By Tony O’Reilly-
A damning report has revealed that children were able to take cannabis into a council run home, and were uttering racist slurs.
Racist slurs were also scrawled on bedroom doors, which staff oddly failed to remove, according to the damning report.
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The home, run by Kirklees Council, was rated inadequate following an inspection by ofsted, and matters there have only deteriorated since then. Ofsted’s report depicts a poorly regulated home occupied by wayward delinquents with no control or boundaries, and whose reckless activities jeopardises the well being of other residents.
One councillor described the situation as “sickening” by one councillor amid damning Ofsted reports, resignations of senior managers, a “significant” number of staff on long-term sickness absence and a high reliance on agency staff.
The report said there were “serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded”.
“Staff do not routinely go into children’s bedrooms to remove cigarette lighters, tobacco and vapes,” the report said.
“In addition, staff have failed to respond when children have brought cannabis into the home.
“This means that children have been left in possession of illicit substances. This presents a serious risk of harm to children’s safety.”
Inspectors also said staff lacked the skills to “address children’s worrying behaviours”.
The report said: “There are many examples of concerning behaviour, such as racist slurs written on children’s doors that staff have simply left with no endeavour to clean off or work with the child to address this.
“This is not good practice and compromises children’s views of the world around them, which may affect their life chances in the future.”
On one occasion, children were able to acquire a set of master keys, enabling access to the office without staff knowledge.
“The inspectors observed ineffective action and ambivalence from staff when a child was seen engaging in risk-taking behaviour in the home,” it said.
“This clearly highlights that staff are unaware of what action to take to protect children from harm.”
The report said there had been an increase in children’s risk-taking behaviour and inspectors reported a “chaotic environment”.
It added: “Poor communication between staff means that staff are ill-equipped to manage the children’s behaviour.
“The manager has not done enough to acknowledge the children’s wishes and feelings.
“The management team has recognised the shortfalls in care planning as the children have been vocal about their anxieties around their plans.
“Despite this, the children have not been given the reassurance they need from staff about their future plans.
“Consequently, children have lived with unnecessary stress, which has affected their ability to cope emotionally.”
The report also said: “The physical environment of the home is not a comfortable space for children to live. The communal living areas are bare and lack personality and character.”
A spokesperson for Kirklees Council told The Eye Of Media.Com: “Our priority is to make sure children and young people in care are provided with safe, stable and loving homes that enable them to thrive
“We can confirm that all of the issues raised by the inspection are being addressed by a comprehensive action plan.
“Ofsted are supportive of the approach we are taking and have already lifted the compliance notices which stemmed from their visit.
“It is essential that improvements are made for the long term so that the home returns to its high standards as quickly as possible.
“A very small number of children were living at the home when the inspection took place, and we can confirm they are receiving good levels of care.
“We are working closely with Ofsted to ensure a monitoring visit is arranged soon and, when this happens, the inspectors will see many positive changes.”