A children’s home for 10- to 18-year-olds “lacks warmth” and is an “unhappy” place, a watchdog said.
A preliminary inspection of the unnamed Cambridgeshire home took place in January after concerns were reported to Ofsted inspectors.
Some children did not have a closet to store their clothes in and a used mattress was dumped in the garden.
The Keys Group owner said “immediate action has been taken to address the matters raised by the visit”.
The Unique Care Homes Support Home, acquired by Keys in 2020, cares for six children with social, emotional and mental health or learning needs.
Ofsted said it was aware that serious child protection allegations were being investigated by other agencies, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.
Inspectors said the home was “unhappy” and staff morale was low.
They found soiled carpets and walls and said the house “lacked warmth”.
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Five of the children told the inspectors that they felt abandoned by the director of the home and could not develop a trusting relationship with her.
They felt that a child who refused to give their phone to staff was given more preferential treatment than others, the report said.
Positive behaviors, such as going to school and leaving phones, were not rewarded, and some children’s undesirable behavior was not challenged, inspectors heard.
They were also unhappy at the regular use of agency staff, with one child saying, “I don’t like having strangers in my house — they don’t know me, so how can they take care of me?”
A full Ofsted inspection of the house six months ago rated it as good, but inspectors found it had “decreased in effectiveness”.
A Keys Group spokesman said: “Immediate action will be taken to address the matters raised during the … inspection and work will continue to ensure we are doing all we can to provide the best possible care.”
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