Children's home run by Happy Group (UK) Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 1 Registered provider: Happy Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a small private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 28 to 29 November 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 24 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children make significant progress, especially with reducing risk-taking behaviours.  Children are happy and love the staff in this home. Staff have warm and nurturing relationships with children.  A strong commitment to education means that children are attending and achieving. Children have good aspirations for their future.  Children feel safe and secure. Staff have a good understanding about how to keep children safe.  Staff are highly motivated and are committed to providing a high-quality service to ensure that children develop and thrive. They know and understand the children well. This helps them to understand the children’s behaviour.  Staff do not restrain children. They use de-escalation techniques effectively. Staff encourage children to talk about their feelings. They use restorative approaches rather than sanctions.  The registered manager is relatively new to this role but is very experienced in

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Key findings from this inspection

leadership roles. He provides strong and supportive leadership. He strives to continually improve the service to ensure that children have enhanced life opportunities.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Medication is not safely stored or administered. The impact of this is minimal because currently only one child is prescribed medication.  Going missing procedures are not always adhered to and incidents of going missing are not always recorded well.  Ofsted is not always notified of serious incidents.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home are robust. (Regulation 23 (1)) 31/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; a child protection enquiry involving a child— (i) is instigated; or (ii) concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 31/12/2017

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Recommendations

 The home’s procedures must take into account the views of appropriate local services and have regard to police and local authority protocols for responding to missing person’s incidents in the area where the home is located. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.29)  Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.31) Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children love this home and the staff who look after them. A parent said: ‘I love where my son is. They all treat him like family. Even though I’d like him home, he’s happy.’ A child said: ‘The staff look after me well.’ Another child said: ‘I feel this is my home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress, particularly in reducing their risk-taking behaviour. An example of this is a child who had previously regularly carried a knife. Since moving to this home, there has been a reduction in incidents and there have been no incidents involving a knife. His youth offending worker commented on the fact that there had been no new offences since the child moved to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from regular, positive time with their families. Staff understand the importance of this contact and facilitate it well. Furthermore, staff are instrumental in helping to build and maintain family relationships for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a strong commitment to education from both the staff and the children. Attendance and achievement have improved for children. Children are up and ready to attend education, and one child proudly showed off his 98% attendance certificate for the last academic year. If children do not remain in their education placement, staff provide an alternative such as orienteering in a local country park. This provides the child with the much needed space they required at the time. Additionally, it also provides a challenge that is not only educational but also physical, giving children a sense of pride and achievement. Children have aspirations for their future that include going to college or university and setting out on a career path.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities such as swimming, trampolining, golf, fishing and gardening. They also go to theme parks, go on holiday and go for walks in the local and wider area. Children’s hobbies and interests are supported. For example, one child recently went to watch his local football team. Another child has bought a drum kit and goes to drumming lessons. Activities help children to develop their resilience, self-esteem and confidence. These are important skills that enhance their life opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment offers children a warm and homely place to live. Some children see this as their home. Children take pride in the home, helping with the daily chores and keeping the garden well maintained. Children proudly display their handcrafted furnishings around the home such as a clock, tables and a mirror. One child has plans to make some garden furniture for his next project. A youth offending worker said: ‘I think it’s a very calm house. That’s one thing that’s really quite apparent.’ The calm, friendly atmosphere supports children to better manage their own behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is important to staff. Children are registered with doctors, dentists and opticians. They also have access to mental health services. Children who smoke are Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 5 helped to stop, and this is working well. Children do not drink alcohol and rarely take illegal substances. They participate in regular exercise such as walking, cycling and playing sports.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Medication is not safely stored and administered. The impact of this is minimal because only one child currently is prescribed medication. However, an incident occurred in April when a child took some medication from the medication cupboard. There has not been a repeat of this incident. Nevertheless, staff medication procedures are unsafe. Staff do not refer to an administration record prior to dispensing medication. This is important because the prescription may have changed from the previous time they administered it. Staff sign the record but have not witnessed the medication being dispensed, only administered to the child. This means that the staff acting as witnesses cannot say for certain that the medication being given is correct. Furthermore, controlled drugs are stored with other prescription medication, and other items such as sun cream. This means that staff are accessing the cupboard containing controlled drugs more often than

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

is necessary. This increases the risk of controlled drugs going missing. Furthermore, it is difficult to track medication.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Practice ensures that children feel safe. A youth offending worker said: ‘He sees here as safe and stable. There are boundaries. He tries to push them, but staff stick to the boundaries. He feels safe here.’ Children feel safe enough to make historical disclosures to the staff and know that staff will believe them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff care about the children. When children go missing from the home, the staff look for them. A social worker said: ‘Whenever he has absconded, staff have been out looking for him, regardless of the time.’ Staff have a good understanding of why children go missing from the home and know where they run to. They work proactively with children, parents and external professionals to try to prevent children from going missing. There have been occasions when a child’s going missing protocol has not been followed because staff have believed that they know where the child is. Staff are often correct in their assumptions. The going missing protocol has not been reviewed to reflect this or agreed with the local police. Furthermore, some incidents of children going missing or being absent without consent have not been recorded in one place, so it is difficult to access the relevant information.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have nurturing and trusting relationships with children. This means that children feel safe and secure. Children learn to better manage their anger and frustration. A social worker said: ‘Although his behaviours are very much still a concern, he has been supported by staff to talk about his feelings, as opposed to behaving in ways such as climbing on roofs. This has significantly reduced.’ Children are not restrained. Staff are trained to de-escalate situations and only restrain if required. They de-escalate situations well by building good relationships with children and encouraging children to talk to them. Similarly, sanctions for poor behaviour are not given. Staff use restorative approaches and encourage children to make amends. For example, children apologised to a neighbour and gave them a present when their behaviour had upset the neighbour. Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 6

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children complete work regarding any legal orders they may be subject to. A social worker said: ‘He has been supported to engage with the youth offending service. He has completed 29 hours reparation work and received excellent feedback.’ This helps children to better understand their own behaviour and give something back to the local community, restoring the children’s sense of pride and achievement.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Vetting procedures help to protect children from unsuitable adults working in the home. Appropriate employment checks are carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is relatively new to the role but is very experienced in leadership roles. He has almost completed the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. He provides strong and supportive leadership. He inspires a culture of openness and warmth. Monitoring the conduct of the home is generally strong and action has been immediately implemented where shortfalls have been identified. The registered manager strives to continually improve the service for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have positive regard for the children. They have a good understanding of why the children behave the way they do. The organisation is committed to providing a high- quality training package for staff. This means that staff have the knowledge and skills they require to competently support children. This means that children make significant progress developmentally and they thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are committed to providing a high-quality service that meets the needs of the children they care for. A social worker for one child said: ‘Staff have adapted the service they offer to tailor it to his needs.’ Staff work in partnership with external professionals to ensure that the health, safety and well-being of children are promoted and maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints are taken seriously and staff do what they can to achieve a positive outcome.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some serious incidents have not been notified to Ofsted. Although this has had no impact on children, the regulator has not had the opportunity to respond to the incidents to ensure that children are safe. A requirement has been made to address this. Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 7

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Happy Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Walk House, 99 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7LF

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Inspector:

Joanne Vyas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1236625 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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