Foundations Walsall

Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 1 Foundations Walsall Progressive Care Limited Parklands, 12 - 14 Little Aston Road, Walsall WS9 0NN Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is registered to accommodate up to 10 families at any one time. The residential family centre is privately owned. Families access the centre at the direction of the family court or the local authority for the purposes of assessment.

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre sets out in its statement of purpose that it provides residential assessments, that usually take place over 12 weeks. In addition, the centre offers viability assessments over four to six weeks to inform future assessments.

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Information about this residential family centre

At the time of this inspection, there were 10 families living at the centre.

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Information about this residential family centre

The registered manager has recently left their position. They have applied to Ofsted to voluntarily cancel their registration.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and parents are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and parents are poor.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 15 August 2023

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

The inspection identified serious and widespread failures in the functions of this residential family centre, including in the quality of care and assessment work and in the management of the centre These failings resulted in a judgement of inadequate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

The quality of parenting assessments completed at the centre is poor. For example, the final parenting assessment report for one family lacks rigour and analysis about the parent’s capacity to meet their children’s needs and to care for them safely. Other interim reports are contradictory, with recommended work already completed and areas for development not underpinned by a clear evidence base. This causes significant concern as these assessments are relied upon to inform decision making about children’s permanence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

Parents are not provided with the expected advice and guidance about how to meet their children’s needs safely. Work completed with parents relating to specific areas of risk does not demonstrate skilled interventions. Sessions with parents lack professional curiosity and approaches often prevent the opportunity for parents to improve their understanding and to develop strategies about how to protect their children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

Families have access to regular health visitor advice and guidance at the centre. This ensures that children’s health needs are regularly reviewed. At times, advice provided by the health visitor is not followed by staff and inconsistent messages are given to parents about children’s care needs, including advice about feeding and sleep routines. This causes frustration for parents and may impact negatively on children and the assessment process.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

There are limited parent and child sessions made available to families, including in the community. Furthermore, managers and staff lack knowledge about groups that are available. Parents said that the community groups that they have attended are not suitable, and this has prevented them from further engaging in the local community. In addition, links with specialist community services, such as drug and alcohol misuse services are not well-established. This does not enable parents to access much needed support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

When families move into the centre, this is not always with considered planning. There is little exploration about the impact of cultural, religious, and linguistic needs on parenting and how these needs will be met. This has negatively impacted some families’ experiences and their participation in the assessment process. In addition, families do not routinely receive information about the centre before they move in to reduce their anxieties about their assessments and what it will be like living at the centre. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 3 Parents have access to accredited adult learning courses at the centre. They are offered individualised learning in subjects, such as maths, English, and functional skills. These courses are delivered by an experienced teaching staff team. Parents were seen to be enjoying these sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: inadequate

Families live in spacious, self-contained accommodation that is well-maintained. The decoration and furnishings provide a warm and welcoming environment for families. Parents and children’s social workers speak positively about the accommodation.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

The rationale for decision making to reduce safeguarding measures is not clear. For example, there was no record of safe sleep work completed with one family before safeguarding measures, specific to this risk, were reduced. In addition, managers oversight relating to the reduction of safeguarding measures is not recorded. This compromises the safety of children.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Managers take appropriate action to increase children’s safety when allegations are made against staff. However, subsequent decisions are not based on thorough investigations and actions recommended to reduce risk are not completed. The recording and investigation of allegations at the centre is inconsistent. This reduces scrutiny from relevant agencies to ensure that there is a strong multi-agency response in the safeguarding of children. The outcome of investigations is not communicated to parents.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

When incidents occur, children’s immediate needs are safeguarded because staff intervene swiftly to ensure that children are safe. However, on one occasion there was a lengthy delay in the reporting to the police serious threats of harm. This had the potential to compromise the safety of the family and others. In addition, there is a reactive approach to risk at the centre, which means known risks are not mitigated effectively. Incidents lack learning by managers and staff to improve safeguarding practice at the centre.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

The centre’s arrangements for medication are not suitable. Medication records are unclear. The names of medication are not recorded accurately and drug tests are not labelled with necessary details. In addition, the arrangements are not in place for the safe keeping of controlled medication. Staff said that they do not feel competent in overseeing medication arrangements. During the inspection, managers took action to reduce unnecessary risks relating to the storage of controlled medication.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Risk assessments cover relevant risks, but some lack individualisation and guidance about how risks will be managed. While parents are aware of the use of electronic monitoring with closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), the centre’s risk assessment relating to this lacks clarity. In addition, the review of its use is not recorded clearly to ensure that it is in use for only as long as is necessary for families. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 4 Parents know how to complain. When complaints are made, sufficient investigations are completed and the outcome is communicated to the parent effectively.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

The centre’s recruitment procedures are suitable. This reduces the risk of unsuitable persons being employed by the provider.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the centre is weak. The centre is not managed in a way that is consistent with the aims outlined in its statement of purpose. Managers’ lack oversight about the quality of care provided to families throughout their assessment process. Monthly visits carried out by the independent visitor highlight areas for improvement that have not been addressed effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The centre is not sufficiently staffed. Managers do not ensure that staff are sufficiently skilled and experienced to manage risk and to support families. Staff repeatedly told inspectors that there is insufficient staff at the centre to ensure that families are always supported and protected. Managers have failed to act on these concerns and families have continued to be accepted into the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff are not equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for the specialist nature of assessment work. For instance, social workers who have completed assessment work relating to contextual safeguarding, human trafficking, and honour-based violence have not received training in these areas. Social workers, who are mostly new to social work, are left to seek out their own information to upskill themselves. This does not ensure that staff acquire a breadth of understanding about the risks that affect children’s safety, nor does it ensure that assessments are underpinned by a clear evidence base. In addition, not all staff have completed safeguarding training within the centre’s designated timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

In addition, staff do not receive regular supervision. For example, one staff team member has received one formal supervision session over a 6-month period and one had received no supervision. Other staff team members had similar experiences. This is a significant shortfall in the oversight of safe practice at the centre and to ensure that all staff are competent in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring and quality assurance systems do not drive improvement. Managers’ reviews of practice have not led to urgent action necessary to improve the quality of support and protection for children at the centre. The review of key documents has not improved the quality of assessment work and recording. Case records lack detail and they are not kept up to date. Language used across records is not sensitive to parents’ perspectives and their experiences to support them in their understanding and acceptance of risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from parents about their experiences is mixed. For example, one parent said that work completed with them is helpful, but the information is not always communicated effectively. Another parent said that they had not learnt anything Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 5 new over the course of their assessment. Some parents shared their concerns about the management of the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A restriction of accommodation notice and two compliance notices have been issued to the provider in response to the failures highlighted at this inspection. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person shall establish and maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided at the residential family centre. (Regulation (23) (1)(a)(b)) 6 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

* All assessment or monitoring of parents’ capacity to respond to the children’s needs and to safeguard their welfare must be carried out in accordance with appropriate and generally recognised methods for such assessment and, in particular, having due regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State relating to the assessment of children in need and their parents under section 7(1) of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the methods of assessment or monitoring must be capable of evaluating the parents' capacity to change.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that conclusions or recommendations are made as a result of the assessment or monitoring and that—

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Requirement Due date

such conclusions or recommendations are objective and based on verifiable evidence; and

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Requirement Due date

the evidence on which they are based is capable of being presented in a manner that is clear, accessible and appropriate to the persons who will need to consider them. (Regulation 13A (2)(3)(4)(a)(b)) 6 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make suitable arrangements to ensure that the residential family centre is conducted— 6 April 2025 Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 7 with due regard to the sex, religious persuasion, racial origin, and cultural and linguistic background and any disability of residents. (Regulation 10 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should prepare a resident's guide which includes a summary of the statement of purpose and ensures that a copy is made available for prospective residents and for every parent and child (of appropriate age) resident in the centre. (NMS 8.6)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 8

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Progressive Care Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 51 Attercliffe Common, Sheffield S9 2AE

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Residential family centre details

Email address: info@progressivecare.co.uk

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Inspectors

Louise Bacon, Social Care Inspector Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Foundations Walsall 9 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

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