Children's home run by HeadStart Residential Care Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 1 Registered provider: Headstart Residential 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 is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2018, when the home opened.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 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

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

The conditions are that the care is delivered by a person who has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(3)(c)(i) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document. (Regulation (7)(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(c)) 30/11/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff 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. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 30/11/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that that the premises used for the 30/11/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 3 purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health; and (e) that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation (12)(1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 30/11/2018

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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. (Regulation 25(1)(a)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29(4)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy for the prevention of bullying in the home, which must in particular set out the procedure for dealing with an allegation of bullying. (Regulation 34(3)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place: the premises of the home are significantly altered or extended, or additional premises are acquired. (Regulation 49(g)) 30/11/2018

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 4 (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  In some cases, such as in residential special schools that are also registered children’s homes or children’s homes caring for children with complex care needs,

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Recommendations

restraint may be necessary as a consequence of a child’s impairment or disability. A child’s EHC plan or statement of special educational needs may contain detail about planned and agreed approaches to restraint or restraint techniques to be applied in the day-to-day routine of the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.43)  Homes that care for children where, as a result of their impairment or disability, restraint is a necessary component of their care should include information relating to this, in the behaviour management policy and Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.44)

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improvement to be good

The home is spacious and provides substantial outside space for children to safely access; there are plans for this to be further developed to meet their individual needs. Staff support children to personalise their own bedrooms to their individual preferences. Although welcoming, the home would benefit from woodwork being painted and redecoration in some areas. Children did not have access to some areas which had been risk assessed and deemed hazardous/unsafe by the home’s manager. However, their lack of access to the utility room does not support the good work being undertaken by staff with young people to develop their independence skills.

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improvement to be good

Staff are committed to providing individual care for children which meets their individual needs. This is evident in the very individualised placement plans for each child here. The staff team has worked hard to ensure that each child has been supported to develop socially, emotionally and educationally. Children have been supported by staff to engage in learning through ensuring each child has an individual learning plan. For one young person this has included being supported to access a scholarship at a local football club.

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improvement to be good

The placement plans for each child are well understood by staff and they are nurturing in their approach to care. However, there is a particular gap in learning, in relation to providing personal care for one child, which some staff have highlighted to the registered manager. This skills gap has on occasion impacted on the care provided; plans are now in place to address this. The child’s individual plan now gives staff clear Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 5 guidance on appropriate holds to use when providing the child with personal care. However, this does not reflect the overall education, health and care plan for the child, which in turn is not reflected in the child’s behaviour management plan in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to share their views about themselves individually and through regular group meetings. Staff and the management team act as effective advocates for each child. This is evident in the individual progress children have made since moving to the home. Although children feel able to speak to staff about things they would like, their understanding of how to make a complaint may be limited. There is a helpful pictorial complaints procedure, but this does not explain how to make a complaint specifically about the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of identified risks for children. Individual risk assessments are completed and are comprehensive in content. However, these have not been consistently updated following significant incidents. This impacts on the staff’s understanding of the changing risks and their ability to effectively safeguard children from other potential risks that have been identified’. The management team has helpfully reflected on incidents with the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Staff have been provided with an effective induction and training programme upon joining the team. The employment checks meet safer recruitment practice. The home’s manager has ensured that additional training has been identified to meet the individual needs of each child. This has had a positive impact on the children’s experiences of living in the home.. Overall, the risks identified for each child at the start of their placement have reduced during their time in placement. This reflects the work undertaken by the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Following the registration of the home, building works were undertaken which Ofsted was not notified of. These related to the creation of a new partition wall and door within the kitchen. The building works had not been assessed by a fire safety officer and this was addressed during the inspection. Precautions to ensure fire safety had not been undertaken. The home’s management team ensured that appropriate measures were put in place, in accordance with the assessment of the fire safety officer, during inspection. These remedial works were completed prior to inspectors leaving the home.

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improvement to be good

In addition, during the tour of the home, there were further works identified that potentially impacted on the safety of the children. These were completed during the course of the inspection as agreed with the inspection team. These included a bolt being removed from a wet-room door and a lock being fitted on a cupboard where hazardous liquids are stored. Following a recent incident in which children gained access to a ground floor roof area, no replacement window restrictors were fitted. This was also remedied to ensure that safety measures were in place by the end of the inspection. Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 6

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

The registered manager has a good understanding of the individual children through the positive relationships she has developed with each of them. Together with the management team, which includes two deputy managers, the home is managed through a child-centred approach. This approach is fully supported by the responsible individual through the commitment of appropriate resources to meet the childrens individual needs. The management team has spent time focusing on the recording systems to ensure that the experiences of children e are evidenced in these. Overall, these systems are effective and reflect their experiences.

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

Staff feel well supported by the members of the management team and find them approachable. The registered manager is well supported by the responsible individual. This is a new staff team and the registered manager is aware of their learning and development needs. The manager/management team recognised the gaps identified during this inspection, and will be working with the responsible individual to ensure that these are swiftly addressed. The management team encourages reflective practice within the staff team, which ultimately enhances the care provided.

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

Development of the home’s external environment is a focus for the registered manager, together with the internal areas highlighted through this inspection. Her own individual learning needs were identified as an area for development. This is in relation to ensuring the development of her knowledge in respect of the needs of one child in the home. It is important that all members of the management team have a shared understanding of the child’s needs to promote the registered manager’s effective monitoring of the quality of care provided.

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

The statement of purpose of the home did not reflect the care provision at the home nor was it consistent with the agreed registration conditions. However, the actual placement provision in place, matched those agreed by Ofsted. There had been a number of significant incidents which had not been notified to Ofsted, including a physical assault on a staff member and a safeguarding issue. The home’s complaints policy is not reflective of the processes used. It is not suitable for anyone wishing to make a complaint. The policy relating to how to address bullying is not specific to the home and although very comprehensive does not reflect the issues that are relevant to this home. Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 7

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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: 1270744 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headstart Residential Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Aequitas, Unit 1, Swanwood Park, Gun Hill, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 0LL

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Inspectors

Maria Lonergan: social care inspector Anne-Marie Davies: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1270744 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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