Children's Home run by Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited in Devon

Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Learning and Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation to three children. It is operated by a private company that has several other homes in the same region.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 This children’s home was registered in June 2017 and this is its first inspection. Within six months, four children have been admitted to the home. Two have since left the Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 2 home and two remain. Leaders and managers must demonstrate careful and considered assessment of individual need along with robust impact risk assessments so that children can enjoy more stability, progress and positive experiences.  There is a need to review in-house safeguarding procedures. At the moment, adults working with children do not have the authority to report their child protection concerns directly to the local authority. Instead, referrals are filtered through the company’s designated safeguarding officer. There have been two incidents that have occurred in the home since opening that it would have been good practice to have referred to the local authority, that were not.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Robust arrangements have not been in place to ensure that children who go missing from the home have the opportunity to meet with an independent person to discuss any worries they may have. Escalation of this matter by the registered manager was not sufficiently robust or effective. While there has been only one incident of a child going missing from the home, she did not have any opportunity to discuss her reasons with someone outside of the home, which is unacceptable.  Other shortfalls identified include the need for better management oversight of practices such as sanctions, notifying Ofsted of serious incidents in a more timely way and ensuring that a member of staff who is outside of the two-year timescale completes a level 3 diploma by the agreed deadline.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager and staff are highly motivated to provide good direct care to the children living in the home. They are slowly getting to know each other and children are starting to make good progress.  The home provides a very spacious and attractive environment. Both children like the home and are starting to feel settled.  The manager has been receiving management mentoring support from an independent consultant. This is a positive way for the company to support a newly registered manager and is benefiting the manager, staff and children alike.  There are no plans to admit a third child to the home. It is recognised that both children currently living there need to have a period of stability. Staff are keen to focus on helping both children to make the progress they need so that the placing authority can pursue plans to secure suitable foster families for them. Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 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, the 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

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure that children’s needs are met

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must ensure that staff challenge the placing authority if they consider a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to children not receiving an independent return home interview after they have been missing and in respect of any other shortfalls in a social worker’s support of the child and residential staff team. (Regulation 5(c)) 28/02/2018

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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, all adults working with children should fully understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to staff having the authority to make safeguarding referrals directly to the local authority. Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home ensures that- The registered person is required to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to providing robust oversight of practices such as sanctions to ensure that they are reasonable and effective and provide meaningful opportunities for children 28/02/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 4 to reflect on and improve their behaviour. (Regulation 13(1)(2)(h)) 14: The care planning standard

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care and are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to the need for very careful and considered assessment of need and robust impact risk assessments. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(2)(a)) 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must ensure that the identified member of staff attains the level 3 diploma for residential childcare, by the agreed date. (Regulation 32(4)(a)) 30/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any incident relating to a child which the registered person considers serious. (Regulation 40(e)) 01/02/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 5

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improvement to be good

The assessment of the individual needs of children being admitted to the home, along with really robust consideration of the possible impact that children collectively will have on each other, requires improvement. Since the home began operating, a child has been admitted to the home whose needs could not be met fully and consequently she had to leave. Another child has also been moved to another home within the company as a result of other children moving in, which led to an unmanageable situation. The importance of thorough assessment prior to children moving into the home was explored with the registered manager during this inspection.

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improvement to be good

The two children living in the home are settling, after an initial difficult few weeks, and are starting to make some progress. The manager has worked hard to secure a more suitable school for one of the children and to develop a more bespoke education package for the other child.

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improvement to be good

Children and staff are building positive relationships. There is a sense of fun and an increasing focus on what children can do well and how staff can support them. Staff are conscious of the different needs of the children. They are working positively with the children to help them to be tolerant of and respectful to each other. During the inspection, it was recognised that the current mix of children is not ideal but staff are developing positive strategies to work with both children to counter the effects of this and to help both children to enjoy some time together. This is working well, but it is difficult to see how a third child could be successfully introduced to the home. However, leaders and managers assured the inspector that there are no plans to admit another child for several months at least.

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improvement to be good

Children are enjoying a wide range of activities outside of school. Their interests are positively encouraged and their achievements are celebrated. Mealtimes are enjoyable and sociable occasions, with staff showing an enthusiastic interest in both children. Staff help children to see their families and are starting to focus on helping children to develop friends through introducing them to a range of activities. Both children said that they like living in this home and like the manager and staff team that care for them.

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improvement to be good

The procedure for reporting child protection concerns requires improvement within the company. Currently, the home’s manager and staff team do not have the authority to report their concerns directly to the local authority. This has led to due process not being followed and a blurring of roles and responsibilities.

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improvement to be good

Arrangements for children to have the opportunity to meet with an independent person after they have been missing from the home require improvement. These expectations Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 6 need to be clearly and formally agreed with each child’s placing authority prior to admission. A child who went missing from this home for several hours and into the early hours of the morning did not have an independent return home meeting arranged for her. This means that she did not have the opportunity to share any concerns she had about the home or her experiences while she was away from the home. The recording of such incidents is currently being reviewed to ensure that all relevant information is documented, such as a chronology of action taken by staff to find a missing child.

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improvement to be good

In other respects, the manager and staff have a good insight into helping and protecting children and strive hard to keep them safe. For example, they work openly with each other and children to ensure that any signs of bullying are responded to effectively. One child has been physically restrained since the home has operated and this was a very low level guide. Good staffing levels are provided and the staff work well together. They have confidence in the manager, who they feel is very child-centred and also supportive of his team. Staff receive a good range of training and regularly discuss the safety of children in team meetings and supervision.

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improvement to be good

Matters of concern in relation to staff conduct are appropriately reported to the local authority designated officer. If required, internal investigations are carried out appropriately and action taken to protect children from being cared for by unsuitable adults. Staff are carefully recruited and checked and have induction training, which includes safeguarding, before they are allowed to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager must be more effective in taking responsibility for escalating concerns about other professionals involved with the children in his care; for example, in ensuring that children receive an independent return home interview but also in relation on occasions to when they feel a professional is not acting in the best interest of a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Better management oversight in respect of sanctions used requires improvement. Regarding sanctions that are not effective or meaningful, the use of these should be discouraged and consideration given to how children are likely to understand the impact of their behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Notifications to Ofsted about serious events are not always timely enough and should be sent ‘without delay’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

During this inspection, it was agreed that a member of staff who is outside of the timescale to complete a level 3 diploma in residential childcare must do so by 30 April 2018.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff are complimentary about the home’s manager and feel well supported by him. For example, they feel he has done a good job in integrating staff who moved with children from another home with existing members of staff. The manager holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management of residential childcare. Recently, he has also had management mentoring support from an independent consultant, which he has Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 7 found very positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Social workers told the inspector that they feel communication from the home is good and recently, over a difficult situation, they were able to work effectively together in the best interests of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are given good opportunities to have regular training and they value meeting regularly as a team and having one-to-one supervision. Senior staff are able to complete level 5 training, which enhances their skills as senior practitioners as well as providing greater scope for promotion in the future. The manager monitors that mandatory staff training is up to date and plans ahead. It is hoped that staff will have further opportunities to enjoy more advanced training in areas such as managing bullying and attachment.

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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: 1256771 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Learning and Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Phoenix Learning and Care Ltd, Rolle Quay, Barnstaple EX31 1JE

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Inspector(s)

Norma Welsby, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1256771 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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