Children's home run by Vines Support Services Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 1 Registered provider: Vines Support Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. The provider’s statement of purpose states that the staff care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

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

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

This is the home’s first full inspection. Three children have lived at this home. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection. The child spoke to the inspector during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Care planning arrangements are poor. Leaders and managers have failed to demonstrate how they could meet the needs of the children before they moved into the home. This has led to an early breakdown in placements as staff do not have the skills or understanding to provide children with appropriate care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child is currently sleeping in a communal area of the home. The reasons for this have not been fully explored. The child’s bedroom is spacious but has not been personalised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There has been a detrimental effect on the child’s ability to make progress because of the staff’s inability to foster positive relationships with children. Children are being cared for by staff who are inexperienced and have not received sufficient training and guidance to meet children’s complex needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff rarely speak to children to obtain their wishes and feelings. When conversations do take place, they are unplanned. There is an assumption that the child will refuse to speak to the staff. Any communication is reactive, and there is no planning for work to support the child in areas of progress, such as independence skills, education, health or gathering their thoughts about living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that the child’s basic care needs are met. The child’s menu suggests that they are given a healthy, balanced range of food. Food items that are identified on the menu planner are not available in the home. The child is not supported with a range of health needs. Any negative response from the child is met with compliance from staff as they do not have the skills to manage any conflict, nor the relationships to support positive behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The manager has advocated for the child to have suitable home education that can meet their needs and ability. However, while waiting for the home education to commence, staff have not encouraged the child to engage in any education activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the shortfalls, the child said that they were happy and liked living in this home. However, they also said that they are aware that staff will not challenge and do not put appropriate boundaries in place. Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 3

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

The child has not been provided with a safe and nurturing environment to live. The manager has failed to identify potential hazards regarding the child’s health when equipment provided by health professional is not used consistently. The child is supported to attend their health appointments. However, staff have failed to support the child to understand the significance of neglecting their personal care needs.

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

Staff struggle to manage challenging behaviours from children and situations that lead to increased risk. Staff do not put consequences in place following risky or undesirable behaviour. Staff have no effective plans, nor the skills, to deescalate situations or reduce risk. There is no deterrent and children continue, or escalate, their behaviour. A failure to intervene during a serious incident compromised the safety and trust of the child. This also has the potential to have a longer lasting effect on the child, causing trauma and unnecessary police involvement in their life.

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

Staff observe incidents but do not take action to keep children safer. For example, on separate occasions, two children have attempted to set fire to furnishings in the home. During one incident, the child then threw hot water around the room. On another occasion, a child injured their finger in a blender. The lack of response places children at increased risk of harm. Leaders and managers are aware of this and have failed to implement risk management strategies to prevent a reoccurrence of incidents and keep children safe.

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

Staff do not act when children’s behaviours require staff to hold children. The manager supports staff to only provide verbal de-escalation rather than to hold children, even when it has been identified as necessary to reduce harm to themselves or others. This decision is to ensure that staff are not harmed as a result, but is not in the best interests of the child.

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

Children are put at risk because staff do not receive sufficient training and guidance about how to keep them safe. Risk management plans do not detail all known risks. Children’s risk management plans fail to provide guidance on preventative risk management. This leaves staff without the guidance they need to manage and reduce risk.

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

One child has a high risk in relation to the use of ligatures. On one occasion, staff observed a ligature around the child’s neck. Staff did not attempt to remove the ligature despite observing a significant deterioration in the child’s health. One staff member informed the inspector that they would encourage the child to remove a ligature but would not intervene. This is not an appropriate response to a serious risk of harm.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff conduct key-working sessions with children following incidents. This means that children are not helped or supported to understand the impact of their behaviours on others and help them make safer choices. Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 4 Staff complete regular fire tests with the child to provide assurances that they know what to do in the event of a fire. However, leaders and managers have not considered the child’s abilities or provided guidance to staff to ensure that the child is able to exit the home in the event that they require additional support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders have failed to safely care for children and provide them with positive experiences that enable their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager informed the inspector that she is unable to keep the child who is living in the home safe. The manager said that she had not escalated her concerns to the placing authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager does not have oversight of this home. The responsible individual does not have any oversight of the home or the registered manager’s care practice. He has failed to identify the shortfalls that were found during this inspection. Monitoring and review systems are ineffective. In addition, recording is generally poor quality. This contributes to an overall lack of scrutiny of the staff and manager’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Furthermore, debriefs with staff have not routinely taken place to ensure that incidents have been managed correctly. This reduces the staff and manager’s capacity to learn from incidents and prevent reoccurrence when practice has fallen short of expected standards. There have been no lessons learned or debriefs with children. This leaves children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff receive appropriate support to keep children safe. For example, one member of staff’s supervision records confirmed that there were ongoing concerns regarding their lack of safeguarding knowledge. Despite these concerns, they passed their probation. This contributes to children not being adequately safeguarded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to report safeguarding incidents to Ofsted. Failure to share information hinders the regulator’s ability to monitor the quality of care being provided and the actions of staff to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team lacks experience in children’s residential care. The registered manager and the staff team do not hold any qualifications in residential childcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff have faced difficult situations. They have had to manage some behaviours that are challenging. Staff informed the inspector that they are positive about working in this home and receive appropriate support and guidance from the management team. This is endorsed by external professional agencies, who report that there is good communication and supportive partnership working to help children make progress. Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 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

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

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

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)) 25 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

*The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 25 May 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 6 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’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 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;

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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)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that appropriate measures are in place so that children and staff are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of a fire. 25 May 2025

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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; 25 May 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 7 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); 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)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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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;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being;

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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

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b) (2)(ii)) 25 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; 25 May 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 8 that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if 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) (2)(a)(b)(i)(e)(i))

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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

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)(iii)) 25 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment; 25 May 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 9 promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

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)(v)(x)) 25 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 25 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 10

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping, and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2794301 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Vines Support Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/O Quantum UK Business Solutions Ltd, Breakspear Park, Regus, Breakspear Way, Hemel Hempstead HP2 4TZ

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Inspector

Corline Parker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2794301 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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