Failures at home where 'drunk child attacked police'

Inspectors have found widespread failures at a children's home where a child, who was drunk, was arrested for assaulting a police officer after being left unsupervised despite "known risks".

An Ofsted report described the Salford home, run by Care 4 Every Child Limited, as "inadequate" and said young people were not protected from harm.

The watchdog found that in another case a child under the homes' care who had suicidal ideation was left unsupervised.

Care 4 Every Child Limited, which runs eight care homes across the north-west of England, has been contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service for comment.

The inspectors also criticised the home for insufficient training of its staff and shortfalls in safeguarding.

That meant that "safety and wellbeing of children is compromised and the quality of care is inadequate", their report said.

For another child, supervision in the community was limited to welfare calls despite "known risks" of substance misuse and the child being physically assaulted.

On one occasion, this child was arrested for assaulting a police officer whilst under the influence of alcohol in the community.

The report said: "Although staff are responsible for the child's welfare, they refused to act as the appropriate adult.

"The child required medical attention during their time in custody.

"However, the absence of the staff meant that the child was reliant on the police to help them to access this support."

In missing from home incidents, staff were also "slow to leave the home" once the child had been located, and it was also found that staff "used physical interventions on children without the relevant training".

"Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that staff are suitably trained to meet the needs of children," the report said.

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