SC363395 Registered provider: Broadwood Education Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework Information about this children’s home The home is operated by a national, private provider of care and education services. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Inspection dates: 13 to 14 September 2017 Overall experiences and progress of inadequate children and young people, taking into account How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate There are serious and widespread failures that mean young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted and safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor. Date of last inspection: 15 February 2017 Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 1 Key findings from this inspection This children’s home is inadequate because:  Staff do not recognise or manage safeguarding risks well. As a result, they are not protecting young people effectively from exploitation.  Leaders and managers have failed to provide staff with clear strategies for them to help young people to use their mobile phones and the internet safely. In addition, staff are neglectful in their duty to protect young people when they stay away from the home overnight.  Staff’s actions do not always demonstrate sufficient nurture of young people. Some practices demonstrate poor care and are not keeping young people safe or guiding them well into adulthood.  The registered manager has failed to ensure that staff follow a care plan directive given by a senior leader. Consequently, staff are failing to check on a young person as they should in order to ensure that she is safe.  Leaders and managers did not assess the needs of a young person before admitting them to the home. This poor decision resulted in an increase in serious incidents and culminated in the young person’s placement being terminated.  Leaders and managers do not thoroughly investigate and record all complaints made by young people. Young people do not get feedback about their complaints.  At times, young people have not felt safe living in this home. Staff have not done enough to understand and allay these fears.  Leaders and managers have failed to obtain information from independent return home interviews. As a result, they are unable to use important intelligence to reduce missing from home risks and inform young people’s care plans.  Leaders and managers have failed to meet a requirement made at the last inspection.  Two compliance notices have been issued as a result of this inspection. The children’s home’s strengths:  Some young people have made good educational progress since living in this home.  Staff worked well with a young person and her placing authority to help the young person to achieve her aim of moving closer to home.  Staff use key-work sessions well. They talk with young people about their care plan aims. Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 2 Recent inspection history Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/09/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/01/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 3 What does the children’s home need to do to improve? Statutory requirements This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, 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. Requirement 6: The quality of care standard * Due date 13/10/2017 (1) The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who — (a ) understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and (b) use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to — (a) understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; and (b) ensure that staff — (i) understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; (ii) protect and promote each child’s welfare; (iii) treat each child with dignity and respect; (iv) provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking into account of the child’s background; (v) help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; (vi) help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or live independently as an adult. 7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard. 30/11/2017 (1) The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who — (a) develop positive relationships with them; (b) engage with them; and (c) take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 4 (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to — (a) ensure that staff — (i) 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. 8: The education standard 30/11/2017 (1) The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure — (a) that staff — (i) help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; (iii) understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; (iv) help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment. 11: The positive relationships standard 30/11/2017 (1) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on — (a) mutual respect and trust; (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure — (a) that staff — (vi) help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; (vii) help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; (x) 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 5 the same; (xi) de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; (xii) understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; (xiii) have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and (b) that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. 12: The protection of children standard * 13/10/2017 (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure — (a) that staff — (i) help each child to understand how to keep safe, (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; (b) 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. 13: The leadership and management standard 30/11/2017 (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that — (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to — (a) 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; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (f) 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 (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 14: The care planning standard Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 30/11/2017 6 (1) The care planning standard is that children — (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and (b) have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure — (a) 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; (b) that arrangements are in place to — (iii) plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority; (c) that each child’s relevant plans are followed. With particular reference to completing impact risk assessments before young people are admitted to inform the home’s compatibility assessment. 19: Behaviour management and discipline 30/11/2017 No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1)) With particular reference to not imposing sanctions on young people for going missing. 32: Fitness of workers 31/01/2018 The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. In particular, all staff must have attained the ‘Level 3 Diploma’ within two years of the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. Regulation (32 (2)(a)(3)(b)(5)(a)) 39: Complaints and representations 30/11/2017 Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 7 children. The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1) (3)) * These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection judgements Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate The quality of care and nurture provided by staff is inadequate. This results in young people being at risk of harm and not learning how to develop appropriate, meaningful relationships. Staff do not ensure that young people use their mobile phones and the internet safely. Staff expect young people to hand in their mobile phones overnight. Young people typically refuse to do this and staff do not have strategies to deal with this refusal. Serious incidents have taken place where young people have been unsafe on their phones and online. Staff do not have adequate plans to protect young people from being exploited in this way. Staff say that they are concerned about the amount of time young people use their phones, including in the early hours of the morning and throughout the day when they should be in school or doing school work. However, managers and staff are failing to deal with these behaviours effectively and uphold necessary boundaries. The incentives in place for young people to hand in their phones are ineffective and have not been reviewed. The care plans do not provide clear expectations to staff about the actions they should take to promote young people’s well-being. This results in an inconsistent approach to care. Staff do not help young people well enough to learn about appropriate relationships, so young people are at risk of exploitation. Staff do not know all of the males that young people say are their boyfriends or how long they have known each other, yet staff allow some young people to stay with these males overnight. Staff do not conduct suitable, good parenting checks on individuals before they leave a young person with them for overnight stays. Staff told the inspectors that they are concerned about the number of boyfriends the young people have and that they are not always sure that young people stay where they are supposed to be once staff have left them. This lack of care is placing young people at extreme risk of exploitation. The registered manager has failed to ensure that staff follow young people’s care plans. Staff have ignored a directive from a senior leader that they must regularly check on the welfare of a young person with a recent history of serious self-harm. The registered manager and deputy manager said that they do not go into young people’s bedrooms to check on them because this puts staff and young people at risk. This failure to implement the care plan does not protect young people from known risks. Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 8 Leaders and managers do not ensure that young people’s needs are suitably matched. They made a poor decision to admit a young person into the home without carefully considering her needs before she moved in. As a result, the dynamic among the young people was negatively affected and incidents of poor behaviour increased. The registered manager was not consulted about the new admission and told inspectors that she would not have accepted this placement had she had been involved. Leaders and managers terminated the young person’s placement less than four months after she moved in. This is a disappointing outcome for a young person who has already experienced multiple placement moves. Young people’s educational outcomes are mixed. There are examples of some young people staying in bed until midday on a school day. As a result, one young person’s school attendance was 53% last term. Another young person has refused to attend an apprenticeship that started in September 2017. Staff do not uphold consistent boundaries or expectations to help all young people to understand the importance and value of education and training opportunities. Other young people have done well at school. One young person attends school regularly and recently enjoyed a residential holiday with her class. This young person also regularly joins in with monthly youth council events. Leaders, managers and staff do not take young people’s complaints seriously. Two young people have made serious complaints recently that have not been investigated. Leaders and managers have not given feedback to the young people on their complaints and have also failed to record the complaints. A social worker for one of the young people is very pleased with the young person’s placement at this home. She reports that the young person has done well at school and her self-esteem is much better. Incidents where this young person has gone missing have decreased since she has been allowed to stay out overnight with friends and family. However, the social worker was not aware that staff were not conducting the necessary checks on individuals present where the young person is staying. Another social worker is also able to identify some positives for her young person, including the relationships that have been built between staff and the social worker. A young person who lived at this home for two years and moved out in May 2017 benefited from their time here. They attended full-time education, accessed the child and adolescent mental health services, and incidents of violent behaviour decreased. This young person successfully achieved the care plan aims and was able to move back to their local area. Staff take young people on activities and trips throughout the school holidays. This year, young people have enjoyed body boarding and one is a keen horse rider. Staff celebrate young people’s birthdays with a day out or party, and every month everyone goes out together for a meal. Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 9 The home is well maintained and decorated. However, young people often sit down to eat meals at different times to each other as the dining room table can only easily accommodate three people at a time. The kitchen has a transient atmosphere to it rather than a homely feel. How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate Young people have not always felt safe living here. They report that bullying and threatening behaviour between themselves is a concern. On two occasions, young people called the police for help to manage an incident between them, even though staff were present. Another young person raised specific concerns to a therapist. Staff failed to explore the reasons why one young person slept with a weapon under her pillow or find an alternative approach to helping her to feel safe. Staff told the inspectors that one young person is ‘picked on’ by the other young people. Leaders and managers do not recognise the extent and seriousness of the bullying and the negative effect it has on the young people’s experiences and feelings of safety. Since the last inspection, incidents of young people going missing from the home have increased. Young people were placing themselves at risk by going missing together and meeting up with older males and their friends. On two occasions, staff did not follow young people and therefore were not able to stop them from going missing. Other missing from home incidents have been managed in line with the individual protocols. Leaders and managers failed to obtain information from young people’s independent return home interviews. As a result, they were unable to understand the reasons why the young people went missing or use the intelligence to inform care plans and risk assessments. The registered manager did not escalate a concern when she was told that she could not have the information from the service that carried out the interviews. On occasions, staff have sanctioned young people for going missing. This approach does not demonstrate a welcoming and positive response to young people when they come home. There are other, more appropriate responses staff have used to deal with other incidents that better help young people to understand the consequences of their actions. Overall, the registered manager has worked well with the placing authority and police in response to young people going missing. New strategies were recently put in place that have now reduced the occurrences of young people going missing from the home. The arrangements to safeguard young people and monitor their internet use are not effective. Leaders, managers and staff accept that the young people are at risk of harm from using the internet and their mobile phones, yet they have failed to devise clear strategies to reduce the risks and protect the young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 10 The safeguarding records do not include information about all of the safeguarding concerns that have happened since the previous inspection. For example, the records do not include information about all of the bullying concerns and all incidents where young people have been at risk online. In August 2017, the independent visitor advised the registered manager to make two safeguarding referrals that had not already been done. At this inspection, one referral remains incomplete. In addition, the registered manager had concerns about the practice of a professional who was directly supporting a young person. She did not raise these concerns herself to the designated officer, or ensure that the social worker raised them. Staff rarely use restraint. There have been two occasions since the previous inspection where a young person has been held by staff. On both occasions, the restraint was proportionate and followed up appropriately. There were no injuries, complaints or concerns resulting from the restraints. The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate The weaknesses evident in how effectively young people are helped and protected have not all been identified and dealt with by leaders and managers. Senior leaders have started to take action to improve the quality of care and develop staff’s expertise, but these improvements are in the very early stages. The registered manager does not use quality assurance systems effectively. Areas for improvement that have been highlighted in the independent visitor’s report have not been addressed promptly. The registered manager does not have effective oversight of the staff team’s day-to-day care of young people. Her scrutiny and analysis of the quality of care are insufficient, and she has failed to challenge staff who are not following care plans. Leaders and managers have not reviewed all incidents and complaints effectively in order to learn from them. The registered manager does not direct staff well enough in respect of the risks young people face from the internet, using mobile phones and staying out overnight. Expectations for staff lack clarity and, as a result, they are unable to reduce the risks. A member of staff told the inspectors that they were not aware of what checks they are meant to carry out on the young people’s boyfriends, and other staff said that they do not feel enough is being done to manage and reduce risks. The frequency of supervision for probationary staff requires improvement. The registered manager does not oversee these practices effectively. Not all staff feel fully supported in their role. Leaders and managers have not robustly addressed some areas of discord between some staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 11 The registered manager has not ensured that a requirement made at the last inspection has been met. One staff member who has been employed by the company for over two years has not obtained the necessary residential childcare qualification. The requirement has been reissued at this inspection. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2013 and has the academic qualifications to undertake the role. However, the home is not currently being led in line with the statement of purpose so as to promote the welfare of young people. Staff do not have the necessary leadership and guidance to fulfil their role properly. As a result, they are not demonstrating sufficient professional curiosity or maintaining good parenting boundaries. Information about this inspection Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. 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 children’s home: SC363395 12 Children’s home details Unique reference number: SC363395 Provision sub-type: Children’s home Registered provider: Broadwood Education Services Registered provider address: New Hall, Hey Road, Rossendale BB4 6HR Responsible individual: Janet Porter Registered manager: Fiona Wetherden Inspectors Guy Mammatt, social care inspector Tracey Ledder, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC363395 13 The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. 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