Jersey Care Commission reports findings of two children's home inspections
The Jersey Care Commission has published the first of its inspection reports of two children’s homes in the Island.
The findings of both reports were positive, but there were areas where there could be improvements. The reports do not detail where the homes are for security reasons.
The first report looked at a secure facility where young people between the ages of 10 to 18 years old can be placed either on remand or in custody, or subject to a Secure Accommodation Order. At the time of this inspection, there was one child and one young person living there.
In July 2019 the facility was inspected before it was registered by the commission and was given ten recommendations for improvement, six of which have been fully actioned.
A seventh was to provide appropriate education and training for all residents. The report says although it is "encouraging" a teacher is available to meet the educational needs of children and young people it is noted that this still does not extend to young people aged over 16.
The practice of locking all bedroom doors overnight in the home was observed and has been described by the manager as "a means of providing security and protection to the young people in the home."
Two more recommendations which had not been actioned, were to form a task and finish group to agree an operational model for this secure children’s home, and for a budget to be agreed for the refurbishment and changes needed.
There have been no formal complaints from residents or families in the past 12 months. Overall the report says the inspection was "mostly positive".
The second inspection observed a three-bedroom detached bungalow which became registered with the commission in December to provide residential care for three children and young people.
The report found another young person was accommodated for two months during the Covid-19 lockdown period which had a negative impact on the others. There are no plans to seek to increase the number of registered places in future.
There were no safeguarding alerts and no complaints received during the past 12 months.
However, there have been frequent "missing episodes" where children and young peopleleaving the home without permission and police involvement. The report observed these issues have been managed appropriately and there was "evidence of effective relationships between the staff and those in their care".
It found improvements in the use of personal plans and daily logs which had been recommended last year, and a good use of risk assessments.Overall the report found the findings from this inspection were "positive".
Jersey's Children's Minister says the reports will help to develop the quality of "outcomes and service" of children's care in the island.
Further inspection reports are due to be published by the Jersey Care Commission over the next month. These will be studied and responded to by Jersey's government once the recommendations have been looked at.