A HOME for children who have experienced trauma in Coventry has been shut down after inspectors revealed ‘serious and widespread failures’ – including an incident where two kids were sexually abused when they went out nightclubbing.
The home, privately run by Dimensions Care, has been rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted following an inspection in May when four children were living there.
Inspectors Marianne Grandfield, and Hayley Booth said: “There are serious and widespread 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.”
They identified ‘significant safeguarding incidents’ which had harmed children or placed them at risk, and said staff – only two out of 12 of whom held the relevant qualification for residential childcare – did not demonstrate that they had the skills and experience to keep children safe.
On one occasion, two children left the home late at night to go clubbing in Birmingham and Coventry, and the following morning one of them disclosed that they had been ‘subject to a sexual assault and possible ingestion of drugs unknowingly.’
“The support for these two children following this disclosure was poor,” the inspectors said.
“Significant risks, such as gangs, knives and exploitation, are not fully explored or assessed. Two children in the home have significant and regular missing-from-home episodes where they have been subject to sexual exploitation.
“There have been several incidents of children harming themselves.”
Children told the inspectors that the home was ‘poorly run and chaotic’, with one child telling them: “We have no rules and boundaries. We run rings around them and do what we want. Even when I went missing last night, returned intoxicated and fell asleep on the stairs, no one has addressed this with me, and they never will.”
Some children had faced ‘significant police involvement’, and ‘serious incidents’ had ‘resulted in harm to some children’.
The report also said the home did not provide children with a ‘hygienic, safe and comfortable place to live’.
Rob Finney, a board member at Dimensions Care, said: “We fully accept the findings from Ofsted.
“We have acted quickly and robustly to improve the care we provide. This has resulted in the removal of the senior operational team at Dimensions Care, with independent and nationally leading experts being brought in.
“Together, we have worked collaboratively with Ofsted to address all of the points raised within the report.
“Last month, the home received a monitoring visit from Ofsted. Ofsted is satisfied that all compliance requirements have now been met.”
He said that the home had been rated ‘good’ at a previous inspection last December, adding: “We’re grateful to Ofsted for the robust way in which it has carried out the inspection, and we continue to work closely with the regulator as we look to rebuild and make the home what it once was.”
A spokesperson for Coventry City Council said it took the safety and well-being of children in care ‘extremely seriously’.
They added: “We have robust arrangements in place to ensure provisions, where our children are placed, are regularly monitored and we respond swiftly to any concerns raised.
“There are a number of private children’s homes in Coventry which are not run by the local authority and have children placed in from various authorities.”
