SOME of Bradford’s most vulnerable children are still being cared for in Council-run homes beset by problems.

A series of reports has detailed the issues the homes still face following damning inspections last year.

Now Bradford Council has told the Telegraph & Argus that “much more” needs to be done. 

While the reports recognised improvements made, one home which was rated as ‘good’ at its last full inspection is said to have “declined in effectiveness”.

Ofsted said some children have experienced unplanned moves from the home “as a result of being exposed to harm and a rapid decline in their placement outcomes”.

It added: “The assessments are not thorough in reviewing how children’s behaviours could be harmful to others. 

“The needs-matching process has failed to protect children who were deemed to be at low risk of exploitation prior to moving into the home.

“Since living at the home, these children’s vulnerabilities have increased significantly, and they have been exposed to serious harm.”

The report also said children have made allegations against staff, but records evidencing the managements of the allegations were not organised.

Ofsted said this meant it was unclear whether processes were being followed through.

“Children do not always receive reassurance from the manager that action has been taken,” said the report.

“Partnership discussions are not fully documented, and the validity of internal investigation documents lacks strength.

“Although the manager identifies the need for risk assessments to ensure that all staff subject to allegations are working within safe parameters, these assessments have not been completed, which fails to protect both children and staff.”

Inspectors said agency workers were regularly used to fill staffing gaps, but the lack of a “vigorous” vetting process meant the manager could not be confident that those working in the home were safe to work with children.

The aesthetic appearance of the home was said to be “poor”.

A report for another home, which has moved up from ‘inadequate’ to ‘requires improvement to be good’ praised a “committed staff team” but said the care provided to children is not yet good enough.

It said staff struggled to engage children in education.

“Children have a tutor in place during the week, which has been arranged with the local authority.

“However, despite the endeavour of staff to engage them, children learning with the support of the tutor is rare.”
Inspectors said progress from the last visit had not been sustained and added:

“Decisions to move children into the home are influenced by a lack of local suitable placements for children rather than according to children’s needs.

“This demonstrates that the provider’s own referral procedures are not followed.”

Another home which was also ‘inadequate’ has also moved to ‘requires improvement’ and Ofsted said a new manager had made a positive impact.

The home only cares for one child, but arrangements for their arrival were said to be “poor”.

Dangerous items were found in the child’s belongings, which had to be confiscated.

“This could have resulted in the child or staff being harmed,” inspectors said.

The report said the child “makes frequent comments about disliking the home and not feeling safe” though their parents were said to be “positive” about their care.

Councillor Sue Duffy, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for children and families, said: “We are pleased that as a result of recent Ofsted re inspections, two children’s homes rated as inadequate by Ofsted last year are now rated as requires improvement.

"We know that there is still much more we need to do and we are determined that all of our children’s homes provide the best quality of care for our children and young people. We are working hard to achieve this working closely with Ofsted to implement all of the recommendations that they have made.

"We have noted the actions arising from an interim inspection visit to one of our homes which does not change the ‘good’ Ofsted rating of that home. 

“We will ensure that the necessary steps are taken to respond to Ofsted’s feedback so that the home retains its good rating when fully re-inspected."