Children's Home run by Plus One South West Ltd in Somerset

Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 1 SC386430 Registered provider: Plus One (South West) Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company operates this home, which provides care and accommodation for up to two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 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: 7 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children have a positive experience when moving into and moving on from the home. For those children who move on, staff advocate very well for them, support them with actually moving to their new home, and keep in touch with them.  The registered manager and staff team place the needs of the child at the Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 2 centre of their practice. Staff are developing good relationships with the child currently living at the home; he said that he loves living at the home and that he feels that staff listen to him.  Staff promote positive behaviour well; they give good praise and encouragement that promote children’s self-esteem. Restraint is rarely used and sanctions are rarely imposed.  A competent, experienced and highly committed registered manager ensures that the home is managed well. She ensures that staff receive regular support, supervision and effective training.

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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

 The registered manager must ensure that staff follow the home’s child protection policies and procedures at all times. In addition, refer all serious incidents to Ofsted.  The registered manager must ensure that all restraint records contain the required information and that a school is identified for the current child to attend.  The environment would benefit from redecoration and the shower room is in need of refurbishment.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/11/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 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

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

 help a child who is excluded from school, or is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; and  promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. In particular, ensure that staff provide children with suitable educational activities to support their learning and development while they are out of school.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (2)(a)(v)(viii)) 31/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to:

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Requirement Due date

 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (2)(a)(vi)(vii)) 17/01/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 4 35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that within 24 hours of the measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes:

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Requirement Due date

 the time and duration of the use of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iii)(iv)) 17/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all areas of the children’s home are homely in appearance and enhanced with soft furnishing. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In addition, consideration should be given to the redecoration of the home, and that the shower room is refurbished.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good care and support. Two children have recently left the home. One child had been living here for approximately seven years, and another child for two years. The registered manager and staff fully support the children to move on to the next stage of their lives. They advocated well for them, and assisted them in ensuring that their views were taken into consideration when choosing new accommodation. For one child, there have been excellent outcomes; he is now living independently, attending college and continuing to pursue his dreams and ambitions. Staff continue to keep in touch with both children, and provide them with support and encouragement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers meet with children and complete a risk assessment before they move in. This is to ensure that they can meet the child’s needs in this home. The child currently living in the home said, ‘I met staff before I moved in, and I felt welcomed when I moved here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop good relationships with children based on trust and mutual respect. The Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 5 current child said, ‘I love the staff; they have been really good to me, and I get hugs.’ Children are encouraged to take part in activities in the home, and in the wider community. The current child has recently joined local clubs, including a basketball club and a football club.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The current child moved to the home without a new school being identified. The registered manager has been extremely proactive in addressing this issue, and has been in regular contact with the placing authority and schools to ascertain when a place is to be offered. However, staff are not fully recording any learning opportunities that they are providing until a place at a school is confirmed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle and the current child is registered with local healthcare professionals. In addition, specialist help is also available.

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

The registered manager ensures that she deals effectively with child protection concerns and works collaboratively with the placing authority and police to keep children safe. There have been a number of examples since the last inspection where the manager has alerted the appropriate agencies and authorities about potential safeguarding concerns. Detailed records demonstrate the action that has been taken to promote children’s safety and well-being.

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

However, on one occasion staff did not promptly refer a safeguarding concern to senior managers. This resulted in a delay of the referral. When identified, the registered manager took effective action. Following this, she formally met with the staff involved. The outcomes of these meetings are recorded in individual supervision records, and the home’s child protection policy was reviewed.

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

Children are safe at this home. The current child agreed and said, ‘I feel safe; this is because the staff make me feel safe.’ A social worker who considers that the child is safe at the home also echoed this view. All staff have received safeguarding training from an external provider. Safeguarding appears as a regular agenda item at staff one-to-one meetings.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been one occasion of a child going missing. Staff take effective action when children go missing, and they follow the missing from home protocols that are agreed by the placing authority and the local police. To date, the current child has not gone missing. The social worker said, ‘This is extremely positive.’

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

Staff are promoting positive behaviour effectively. They are provided with effective behaviour support plans and associated risk assessments, which guide them about how to support the current child to manage his emotions and feelings. Staff regularly praise children for their achievements, and reward systems are proving successful.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been one recorded incident of the use of restraint. The record in relation to this does not fully meet the regulations, as the actual time and Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 6 duration of the intervention have not been recorded. This weakness did not have a negative impact on the safety of children. Sanctions have not been imposed.

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

In relation to the child currently living at the home, a social worker said, ‘I have no concerns about the care provided; it is very positive that staff are not restraining him, there’s been no major incidents and he has not gone missing.’

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

The registered manager ensures that the home’s utilities are regularly serviced. This includes the home’s firefighting equipment. In addition, regular checks are undertaken of the smoke detectors and all staff have taken part in fire evacuation drills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home is well led and managed by a registered manager who is dedicated, experienced and places the needs of the children at the centre of her practice. She is undertaking a level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England).

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She has thoroughly evaluated the quality of care being provided, and has identified where improvements can be made with target dates set. The external scrutiny of the quality of care continues regularly by an independent visitor. The registered manager acts effectively on any recommendations made by the visitor to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a detailed placement plan and associated risk assessments that provide them with clear guidance about how to meet the child’s needs. The placement plan and risk assessments are constantly under review so as to meet the children’s changing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular support and supervision. Their supervision records demonstrate that reflective practice is encouraged, and that staff record their evaluation of their practice. As well as mandatory training, staff receive specific training to meet the needs of the children; this includes training in understanding attachment and autism awareness. All staff working at the home are qualified to level 3 diploma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager typically informs the placing authority, the police and safeguarding agencies about significant events. However, she has not notified Ofsted of all such incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that she and the staff team communicate effectively and work well with a range of agencies, authorities and professionals. A social worker agreed and said, ‘There is very good communication between us; they are good at passing information over.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children live in an environment that is well maintained and safe. At the time of this inspection, the current child was moving into a newly decorated bedroom. Staff consulted with him about the redecoration of the bedroom and he chose the wallpaper. Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 7 He said, ‘I love my bedroom, it’s great.’ However, some areas of the home lack homely touches and appear ‘tired’ and in need of redecoration. In addition, the shower room needs refurbishment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been no complaints made about the home made since the last inspection.

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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: SC386430 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Plus One (South West) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Mount, 21 High Street, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8QT

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Inspector

David Kidner, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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