Inspection Report on Frontier House Childrens Home, Kent run by John Persich
Kent County Council have released a 1995 inspection report into Frontier House Childrens Home, in reply to a Freedom of Information request [1]
The Report is reproduced below. It is report dated 12 Jun 1995 by Geoff Senior, Inspection Officer, Canterbury and Thanet area, after an inspection visit to Frontier House Childrens Home on 6 Jan 1995.
It is a useful document as it gives some facts, supplemented by other answers to the request. Registration for Frontier House was granted from 12 Jan 1993 in the name of John Burdock Persich and Hazel Persich. It was cancelled on 8/11/95 but was appealed by the Persichs, so the ending of registration was finally ratified on the 12/1/96 [1a]. It also gives the dates of several other inspection visits. The Report says it should be read in conjunction with Reports prepared by S Travers, Dover Social Services, which details the joint police/social services investigation into Frontier House. However Kent Council has refused release of these (see later)
Other than Frontier House, there were three satellite units; Elm’s Avenue, St Mildred’s Road and Redberry Cottage [1a] These must have had separate registrations, and were not covered by my FOI request.
The recommendation of the Report was to cancel the registration of Frontier House, due to physical, verbal and psychological abuse as well as other faults such as punishment by withdrawal of access to parents. However it took a year to do so but it is not clear how quickly the children were protected in this or the satellite units.
Timeline
1992 Jan 13 Application for registration
1992 Apr 15 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1992 Jun 17 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1992 Aug 17 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1992 Nov 23 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1992 Dec 2 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1992 Dec 16 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1993 Jan 12 Registration granted for 7 children at Frontier House
1993 May 20 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1993 Jul 6 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1993 Aug 2 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1994 Jan 20 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1994 May 3 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1994 May 24 Registration extended to 8 children at Frontier House
1994 Jun 21 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit
1994 Complaint by young person saying he had been physically assaulted
1994 Oct Strategy meeting between social services and police
1994 Dec 29 Strategy meeting held after former staff member contacted Social Services Customer Care Manager, Anthony Mort at Springfield, alleging residents were subject to physical and verbal abuse by staff members
1995 Jan 6 Inspection Visit by Canterbury and Thanet Inspection Unit Reports
1995 Feb 15 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 Mar 7 Draft Report sent to Mr Persich
1995 Mar 17 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 Apr 21 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 May 16 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 Jun 30 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 Jul 19 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 Oct 23 Strategy meeting between social services and police
1995 Nov 8 Registration cancelling appeal by Persichs [1]
1995 London Programme Children in Danger on Frontier House [2]
1996 Jan 12 Registration cancelling ratified [1]
The 1995 Children in Danger programme [2] below, presented by Trevor Phillips features Frontier House. It features at one point, an angry John Persich Junior denying any abuse.
https://youtu.be/e3xiNL5YYrA
Unfortunately many other inspection reports it is said cannot be found, and the strategy meeting reports have been refused under FOI
The full request is available here [1], but here are some extracts.
A. We have been unable to locate any inspection reports per se although we have found a mention of visits within a brief report by Geoff Senior, Inspection Officer, dated 12th June 1995. This states that Frontier House was subject to announced and unannounced visits on 7 occasions between May 1993 and January 1995. The dates of these visits was recorded as follows:- 20/5/93; 6/7/93; 2/8/93; 20/1/94; 3/5/94; 21/6/94; 6/1/95. However, as already stated, we have not been able to locate any specific reports relating to these visits. [This actually omitted 6 other visits in 1992]
Q. Please could you send me the Report on the investigation by Kent Council and Police, in approx. 1994.
A. There are several reports provided to Strategy Meetings between February 1995 and October 1995. These reports were written by a Senior Practitioner and are dated as follows;- 15/2/95; 17/3/95; 21/4/95; 16/5/95; 30/6/95; 19/7/95; 23/10/95. I have revisited all the reports by the Senior Practitioner and have decided the entire contents remain exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated previously [ie. The reports relate to and discuss children at the home, the information contained within them is considered personal data and is exempt from disclosure under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.] If we remove the child specific information, we would essentially be providing you with blank piece of paper save for the title which in the case of the October 1995 report would appear as follows:- "
I have therefore put in an internal review as it is difficult to accept that there is no non child specific information in these strategy reports.
If anyone wishes to follow up any information, it may be worth putting in FOI requests about the satellite units, and what the further response of the council was, to the abuse at the Persich run establishments, as evidenced in the minutes of the Social Services Comittee and any reports, recommendations and conclusions, to it or other committees, and full council. Ex residents can apply for their own records via a subject access request under the Data Protection Act to Kent Social Services.
Please note that victims of abuse may be triggered by reading this information. These links are generally UK based.
The Sanctuary for the Abused [A] has advice on how to prevent triggers.
National Association for People Abused in Childhood [B] has a freephone helpline and has links to local support groups.
Other useful sites are One in Four [C]
and Havoca [D].
Jim Hoppers pages on Mindfulness [G] and Meditation [H] may be useful.
Hwaairfan blog An Indigenous Australian Approach to Healing Trauma [J]
Survivors UK for victims and survivors of male rape or the sexual abuse of men [K]
Voicing CSA group [L] helps arrange survivors meetings in your area
Links
[1] WhatDoTheyKnow Cathy Fox FOI request to Kent County Council https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/frontier_house_kent#incoming-854771
[1a] WhatDoTheyKnow Cathy Fox FOI request to Kent County Council https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/frontier_house_kent#incoming-836865
[2] 1995 London Programme Children in Danger on Frontier House https://youtu.be/e3xiNL5YYrA
[3] 1995 Jun 12 Report of Geoff Senior on Frontier House Childrens Home pdf download via WhatDoTheyKnow https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/337512/response/854771/attach/4/Geoff%20Senior%20report%2012.6.95.pdf
[3a] 1995 Jun 12 Geoff Senior Report on Frontier House Childrens Home cathy fox blog wordpress pdf https://cathyfox.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/geoff-senior-report-12-6-951.pdf
[A] Sanctuary for the Abused http://abusesanctuary.blogspot.co.uk/2006/07/for-survivors-coping-with-triggers-if.html
[B] NAPAC http://www.napac.org.uk/
[C] One in Four http://www.oneinfour.org.uk/
[D] Havoca http://www.havoca.org/HAVOCA_home.htm
[E] SurvivorsJustice Triggers post http://survivorsjustice.com/2014/02/26/triggers-what-are-they-and-how-do-we-work-through-them/
[F] SurvivorsJustice Blog http://survivorsjustice.com/
[G] Jim Hopper Mindfulness http://www.jimhopper.com/mindfulness/
[H] Jim Hopper Meditation http://www.jimhopper.com/mindfulness/#cultivate
[J] 2016 Jan 5 Hwaairfan blog An Indigenous Australian Approach to Healing Trauma https://hwaairfan.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/an-indigenous-australian-approach-to-healing-trauma/
[K] Survivors UK website for victims and survivors of male rape or the sexual abuse of men https://www.survivorsuk.org/ and twitter https://twitter.com/SurvivorsUK
[L] Voicing CSA website – http://voicingcsa.uk/ helps arrange survivors meetings in your area. Voicing CSA supports the IICSA and VSCP and works to help adult survivors of child sexual abuse find their voice
This is all written in good faith but if there is anything that needs to be corrected please email frontierhouse@cathyfox.33mail.com
cathyfox
the truth will out, the truth will shout, the truth will set us free
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” – Edmund Burke
“He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers.” Charles Peguy
To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men – Ella Wheeler Wilcox