A teenager in care died while living in supported accommodation where fewer than one in 13 staff had received self-harm training.

It comes as nearly half of supported accommodation - designed to help older teenagers prepare to leave the care system - is failing to provide “consistently strong” care. The company running that service, Forever Care (North East), saw its registration suspended for “significant breaches” and more than a dozen children moved to other accommodation.

Forevercare Group made a profit of £1.5m last year and has paid out £350,000 in dividends to the owner Neville Rodgers in the last two years. An employment tribunal judge said in 2021 that: "Mr Rodgers is, we find, a ‘numbers man’ – interested primarily in the financial return."

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It's just one of a string of disturbing findings revealed since Ofstedlast year began registering and inspecting so-called "semi-independent living" for teens aged 16 to 18. Ofsted has published the first 61 inspection reports of 890 registered providers and they paint a troubling picture of life for many of the country's most vulnerable youngsters.

Seven providers - more than one in ten - had "serious or widespread weaknesses" and needed "urgent action" to address failings. 23 had "inconsistent quality of service" which "adversely affects some children’s experiences" and needed improvement, including one previously rated in the bottom category.

Ofsted also carried out "monitoring visits" at another 45 providers following specific concerns about the standards of care. Most were given "compliance notices" detailing improvements that were needed. An Ofsted spokesperson said: “When we agreed to regulate and inspect providers of supported accommodation, we knew we’d find that the overall quality of provision was not good enough. This is reflected in the grade profile across inspection reports published so far, underlining the importance of regulation of this type of provision.”

But Baroness Anne Longfield, Executive Chair of the Centre for Young Lives and former Children’s Commissioner, said: “This investigation highlights the substandard and sometimes dangerous conditions that some vulnerable young people are being placed into – often at huge cost to the taxpayer and local councils. For too long, our children’s care system has been driven by excess profit-making, at the expense of local, high-quality provision that supports children and young people as they prepare for adulthood.

“The Government has started to make some welcome reforms through its Children’s Wellbeing Bill, as well as providing significant extra investment. It must keep its foot on the pedal, to rebuild a broken system so that it meets the needs of vulnerable children first and foremost - not those who are looking to make a fast buck out of them.”

By March this year, there were 890 providers of supported accommodation registered with Ofsted. They had more than 8,000 premises offering more than 20,000 places. London had the biggest number of providers (18%), while the North West had the most premises (25%). Inspections started in September.

Ofsted inspectors visiting other providers found that one child was told they need to "present as homeless" on their 18th birthday. Another was given 24 hours notice of their placement ending. A staff member admitted to joking about the smell of cannabis in a child's room as being "perfume". While “unknown people" lived in some supported accommodation without staff knowledge. A number of properties were found to be poorly maintained and dirty with evidence of mould. One bedroom had electrical wires exposed while another child didn't have a door or a bed frame and was sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

Supported accommodation is being used unsuitably for children with more complex needs who need higher levels of support. One provider was housing three children who are under "deprivation of liberty" orders, meaning they each need two staff at all times, with doors and windows locked and physical restraint used when deemed necessary.

A child in the care of Forever Care (North-East), which has been renamed Athena Supported Accommodation (North East), died last April. Ofsted inspectors visited days later and suspended the firm’s registration for “significant regulatory breaches”. Ten out of 13 children admitted needed at least two members of staff each due to complex needs, including risk of "criminal exploitation, physical and verbal aggression and significant self-harm".

By agreeing to the placements, Ofsted said the firm was operating supported accommodation "outside of the scope of the regulations" and placing kids "at risk of significant harm". Just six out of 78 staff had received self-harm training, "despite this factor being a risk for several children". All the children were moved to other providers but eight weeks later, following a third visit from Ofsted, the suspension was removed.

An employment tribunal judge said in 2021 that: "Mr Rodgers is, we find, a ‘numbers man’ – interested primarily in the financial return." The judge also criticised Forever Care, naming Mr Rodgers in particular, for: "Their casual and chaotic approach to management, their indifference to job descriptions and contracts, their interest in only growing the numbers."

It was "rather concerning, given the nature of the work" that the "driving motivation" of Mr Rodgers and certain senior staff was "financial gain". Forever Care did not respond to a request for comment.