Children's home run by EJ Childcare Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 1 Registered provider: EJ Childcare 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

The home is privately operated. It provides care for up to one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager’s post has been vacant since April 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living in 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

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or 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: 2638781 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/07/2024 Full Good 17/10/2023 Full Good 20/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child is not making progress or having positive experiences. Professionals say that this is because staff are not implementing appropriate boundaries for the child. Staff do not always turn the Wi-Fi off at night in line with the child’s safety plans. The lack of rules and boundaries does not provide the child with structure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have not responded appropriately to allegations the child has made and have instead sought to blame the child. One staff member told the child they were ‘disappointed’ the child had ‘lied’. Staff often place their needs before the child’s. One member of staff said that they were not comfortable following the child when the child walked off. This left the child vulnerable in the community. The standard of care provided is poor. The child feels they are rejected by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not always respond to the child when the child makes a complaint. In addition, the complaints procedure is unclear, which has led to the inconsistent responses from leaders and managers. This does not reassure the child that their concerns are being heard or addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child refuses to attend school and is not progressing with their education. Staff attempt to get the child to complete work in the home, but this is sporadic. The manager and staff have advocated for an education provision that can meet the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child attends regular clubs and spends time with friends and family in the local community. This helps the child’s social skills to develop. In addition, the child has interests and skills in art, which the staff have promoted. This means the child can freely express themself through something they love. The home is decorated with drawings that the child has completed.

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

Risk assessments do not reflect the child’s needs, and strategies to help the child are not appropriate and are ineffective. The staff do not understand the risks or needs of the child. Staff do not take appropriate action to safeguard the child when they are at risk of harm. On one occasion, staff left the child alone in a vulnerable situation which exposed the child to serious risk. Furthermore, staff have failed to respond to the child when they have sought support. As a result, the child has harmed themselves.

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

Leaders and managers do not always notify the regulator of serious incidents and events. This means that Ofsted does not have effective oversight of the home, and the actions that have been taken to ensure the safety of any child.

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

Consequences imposed on the child are not restorative in nature. For example, the child could not see their family as a consequence for being verbally abusive. This punitive Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 4 approach does not teach the child how to manage their behaviour and is not a permissible regulatory consequence.

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

Leaders and managers have systems in place to check that staff who are recruited are safe to work in the home. Staff references are verified, appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service checks are made, and employment history of all staff is verified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Oversight of the home by leaders and managers is ineffective. Poor staff practice is not challenged in an appropriate way. This has negatively affected the safety and experiences of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Members of the staff team do not meet the needs of the child. The manager has failed to provide the right training and opportunities to equip staff with the appropriate skills and knowledge to safeguard the child and deliver good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a high turnover of staff and an increase in staff sickness. This has placed a strain on the remaining staff to cover gaps in the rota and has led to staff becoming burnt out. This has a significant impact on the consistency and quality of care delivered to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not effectively communicate incidents or significant events to professionals. The child’s social worker and independent reviewing officer have not been made aware of important information relating to the safety and well-being of the child. This prevents the wider professional team around the child from being able to support the child and negatively effects the child’s well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The case recording systems used by staff are unclear. The circumstances around the child returning home following a missing episode were not recorded accurately. There are also missing case records for the child, which means staff do not have all the information they need which further prevents the staff from meeting the child’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(vii)) 30 September 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—

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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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 30 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 6 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)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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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

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

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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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)(c) (2)(a)(i)(viii)(ix)(x)) 15 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 7 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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

has access to the home’s children’s guide, and the home’s complaints procedure, when the child’s placement in the home is agreed and throughout the child’s stay in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;

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Requirement Due date

how to make a complaint or representations in relation to the home or the care the child receives and how any such complaint or representations will be dealt with; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(ii)(e)) 31 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 15 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 8 seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 30 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which-

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 15 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In particular, staff must not withhold a child’s family time. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2638781 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: EJ Childcare Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Foxhaven, Easington Road, Hartlepool TS24 9RE

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Inspector

Laura Roberts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2638781 11 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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