Children's home run by Beacon Childcare Ltd in Cheltenham

Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 1 Registered provider: Beacon Child Care 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 owns this home. It is registered for up to four young people who show complex behaviours because of their childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2016. The manager is undertaking a level 5 diploma in leadership and management, with an expected completion date of October 2018.

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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

Date of last inspection: 2 November 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/11/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 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 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 ensure that staff have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(iii)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 05/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children‟s home. This is with particular reference to ensuring that fire-resisting doors are only held open with an appropriate automatic door hold-open release device. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)) 05/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children‟s home if having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has by the relevant date, attained the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 5 Diploma”). The relevant date is in the case of a person who starts managing a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 3 years after the date on which that person started managing a home. (Regulation 28 (1)(b)(i)(2)(c)(i)(3)(a)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children‟s home if full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(3)(d)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that any individual who 30/11/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 4 works in the home in a care role has achieved the appropriate qualification by the relevant date. The relevant date is in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use 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 user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (2)(3)(b)(i)) 31/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records („case records‟) for each child that include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 31/10/2018

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Homes must also meet children‟s basic day to day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child‟s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.7) This refers specifically to ensuring attention to detail in cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms.  Ensure that there is a workforce plan in place which can fulfil the requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home‟s records as „living

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Recommendations

documents‟ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all notifiable events are notified within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home‟s Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 5 staff in response to the event. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Inspection judgements

Parents are happy with the support that staff provide to their children. One parent told the inspector, „He has done really well here. They are doing some great work with him on independence. If he stayed at home, he wouldn‟t have gone to college or been able to travel independently.‟

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Inspection judgements

Staff encourage young people to regularly attend school and to have aspirations for their future. One young person told the inspector, „Oooh, let me tell you about school. I passed my English and I‟m dead happy with that. They have faith in me that I‟m going to pass all of my exams.‟ Young people enjoy good health. Staff work in partnership with a range of health professionals to help ensure that young people‟s health improves. For example, one young person no longer requires medication to help manage their emotions after staff worked with the child and adolescent mental health services to find new strategies of support.

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Inspection judgements

Staff support young people to lead a healthy lifestyle. For example, staff have supported one young person to lose a significant amount of weight. Staff have helped another young person to enrol at a local fitness centre. This positive support from staff has helped to improve young people‟s confidence, self-esteem and physical health.

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Inspection judgements

Staff help young people to develop their independence skills. One social worker told the inspector, „[Name of home] should be commended on the transitional work they have undertaken and completed with the young person.‟

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Inspection judgements

The home is maintained to a reasonable standard. However, some aspects of the cleanliness of the home require attention. For example, staff do not ensure that the kitchen cupboards are kept clean. This detracts away from young people living in a pleasant environment.

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improvement to be good

Staff have access to online safeguarding training to equip them with the essential knowledge they need for their role. However, in practice, staff lack insight into the risks posed to young people. For example, staff do not link their learning about the signs of child sexual exploitation to key indicators in young people‟s patterns of behaviour. One member of staff was unclear about the role of the designated officer. Shortfalls in the understanding of staff mean that safeguarding issues may go unnoticed and unreported.

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improvement to be good

Young people who are prescribed medication are aware of the reasons why they need to take it. However, for one young person staff have dispensed medication without Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 6 confirmation from the prescriber about the amount of medication to be administered. This lack of diligence poses an unnecessary risk to the young person‟s health.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager works well with the designated officer when concerns arise about staff conduct. However, the manager has not ensured that safeguarding notifications are sent promptly to Ofsted. This reduces the external scrutiny of the operation of the home.

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improvement to be good

Safety checks on gas and electrical appliances ensure that equipment is well maintained. However, during the inspection fire doors were propped open with items of furniture. This compromises the fire safety arrangements.

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improvement to be good

Young people told the inspector that they feel safe at the home. When young people go missing from the home, staff respond in keeping with agreed protocols.

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

Staff have access to a range of training to help develop their understanding of the needs of young people. However, the registered manager has not completed a level 5 award within the necessary timescale. In addition, four staff have not achieved the level 3 award in residential childcare within the timeframe required by regulation.

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

The use of physical intervention by staff is rare. However, the behaviour management policy is unclear about who is responsible for the scrutiny of incidents that involve the registered manager. Furthermore, when the registered manager has been involved in a physical intervention, he has not had the opportunity of a debrief following the incident. A lack of independent oversight of behaviour management reduces the opportunity for essential reflection to ensure that staff practice remains fair and safe.

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

Young people‟s records do not hold all the placing authority‟s plans. For example, two young people‟s records lack a copy of their personal education plan. In addition, young people are not routinely invited to share their views on the placement plans developed for them by the staff. This means that staff lack essential information necessary to plan for young people‟s day-to-day care. Managers do not ensure that staff are appropriately vetted prior to working with young people. For example, one member of staff started their employment without gaps in their employment history being checked. Two other members of staff have started without managers checking out the reasons why the staff member left their previous employment when they had worked with children or vulnerable adults. Shortfalls in safe recruitment place young people at unnecessary risk of coming in direct contact with unsuitable adults.

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

Staff still do not receive regular supervision. The manager has devised a workforce development plan. However, the plan is not clear about the frequency of staff supervision. This means that staff are not certain about how often formal support is available. Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 7 The registered manager has developed good relationships with parents and professionals. A parent told the inspector, „They keep in contact with me about everything. If he has misbehaved [name of registered manager] will let me know.‟

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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: 1230415 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beacon Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hazlewoods, Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham GL50 3AT

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Inspector

Alison Cooper, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1230415 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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