Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited

Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 1 Registered provider: New Forest Care Ltd 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 October 2017. It is registered to provide care for up to two 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.

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Information about this children’s home

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 left the home without a registered manager for more than 26 weeks, leading to the judgement of inadequate in leadership and management. During this time, the provider nominated an acting manager, and an application was submitted but then withdrawn.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: first inspection since registration

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 2

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(2)(f)(h)) 01/02/2019

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that–

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23(1), (2)(a)) 01/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children‟s home if–

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27(1)) 01/02/2019

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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 01/02/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 3 Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)) Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

(a) 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–

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Requirement Due date

(vii) the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

(viii) a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

(b) 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”)–

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Requirement Due date

(i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

(ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

(c) 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)(a)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 01/02/2019

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Recommendations

 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 standards‟, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 4 including the quality standards‟, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Each local authority should have clear arrangements in place for the management and oversight of allegations against people that work with children. The relevant officer or teams within the local authority should be informed promptly of all allegations that come to an employer‟s attention or that are made directly to the police. For further information, including about the role of a local authority designated officer see „Working together to safeguard children‟.

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that investigations detail the reason, rationale, analysis and judgement reached regarding the matter, specifically to ensure that all pertinent records are collated. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 44, paragraph 9.18)  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)  Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to

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Recommendations

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)  When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented

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Recommendations

by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process: „Children‟s homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children‟s homes providers on new duties under regulations that came in to effect in January and April 2014.‟ („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1) Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 5

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improvement to be good

The judgement of inadequate on the effectiveness of leaders and managers is one reason for this judgement on the overall experience and progress of young people.

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improvement to be good

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 activities. Young people develop new skills, and build self-esteem and confidence through new experiences and achievements. Staff quickly form positive relationships with young people. They offer young people opportunities to talk about worries and concerns. Staff provide good advice, guidance and support to young people. However, the conversations are reactive, and staff do not plan topics to share with young people. Staff do not clearly evidence how they support young people to make progress or achieve the aims identified in plans.

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improvement to be good

Shift patterns ensure that two members of staff support each young person. This enables staff to gain young people‟s views and opinions about activities and the day-to- day care that they receive. Staff are also able to explore young people‟s previous experiences and talk openly with them about their difficulties, challenges and previous traumas. Staff support young people to address their health needs, with referral to health professionals when required. Staff encourage young people to access specialist advice and guidance, which promotes their well-being and general health. During the inspection, it was noted that 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 for the period that young people stay here. Plans do not clearly evidence the agreement by parents and placing

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improvement to be good

authorities that young people will not attend education, and neither do records reflect a young person‟s academic achievements while at the home. Staff support and facilitate young people‟s contact with family and friends creatively. Young people are encouraged to rebuild damaged relationships in a safely managed way. For example, a young person recently shared a meal with family members at the home.

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improvement to be good

Young people report that they each have a trusted member of staff whom they seek support and guidance from when anxious, angry or upset. Young people‟s opinions are Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 6 listened to. Complaints are reported, explored and reviewed, and each young person is provided with a response to and the outcome of their complaint.

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improvement to be good

Staff have referred to concerns that arise and responded well. Staff ensure that young people are safeguarded and protected, yet not all records viewed provide clear evidence trails and the rationale for their actions and decisions. One record viewed did not provide information on managers taking the decision to instigate an investigation prior to ascertaining the designated officer‟s view on the action required.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments do provide some basic information and strategies for staff, but they do not include all the practical strategies used to manage and minimise risk. The plans viewed do not provide individual strategies for staff to follow to ensure that they respond consistently to high-risk behaviours such as self-harm or those associated with gangs. Staff are trained in the home‟s preferred method of behaviour management. They use physical intervention, record any instances and offer young people a post-incident debriefing. However, the physical intervention is not recorded consistently, nor do staff explore specifically how the young person feels about the intervention. Managers have implemented more thorough reviews of such incidents, but the impact of this is not yet embedded. Staff use physical intervention to manage significant risks, but the records do not provide sufficient evidence to explain how behaviours had escalated to warrant

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improvement to be good

intervention. Managers have not consistently reviewed the effectiveness of the interventions used. Some records viewed did not evidence that staff undertook the required medical observation of a young person after an intervention. Staff have imposed sanctions and restrictions on young people, yet they have not routinely recorded or reviewed these.

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improvement to be good

Episodes of young people going missing have been well responded to. Staff have been persistent in seeking and locating young people, with good collaborative work with others, for example the police. Staff welcome young people back to the home and check on their welfare and the reasons for the „missing‟ episode. However, staff have not consistently requested return home interviews from the placing authority.

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improvement to be good

The environment has not been well maintained: outside areas are overgrown, and disused outbuildings are not secured. Staff have not recorded the details of the home‟s fire drills.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, it was apparent that the medication cupboard was not secure, as required.

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improvement to be good

The home‟s location risk assessment requires updating and reviewing to ensure that it contains all pertinent, up-to-date information, crime data and other details about the local area and areas which young people access.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home was registered in October 2017, but no young people resided at the home until the spring of 2018. There has been no registered manager at the home for over 26 Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 7 weeks. A day-to-day manager has been overseeing the home in the interim, and the impact has been limited to basic monitoring of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The day-to-day manager has also been responsible for the management of a sister home. This may have contributed to insufficient focus on this home, and monitoring has declined, and areas of weakness have not been identified or addressed. The day-to-day manager has undertaken a review of the quality of care provided by the home. However, this does not provide a clear enough analysis of the home‟s strengths and weaknesses. The home development plan does not have clear targets or deadlines by which to achieve actions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff access a wide variety of training suitable to their role. Staff have been enrolled on the required qualification, but not all have achieved it within the required timescale. Staff access regular supervision and annual appraisals of their practice, though the records do not clearly detail the actions and the outcomes for review at subsequent sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a high turnover of staff in the home since the previous inspection. This has created instability in the staffing of the home. It has negatively impacted on staff and their ability to maintain a consistent approach while they develop their knowledge and practice, although of late the day-to-day manager has been able to ensure stability for the current young people placed. Newly appointed staff take part in a robust induction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

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. Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 8

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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 difference 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: 1264282 9

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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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Inspector(s)

Amanda Maxwell, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1264282 10 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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