Children's Home run by New Forest Care Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 1 Registered provider: New Forest 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

The home was registered in February 2017. It is registered to provide care for up to five children and young people. The home offers short stays (usually of around three months) for young people in crisis. The home is based in a semi-rural location and uses a variety of settings (for example, lodges and caravans) which young people may stay in or move between during their time there. There has been no registered manager in post since the resignation of the previous post holder in March 2018 and, prior to this, he was absent for a significant period. This has subsequently left the home without a registered manager for more than 26 weeks, leading to the judgement of inadequate. During this time, the provider nominated an acting manager, and an application was submitted and then withdrawn.

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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 inadequate

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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: 10 January 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/06/2017 10/01/2018 Full Interim Good Sustained effectiveness

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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 leadership and management standard 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 the development of the quality of care provided 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(2)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)) 01/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

01/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 3 Behaviour management policies and records 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— the name of the child; details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (Regulation 35(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records are thorough and children thoughts and feelings about the intervention are obtained. 01/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

Other records Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‟s home. The registered person must— maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date; (Regulation (37(1)(2)(a)(b)) 01/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

Appointment of manager The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children‟s home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)) 01/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 4

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home‟s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child‟s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. Specifically, they should be prepared for all internal moves between locations. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child‟s relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards‟, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  Managing medicines in care homes (March 2014) is a guideline that applies across both health and social care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.17)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (regulation 36 (schedule 3(14)). This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child‟s

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Recommendations

parents. 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 evaluation 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)  Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 5

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improvement to be good

The judgement for the effectiveness of leaders and managers has had an impact on the overall experience and progress that young people make. Young people stay at a variety of locations which include holiday parks and campsites. They may move frequently to different locations and there does not appear to be a structured approach to this. As a result, young people are not prepared for these moves. In the main, young people do well while living at the home. Young people normally stay at the home for a maximum of 90 days, but this can be extended if needed. Staff support young people to access a wide variety of specialist services and activities. Young people report that they enjoy and benefit from the full programme of activity. Young people develop new skills and build self-esteem and confidence through new experiences and achievements. Young people form trusting relationships with staff, who are very child focused. Staff gain

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improvement to be good

young people‟s views and opinions about activities and their day-to-day care. Young people talk openly with staff about their difficulties, challenges and previous experiences. Staff shift patterns ensure that two members of staff support each individual young person. This enables young people to be fully involved in choice and participation of activities and adventures further away from home. Staff support young people to address health needs with referral to others as required. Staff encourage young people to access specialist advice and guidance that promotes their well-being and general health. During inspection, some medication was not stored securely. Many young people are not engaged in education when they arrive at the home. Staff focus on providing daily programmes of meaningful activities while young people stay with them. Plans do not clearly evidence the agreement from others that young people will not

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improvement to be good

attend education, neither do records reflect a young person‟s academic achievements while at the home. Staff support and facilitate young people to maintain contact with family and friends. Young people are encouraged to rebuild damaged relationships in a safely managed way.

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improvement to be good

Young people report that they each have a trusted member of staff they seek support and guidance from when anxious, angry or upset. Young people‟s opinions are listened to. Complaints are reported, explored and reviewed and each young person is provided with a response and outcome to their complaint. Staff have referred allegations to other agencies and have responded as directed. Staff have worked well with others to ensure that clear plans and protocols are in place to Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 6 support and manage these concerns. Managers had identified that not all staff have referred matters swiftly and so specific training was provided to staff, and this has now improved. Episodes of missing are well managed and staff follow individual plans to actively locate young people. There has been minimal review and learning following incidents of missing. Risk management plans to manage and minimise young people going missing have not

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improvement to be good

been consistently updated or followed, for example window restrictors have not been installed in all locations. Staff refer, report and record incidents of missing, though records lack evidence that return home interviews are requested and that children‟s views and reasons for going missing are actively sought. Staff are over cautious about other risks. Young people have little opportunity to take age- appropriate risks. Records lack detail of the rationale for this level of restriction. Risk assessments do not include all practical strategies used to manage and minimise risk. Staff do not utilise all known information and strategies provided to them. Staff are trained in the home‟s preferred method of behaviour management. They use physical intervention and record these instances, and offer young people a debrief post incident. However, the physical intervention is not consistently recorded, nor do staff

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improvement to be good

explore how the young person feels about the intervention. Staff state that they do not use sanctions for misbehaviour; however, they do shorten and restrict a young person‟s access to their phones and other belongings. Behaviour support plans do not detail all strategies used to manage behaviour. Managers have implemented more thorough reviews of incidents, though the impact of this is not yet embedded. Staff use physical intervention to prevent damage to property, but records do not evidence what level of damage merits intervention. Staff state that they regularly discuss their practice, challenge and review their response to behaviour, though records do not evidence this or any lessons learnt.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been no registered manager at the home for over 26 weeks. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to Ofsted to be registered. The manager has started to improve the oversight and monitoring of the home. This has yet to be evident in practice, the consistent quality of care provided, or the presentation of the home. The manager has begun to establish systems to monitor and review the home‟s strengths and weaknesses, though this has not yet had sufficient impact on the quality of practice in the home. Plans do not clearly state when weaknesses will be addressed. The home requires decoration, and damage has not been swiftly repaired. During inspection, the home was dirty in areas and carpets and walls were heavily stained. The records that detail where young people stayed, and at which times, are not maintained. This then muddles the full picture of the child‟s journey. The location register is

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

not correct and up to date, nor have staff ensured that they record relevant information when young people leave the home. There has been a high turnover of staff in the home since the previous inspection. This has created instability in staffing of the home. It has negatively impacted on staff and their Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 7 ability to maintain a consistent approach while they develop their knowledge and practice. Newly appointed staff take part in a robust induction. Staff access a wide variety of training pertinent to their role and are enrolled on the required qualification. Some staff have not achieved the qualification in the required timescale. Staff action plans detail how and when staff will achieve tasks, though one-to- one sessions lack evidence of review, reflection of practice and staff being challenged or held to account. The records viewed lacked clarity, detail and information to support those

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

who evaluate their performance. Leaders, managers and staff work effectively with several agencies and organisations. These include health services, the youth offending service, placing authorities and community activity providers.

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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: 1246449 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton SO45 6AA

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Inspectors

Amanda Maxwell, social care inspector Maire Atherton, HMI designate Inspection report children‟s home: 1246449 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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