Children's Home run by Juventas Services in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 1 Registered provider: Juventas Services

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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 provider. It offers care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. Two children were living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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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 failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and 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: 18 February 2025

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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: 2708784 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/02/2025 Full Good 12/12/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 3

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inadequate

There are serious concerns about how children are supported and protected. The two children have lived at the home for over a year; they are both settled and have formed good relationships with staff. However, there is a lack of understanding and proactive response to safeguarding and risk management which has affected children’s overall experiences and progress. There are also shortfalls in respect of the leadership and management of the home. These factors have led to this judgement.

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inadequate

One child is living in the annex, which is separate from the main house. The staff’s recording does not indicate whether the child is being supervised in line with their plans. The staffing arrangements mean that the staff employed to care for the child overnight is not a permanent member of staff. This does not provide continuity of care for the child. As the person is an agency staff member, they do not provide recordings of their care of the child.

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inadequate

Managers did not consider whether staff could meet the needs of a new child moving into the home. Consideration was also not given to whether the child would have an impact on the existing children at the home. As a result, staff morale has been affected, and this has had an impact on the care that children receive. When children have moved out of the home, this has been done in an unplanned way, which has caused distress to those children.

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inadequate

There is a lack of boundaries in place, with staff fearful of waking children up before mid-morning. This then has an impact on children’s willingness to engage in education. Furthermore, staff are not always proactive in supporting children with their educational needs. This includes staff not taking a child to view colleges on their open days despite frequent reminders from professionals. Additionally, one child is refusing to attend their educational provision. This includes refusing to engage with a tutor coming to the home. The other child’s school attendance has been significantly reduced.

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inadequate

Children’s day-to-day health needs are generally met. However, when one child returned from a holiday abroad with staff, she had such significant sunburn that she required medical attention on her return to the home.

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inadequate

Children take part in a variety of activities with staff, such as going to the cinema and going bowling. Children see their families in line with their plans, and families are welcome to visit the home to spend time with their children. This proves to be a positive experience for them all. Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 4 The home environment is enriched by displays of photos, drawings and paintings by children. Children can personalise their bedrooms to their liking. However, staff have neglected to ensure that all areas of the home are kept clean and tidy.

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

Children are not always safe in the home. There is a lack of wellbeing checks completed by staff, including when children are under the influence of illegal substances. Staff did not check on one child until the following day. The lack of recording by staff gives no indication of when checks have been completed and the outcome of these. Staff also do not always know of children’s whereabouts.

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

There has been an increase in the times that one child has gone missing from the home and returned under the influence of drugs or alcohol. One child has also presented as being under the influence of drugs when they have had staff supervise them in the house. This has led to one child being hospitalised.

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

Staff do not always follow children’s plans and the guidance set out to find children when they are missing from the home. On some occasions, staff have not attempted to find one child when they were missing from home, instead relying on the police to do this. Furthermore, when children leave the home late at night, staff do not use any professional curiosity about who they are meeting or why they need to be out of the home so late. They also do not ensure that the child is closely supervised, which has led to children going missing from home on these occasions.

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

When children make allegations about staff, leaders and managers do not follow safeguarding procedures. Action is taken; however, other safeguarding professionals, such as the child’s placing authority or the police, are not informed. This means that children who have raised the concerns are not spoken to. This does not give the impression to children that their concerns are being taken seriously and properly investigated.

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

Children spend long periods of time in their bedrooms. During the inspection, one child was unwell, and no medical advice was sought or discussions took place about whether medical advice should be explored. When children display self-harming behaviours, they get a good response from staff. However, the poor recording by staff means that it is difficult to quantify how regularly children are displaying these behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Shortfalls in the leadership and management of the home do not ensure that staff protect children from harm. This is due to a lack of preventative measures that are required to keep children safer. This has resulted in children suffering harm both inside and outside of the home. The manager has not challenged staff when they have not acted appropriately to ensure the safety of one child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 5 Staff are not recording crucial information about children, which leads to significant gaps in understanding how staff have responded to a child. On one occasion, a child was taken to hospital, but it is unclear why or what the outcome was. The manager has failed to ensure that staff maintain accurate records that are required to protect children. Consequently, there are many gaps in records about the care provided to children. This prevents the manager from having oversight of staff’s practice. It also

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

means that the managers cannot analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken by staff. This leaves children at risk of significant harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children smoke inside the annex building without any evidence of challenge from staff. Staff have been raising their concerns with managers about how to prevent this, but this has not been acted on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to work in collaboration with a placing authority when moving one child from the main home to the annex building. This was despite the child’s social worker advising that they did not want this to happen. This has left the child vulnerable, and they have suffered harm, which has required hospital treatment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professionals share their concerns about how staff are not keeping children safe and say that staff have shared their own concerns about children being at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has no clear way of monitoring, completing audits or reviewing the quality of the care being provided to the children. This includes the manager not being clear about whether staff training is up to date, as the monitoring tool used is ineffective and out of date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have not always received regular supervision. This has now been brought up to date. Team meetings are held regularly and are well attended. Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 6

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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

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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b)) 2 February

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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

promotes their welfare. 2 February Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 7 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;

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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

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)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(ix)) 2 February Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 8 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;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vii)(x)) 22 February

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children have a clean environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.3) Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 9

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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: 2708784 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Haines Watts Chartered Accountants Ltd, Yare House, 62-64 Thorpe Road, Norwich NR1 1RY

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Inspector

Angela Ross, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2708784 11 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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