Children's home staff negligence enabled child to repeatedly access ‘concerning’ website

Ofsted said this lack of safeguarding oversight resulted in the child being put at ‘risk of harm. The children’s home, located in the borough of Sefton, is not named in the Ofsted report.

According to the watchdog, the facility is operated by a private provider called Teen-Works Care Limited (TWC), which provides care for three children ‘who may experience social or emotional difficulties.’

The home was registered with Ofsted in March 2024 and a full inspection was conducted on July 15, and published August 29. The report rated the home overall ‘inadequate’ and raised concerns about the safety of children in its care.

The report states: “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.”

In the section where inspectors detail the protection of children and young people in the home, the report notes several examples of serious concern: “Managers and staff have not always taken effective action to safeguard children. For example, staff did not follow the missing-from-home protocol for one child who is at high risk of exploitation.

“Furthermore, insufficient efforts were made to locate the child. This placed the child at risk of harm. Staff have not always followed children’s safety plans. For example, to protect one child from harm, the agreed plan was for their bedroom to be searched daily.

“There are large gaps in the room search records for this child. The manager has identified this, but she has not taken sufficient action to address this with staff and assure herself that staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard this child.

“Reports of some significant incidents lack important details about the actions staff have taken to safeguard children. For example, the records of one incident suggest that there was a delay in seeking medical attention for a child.

“The manager has not identified the gaps in records or taken action to explore the event further. This hinders the manager’s ability to evaluate whether staff are taking appropriate and effective action to protect children from harm. The manager has not taken effective action to ensure that children are safe when they use the internet.

“For example, there is no record of the action taken to safeguard a child when they accessed concerning content online. Checks on the child’s phone demonstrate that they have been able to access this website on more than one occasion. This leaves the child at risk of harm.

“Following incidents, staff have not completed direct work with the child to help them to learn how to keep themselves safer online.”

Another criticism levied at the care provider is the ‘inadequate’ management of the home, the report added: “Shortfalls in the manager’s oversight and monitoring of significant events at the home have compromised the safety of children.

“For example, when reviewing incident reports, she has not identified that staff have not followed missing-from-home procedures. In addition, where she has identified that staff have not completed records of room searches, welfare checks and safety checks, she has not taken effective action to address this with staff and improve their practice.”

Inspectors did identify areas where the home was performing well including some children showing signs of making clear progress at the home, however, the report said: “Ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of the home’s safeguarding practices and the quality of its leadership and management are negatively affecting the experiences of all children living at the home.”

The report also sets out a series of actions which the home must now take to improve the service and ensure it is fully compliant. The provider had until September 7 to report back to Ofsted with updates.