Children's Home run by First 4 Care Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 1 SC390293 Registered provider: First 4 Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural problems.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make good individual progress in their lives through living at the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff give consistent and reliable care and this provides young people with a sense of safety and being valued.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are persistent and patient in their efforts to ensure that young people are given opportunities to achieve in education and 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

 Managerial monitoring systems are not sufficiently developed to identify areas for improvement and compliance with regulations.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/07/2016 Full Good 29/09/2015 Full Good 04/08/2015 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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 that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform development of the quality of care in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f)(g)(h)). 30/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the measure; the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and any other person present when the measure was used; within 48 hours of the used of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person") has spoken to the child about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure (Regulation 35 (3)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(i)(ii)(c)). 31/03/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— 31/03/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 4 assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child and that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(e)). In particular, that impact risk assessments are individualised, recording of incidents of going missing from home are comprehensive and appropriately detailed and young people are offered independent return home interviews.

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Recommendations

 Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This information should inform the review of the quality of care (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards,’ page 45, paragraph 9.31).

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Recommendations

 Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.20). In particular, that staff recording of room searches reflects in sufficient detail young people’s presence, permission and details of disposal of items removed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are treated as individuals and the responses of staff reflect children’s individual needs, strengths and vulnerabilities. A particular strength of the support offered to young people is the patient and consistent approach used by staff. Although young people may present challenges to the boundaries, staff maintain a steady resolve. One independent reviewing officer (IRO) commented: ‘What a difference this child is by being at the (home). I am really, really impressed with all the staff. Prior, she was a closed book and extremely angry. They have worked with her. She has melt downs and they have not given up.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Other young people have made progress in developing skills for independence, better preparing them for adult life. They are given appropriate encouragement and opportunities to develop self-care skills and make informed choices. One young person commented: ‘Here, I am treated more like an adult and given more freedom. Before, I was treated like a child. I have started tidying my room more. Before, I would let it get messier and messier. I cook more. I cook for the whole group.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people find it hard to maintain educational placements and commitment to Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 5 training, staff are creative and persistent. They seek out new opportunities for young people to continue their learning and find the best environments suited to their emotional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with the home’s therapist in order to fully understand and appreciate young people’s histories and the impact that this has upon their current responses. This understanding informs the individual work and approach adopted by staff. They work hard to establish positive relationships and trust with young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s families and friends are welcomed into the home and this supports their sense of identity. A wide range of activities are promoted by staff, and young people are encouraged to develop their interests and establish positive use of leisure time.

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improvement to be good

Young people are safer through living at the home. Staff have insight into young people’s behaviours that pose a risk to their welfare and safety. Individual vulnerabilities are understood by staff and appropriate protective boundaries are put in place. All young people feel safe living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Clear and consistent responses to young people offer a sense of well-being. Young people trust staff and all young people are able to identify individuals who they can talk to. One IRO commenting on the progress for one young person said: ‘She has started to disclose historical abuse. She would only do that in a very safe place.’

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is continuously promoted by staff. Young people vary in their backgrounds, interests and personalities and these are respected by staff and young people alike. There is no bullying between young people and all young people felt that they had positive relationships with one another. Some describe the home as ‘peaceful’.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is rarely used. However, the recording of these incidents, when they do occur, does not meet regulations. These shortfalls include failing to offer the young person the opportunity to discuss the incident with a member of staff not involved in the incident. In addition, managerial evaluation is limited and this reduces learning.

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improvement to be good

Although infrequent, incidents of going missing from home are not recorded in a comprehensive or streamlined way. Recordings are spread over a number of documents, with varying levels of detail. This limits management oversight of tracking the actions taken by staff and in improving responses to these incidents. In addition, young people are not consistently offered independent interviews when they return home. Opportunities to further inform assessments of risk are therefore missed. Room searches are not comprehensively recorded and it is not always clear whether young people’s permission or presence was sought.

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improvement to be good

Assessments relating to the impact that young people may have on each other, when they are new to the home, are not sufficiently detailed or individualised. Specific areas of Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 6 risk, such as child sexual exploitation, do not benefit from detailed analysis to assist insight and inform the actions of staff.

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

The manager was appointed in October 2017 and is in the process of making an application for registration. She is supported in her role by the previous registered manager, who now acts in the capacity of service manager.

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

The managerial team has good insight into the histories, personalities and future plans for young people. Through living at the home, all young people make individual progress from their starting points. Managers lead a committed and experienced staff team whose members work well with other professionals to ensure that young people continue to make progress.

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

Staff report an open, learning culture on the team and that managers are on hand to offer advice and support. In addition, staff are given regular formal supervision and appraisals, opportunities to discuss young people at staff meetings and alternate clinical supervision with the home’s therapist. There is a team approach which ensures that young people are given consistent and reliable care. Training and learning for staff are promoted and all staff have undergone recent training via the home’s therapist.

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

Young people report positive relationships with staff and their views are actively sought through individual conversations and young people’s meetings. Examples of young people being listened to are the recent conversion of the garage into a functioning games room and staff exploring young people’s expressed preferences for summer holidays.

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

Managerial oversight and formal systems for scrutinising recordings by staff, subsequent formulation of action plans and ensuring compliance with some regulations are not sufficiently rigorous. There is heavy reliance upon the independent visitor to provide this level of scrutiny and oversight. Recent changes to improve staff communication are not embedded. The management team is open to learning in order to improve the quality of practice in the home.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC390293 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First 4 Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 313 Goodison Boulevard, Doncaster DN4 6TP

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Inspector(s)

Pauline Yates: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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