Children's Home run by Homes2Inspire Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1256367 1 Registered provider: Homes2inspire 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

The home is operated by a large private organisation and provides care and accommodation for five children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

An acting manager is in post who is not yet registered.

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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: 16 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1256367 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1256367 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure a direct link is made between key-worker sessions and the child’s placement plan. Also, that the quality of such work is overseen by the manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day to day health and well-being needs are met. In particular, the balance of planned menus should be assessed by a heath professional. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The positive effect of changes implemented following the last inspection, including the decision to move two young people, is now apparent. A stable and complete staff team means that young people receive consistent care. A young person said that ‘everything had changed for the better’. The manager and the staff team have successfully overcome a period in which some young people were unhappy with changes introduced by the new manager and showed this through their behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are each making good progress because of the individualised care and support they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the young people really well and understand their diverse individual needs. Staff are sensitive to each young person’s emotional well-being and adapt levels of support accordingly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the home has been redecorated throughout and cleaning routines have been implemented. The addition of a large American-style fridge has eased the food storage arrangements for young people who are working towards independence. Young people value the improvements and benefit from the homely environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to engage all young people in education and to structure daily routines around this. Two young people have excellent school attendance records and are both achieving well in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people learn independent living skills in a manner appropriate to their age and development. Two of the young people manage the majority of their own food shopping Inspection report children’s home: 1256367 4 and preparation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are generally in good health. A recommendation is made for the team to consult with a health professional about the nutritional balance of planned menus. This is because menus sometimes include high-fat meals on consecutive days.

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

Risks to young people are well understood by staff. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans promote young people’s safety and well-being. Previously identified bullying concerns are no longer an issue due to the strengthened monitoring of interactions.

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

Young people learn how to keep themselves safe. The staff use a library of resources to educate young people about potential risks.

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

A young person who had previously frequently left the home without consent is now much safer. They did not run away at all during April 2018.

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

Behaviour management is good. The home is now settled. Young people understand what is expected of them and can see the benefits of the changes made. Since the last inspection, the new manager has taken steps to tighten house rules and improve the way that staff set boundaries. The overt use of cannabis by some young people, identified at the last inspection, has greatly reduced. Young people have each been educated about the risks of drug use.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a new manager and deputy manager. Both are enthusiastic and place young people at the centre of decision-making. The manager has submitted an application to register with Ofsted. This new leadership team is ambitious and is working effectively to improve care arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there has been a lot of change within the staff team. Young people have maintained positive relationships with established staff and are now forming trusting relationships with new staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities. They feel supported and talk positively about training and development opportunities. The organisation provides a well- developed, broad training programme. As a result, staff understand how best to meet the needs of each young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of multi-agency relationships is good. Professionals from other agencies speak highly of the new manager and have confidence in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new placement planning format has been introduced, which is still being embedded into practice. The responsible individual is supporting the manager to further develop Inspection report children’s home: 1256367 5 these plans, including the implementation of a specific health plan for each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The four requirements set at the time of the last inspection have been addressed. The actions taken have:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

 Improved young people’s living environment.  Improved the safety and well-being of each young person.  Increased opportunities for young people’s wishes and feelings to be heard and acted on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management monitoring is generally effective. However, a recommendation has been set to improve the oversight of one-to-one key-worker sessions.

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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: 1256367 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1LT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Muchatuta

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Inspector

Mary Timms, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1256367 7 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

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