Children's home run by Solent Child Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 1 Registered provider: Solent Child Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

 The home is owned by a small private company in the South West of England.  The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The manager was registered with Ofsted on 3 January 2017.

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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: 9 November 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2017 Full Good 02/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 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 registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home if there is full and satisfactory information available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that each employee has a fully documented employment history and that the reasons for any gaps are recorded. 31/12/2018

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Recommendation(s):

 Ensure that records kept electronically (regulation 38) can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 61, paragraph 14.2).

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home provides children with good-quality, individual care which is informed by a recognised model of therapeutic parenting. Children say that they like the calm, quiet atmosphere in the home. They value the time spent with their staff and say that they feel very well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are impressed with the high staffing levels and the staff’s detailed knowledge of the young people. They say that the staff make a positive difference to children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there was only one child in the home. He arrived in crisis, was acutely anxious and found settling at bedtime extremely difficult. In response to very sensitive support from the staff, he now goes to his room at an appropriate time. Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 4 Until recently, the child received eight hours of education per week with a tutor. He also attended a forest school for half a day, which he enjoyed. The child is now in full-time education. He has recently started as a weekly boarder at a residential special school approximately one hour’s drive away, so he was not in the home at the time of this inspection. The registered manager and staff are currently attempting to work with the child’s school to help resolve some initial difficulties with his education placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to take part in a wide range of fun and educational activities. These include football, trampolining and Cub Scouts. The child also enjoys walking in the woods and on the beach, swimming, bike rides and going to local attractions. He readily involves himself in home-based activities, such as making feeders and a house for the birds in the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s healthcare needs are very well met in this home. Healthcare plans are detailed and contain useful information to help the staff to support the children’s needs. Children receive a well-balanced, healthy diet. For example, children are discouraged from consuming high-energy foods close to bedtime. This helps children to develop good sleeping patterns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a modern house which is relaxing, attractive and full of natural light. Situated in a safe, rural environment, the home’s location helps to establish children in their local community. Children take pride in their rooms and decorate them with valued personal items. The large garden provides plenty of play space for outdoor games. There is also scope for growing vegetables and flowers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to draw pictures to reflect their views of the home. They also take photographs of their activities. Consequently, children have good memories of the staff and their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage and support children to maintain involvement with close family and friends. One child had very limited contact with family members on arrival at the home. Planned family visiting has been reinstated and the staff have helped the child to re- establish meaningful relationships with his loved ones.

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

The staff and registered manager carry out careful risk assessments on each child or young person. These identify risks appropriately and contain practical strategies to help the staff to manage the children’s behaviour.

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

Children who live at this home do not take undue risks with their personal safety. For example, they do not go missing. However, there have been a large number of incidents and restraints since the last inspection. These were appropriate and related to the present child settling into the home. Restraints and incidents have reduced in frequency and intensity in recent weeks.

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

The registered manager ensures that all staff understand the system of behaviour Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 5 management. This ensures that children understand acceptable behaviour. When children’s behaviour needs to change, the staff encourage this through a fair system of rewards and consequences.

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

Health and safety checks are good. The home is very well monitored, and the registered manager ensures that all risk assessments, safety measures and maintenance of the home are carried out in a timely manner.

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

The home has good relationships with the local authority designated officer for child protection. Any matters of concern are referred to the local authority designated officer appropriately. The registered manager has acted quickly to respond to any areas of professional practice which require attention.

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

The company generally manages staff recruitment well. Staff files are well organised and are usually well audited. However, two files fell short of regulatory requirements. There was a six-year gap in employment history on one file, which had not been detected or explained. For a second employee, a three-year gap had been identified, but the person auditing the file had not explained the gap clearly. This was remedied immediately after the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home has an experienced, qualified registered manager. Staff responding to the Ofsted survey commented that, ‘The manager is incredible and leads her team well.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is fully staffed. Although there have been recent difficulties with staff retention, the registered manager has maintained consistency of care for the child by avoiding the use of agency personnel and ensuring that there are always staff that he knows well on each shift.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive very good-quality supervision, training and clinical oversight from a therapist who also trains staff in the attachment and trauma model. This high level of support enhances the staff’s ability to work well with traumatised children and helps to ensure positive outcomes for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager collects and shares research papers and other important practice-related information with her team. This helps to ensure that the staff are up to date with practice. Staff share their knowledge and reflect on practice during team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers and other professionals say that the registered manager and staff keep in touch extremely well to inform them about their child’s progress. The registered manager works very effectively with other agencies to bring about improved outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the last full inspection, the registered manager was asked to ensure that all children have access to an independent advocacy service. The only child in the home at present Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 6 has an advocate, so this recommendation has been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite challenges with the home’s new electronic recording system, internal and external monitoring remains good. There are several frustrations with the electronic system, which were not a problem at the last inspection, when the home had paper records. A recommendation has been made.

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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: 1227788 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Solent Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Solent Child Care Limited, 9 St George’s Yard, Farnham GU9 7LW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Charlotte Tanner

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Inspector(s)

Heather Chaplin: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1227788 8 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)

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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