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

A lack of consistency by staff to support one child’s court-imposed restrictions has left them confused and frustrated with their plan. Furthermore, one child’s views were not fully reflected in a return to home interview after a child had been missing during the transition period to this home. This was arranged without the consent of the social worker and was not undertaken by an independent person. This prevents the social worker from having a full account of the child’s experiences.

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

Some risks strategies identified when assessing the children’s suitability to live together have not been carried forward into the children’s risk assessments. For example, the management of phone restrictions between children and the creation of a shared missing plan with a child’s social worker and the police. The provider’s system for staff reading and signing plans is not followed. This does not give the manager assurances that staff understand and follow the most up-to-date plans to keep children safer.

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

Safe recruitment checks have not been followed. For example, references were not received or verified, and a Disclosure and Barring Service check was completed over one month after a staff member started working at the home. This does not give reassurances to the manager that adults are safe to care for children.

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

Managers have not consistently notified Ofsted when a serious incident has occurred. This prevents the regulator from having oversight and assurance that the children are protected from harm. Furthermore, a child has not taken part in a fire evacuation drill since living at the home. This lack of action could result in children being unsafe in the event of an actual fire.

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

However, concerns for one child’s safety and well-being have significantly reduced. The positive relationships they have developed with staff provides them with a sense of safety. They have confidence in staff to talk more openly about their worries and concerns, reducing the likelihood of missing-from-home incidents or emotions overspilling.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 5 A lack of cohesiveness in the leadership team means that there are different views and opinions about the management of the home and decision making. For example, managing the transition and planning of new children into the home. This does not offer assurances that decisions made by leaders consistently meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers make decisions without the full consent of the placing authority. The transition plan for a child moving to this home was not fully shared with the child’s social worker. As a result, the child stayed in the home without the social worker’s knowledge or consent. This demonstrates that leaders make decisions outside the parameters of their delegated responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records produced by staff are inconsistent and do not provide an accurate account of the children’s care or day-to-day experiences. For example, records indicate staff have not followed a child’s increased staffing arrangements; it is unclear when staff have entered or left the home; and staff are recorded as having supervision when they, or the manager are not present. This means recordings do not provide a true and accurate account to support management oversight and internal and external monitoring. This means that if the manager needs to carry out a review or investigation retrospectively, the records would not give them the information needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders are unable to demonstrate how they have responded to a concern raised internally at the home. The concerns are clearly documented; however, leaders and managers have not taken steps to investigate the concern. Other stored information about allegation management does not support leaders to demonstrate that all the actions have been taken when serious concerns are raised about staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are gaps in the manager’s practice related supervisions. The responsible individual does not consistently share notes of these sessions with the manager. The manager’s induction is significantly poor and they have not had their probation reviewed. It is unclear how leaders have considered the manager’s continued suitability to care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Other staff do not always have sight of their notes from their supervision sessions leaving them unclear about agreed actions and that they agree with the contents. An inexperienced staff member’s induction does not follow the provider’s own induction plan for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers arranged for training to be revisited after a new child was admitted to the home to strengthen the team’s knowledge on safeguarding. However, training gaps still remain in other areas. For example, not all staff have had training in the provider’s chosen behaviour management techniques; or training on legal court orders despite this being relevant to a child’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff speak positively and value the support and guidance from the acting manager. However, the recent changes in the home and the poorly managed transition of staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 6 from the sister home into this team have left staff disillusioned with some of the decisions that have been made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all the requirements raised at the last inspection have been met. The manager who is part of interview panels cannot demonstrate that they have had the relevant training to interview applicants. The manager’s oversight of staff’s conversations with children lacks evaluation about what else may need to happen to offer children further support. Additionally, the system to monitor and sign off staff supervision and induction records remains ineffective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager completes quality of care review reports to Ofsted. However, the reports do not demonstrate that the manager consults family members and professionals to inform improvements in the home. Children are consulted about day- to-day matters but an absence of more focused conversations about improving practice in the home may limit progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 7

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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 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—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a full account of the children’s views are shared with the children’s social worker when children talk about their experiences. 10 November

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children have a nutritional diet that helps them to lead a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, professional medical advice should be followed. 10 November

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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

that staff— 10 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 8 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; 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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, strategies to keep children safe that are agreed at the admission stage should be recorded in the children’s risk assessments. 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

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)(b)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

- staff have the required training to meet the children’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

- thorough allegation management investigations are completed, and records are kept demonstrating the steps taken; 10 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 9 - all key-work sessions are reviewed to ensure that any identified work with children is revisited at appropriate intervals;

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Requirement Due date

- systems are in place to improve the frequency and quality of the registered manager’s supervision, and supervision records for all staff are signed by both parties;

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Requirement Due date

- records provide a clear account of staff and all other people who go in and out of the home;

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Requirement Due date

- the system for ensuring staff read and understand the children’s plans is effective and supports the manager’s oversight of staff’s knowledge and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

- a child’s social worker agrees to any commissioned independent return home interview and the person completing the interview must be impartial from the home;

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Requirement Due date

- recording systems support manager’s oversight of staff practice and children’s routine such as managing access to vapes;

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Requirement Due date

- managers and leaders work cohesively, openly, and honestly to provide an accurate account of care in the home. They must have a system for making shared decisions in the best interest of children. 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. (Regulation 14 (1) (a)(b)) 10 November

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d)) 10 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or 10 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 10 if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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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

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that checks that help them to determine a person’s suitability are completed prior to them starting work at the home. The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation.

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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)(b) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that effective systems are implemented to monitor and sign off staff induction records. 10 November

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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; 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)(e)) 10 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 11

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child; the home’s staff; each child’s family/carers where appropriate; and professionals involved in the care or protection of each child including their social worker, Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), teachers, clinicians and other health professionals etc. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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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: 2573447 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Poplars Park Road, Bradford BD2 1DU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Phillip Marshall

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Inspectors

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2573447 13 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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