Children's home was closed after teenager at sister site was 'sexually assaulted' at hotel
A care home closed down by Ofsted due to 'risk of harm' to children was shut after a report found that a teenager staying at its sister site was sexually assaulted in a hotel.
Ofsted found “significant safeguarding incidents” at the Coventry home run by Dimensions Care after inspectors visited last May.
It is one of four homes run by the provider, which also runs a site in Ludlow that was closed by Ofsted last week over 'risk of harm' concerns. A report into that closure is set to be published by Ofsted later in the year.
But according to the education watchdog, at its sister site in Coventry, two children had "regular missing-from-home episodes", and one was believed to have been drugged and "sexually assaulted" at a hotel.
“The manager and staff do not demonstrate that they have the skills and experience to keep children safe,” Ofsted wrote in its report on the Coventry children's home. “Staff and managers have not always reported, recorded, or responded to incidents appropriately.
“For example, on one occasion, two children left the home late at night and travelled to Birmingham and then on to Coventry to access nightclubs.
"On their return to the home the following morning, one child disclosed that they had been taken to a hotel by adult males and were subject to a sexual assault and possible ingestion of drugs unknowingly. The support for these two children following this disclosure was poor.”
The Coventry facility was rated as "inadequate" overall by Ofsted inspectors, who also said there were incidents of children harming themselves at the home.
They wrote: “There have been several incidents of children harming themselves. Despite this, staff do not do all they can to reduce these risks to children. Staff are not alert to risk, and they do not respond appropriately to try and remove items children have that they use to harm themselves.”
A spokesperson for Dimensions Care said they could not comment on the closure of the site in Ludlow until a report from Ofsted was published.
But Rob Finney, a board member at Dimensions Care, which also runs sites in Telford and Sandwell, said it had worked collaboratively with Ofsted to address the points raised in the report on the Coventry site.
Speaking to the BBC after the report into the Coventry children's home was published, he said: "We continue to work with Ofsted in relation to two further Dimensions Care homes which, as a result of the initial findings, were also rated as inadequate."
He added: "All four homes were rated good until very recently. We are working at pace to ensure that these two homes are compliant again as soon as possible.
"We're grateful to Ofsted for the robust way in which it has carried out the inspections and we continue to work closely with the regulator as we look to rebuild and make the homes what they once were."
