Children's home run by Inroads Essex Limited in Mid Suffolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 1 SC069178 Registered provider: Inroads Essex 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

This home is run by a private organisation. Th e home’s overall aim and ethos is to ensure the development of children and young people and that they grow up in a nurturing atmosphere of support, happiness, love and understanding.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 20 March 2012.

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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: 7 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: SC069178 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2017 Full Good 27/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/09/2016 Full Good 01/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, address children’s privacy, the stained carpet and personalisation of bedrooms. 28/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. 28/02/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 4 The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)(4)(a)(b)(7)(a))

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Recommendations

 The behaviour management strategy should be understood and applied at all times by staff, and must be kept under review and revised when appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) In particular, ensure that all records of care and control are completed in full.  Staff should be made familiar with the home’s internal whistle-blowing procedures. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.9)  A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where

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Recommendations

reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely while they remain at the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  Regulation 45 sets out requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which enables them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months; also see regulation 13(2)(h) (the leadership and management standard). The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of

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Recommendations

children living there and the impact that the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the Quality Standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2) Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the child-centred, caring ethos. The staff are committed and well equipped to meet the children’s needs. The manager and the staff team consistently focus on the emotions behind the children’s behaviours and not on the specific behaviours themselves. This reflective approach is successful in helping the children to progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff demonstrate a clear and detailed understanding of the children’s complex needs and the plans for their care and support. Staff consistently speak of wanting the best for the children. It is apparent that staff take time to form good relationships with children and to lead by example. A parent said, ‘The home is the brightest shining star in [the local authority].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When appropriate, the staff help the children to have safe visits with their friends and family that will sustain them into adulthood. The staff understand family dynamics and build relationships with families to enhance the outcomes for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a wide variety of social and leisure activities. These include frequent trips out in the community, going swimming, walks, shopping and a recent trip to a theme park. The staff work together to provide opportunities that the children enjoy and to enhance their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Well-structured routines and support plans help the children to learn to manage their behaviour and to communicate what they are feeling and thinking in a range of different ways. Children are supervised on a one-to-one basis. They build good relationships with their key workers. The staff have a good understanding of children’s strengths and needs, and how to help them progress. The staff are vigilant in their care of the children. The staff continually reassess what children are doing in order to understand them better and help them further.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is adequately decorated and furnished. However, the children’s bedrooms lack warmth, colour and personalisation. One child’s bedroom door window needs a curtain for privacy, and a small area of carpet needs replacing. The garden is an amazing space in which the children can play. Staff go the extra mile for the children, playing outside in the rain and dark with them and ensuring that they have fun.

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

There is a strong safeguarding culture at the home. The staff realise the value of effective multi-agency work with other professionals, such as social workers, to monitor and continually risk assess the children’s complex needs. Advice and guidance on complex issues such as children’s health and transport needs are readily sought from the host local authority. When a response from another professional is delayed, the manager and the staff pursue a resolution and conclusion. Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 6 Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding practice. They are fully aware of their responsibility to protect the children from abuse and they confidently described reporting procedures. The staff are fully aware of the roles of external agencies. Safeguarding issues are promptly investigated, recorded and resolved. However, although most of the staff speak with confidence about the organisation’s whistle-blowing policy, one member

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

Staff de-escalate challenging behaviour successfully. Physical restraint is only used when necessary to protect the children and staff from harm. All of the staff are trained in the use of restraint. Incidents of restraint are recorded. However, the manager has not included children’s views and has not considered each incident to identify learning points. This means that opportunities to reflect on and amend strategies and behaviour management plans may be missed. There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home.

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

Children benefit from clear and consistent boundaries that underpin their sense of safety and enable them to develop trusting relationships with staff. The children learn, in time, to manage their emotional responses to situations in a socially acceptable way. This prepares them for more demanding community-based activities and adulthood.

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

The staff understand the children’s vulnerabilities and consider more specific individual risks. Formal risk assessment procedures are well managed, demonstrating the strategies used by the staff to keep children safe. Regular reviews of risk assessments ensure that risk management remains current and proactive and enable the children to develop and grow in a safe environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strong and effective leadership is consistent and provided by a qualified and experienced manager. She has been in post for many years and brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to her role. The manager is respected and valued by the staff, who benefit from her supportive leadership. She leads by example through her involvement in all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home. Professionals said that the staff and the manager are focused on good outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is accessible and approachable. When necessary, the manager offers practical support in the care of the children. Regular team meetings ensure that children are discussed in detail and that they remain the focus of activities at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the staff have received regular supervision and their yearly appraisal, which is an area of improvement since the last inspection. However, further improvement is needed to ensure that all staff are up to date in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All of the staff are competent in their roles. They undertake mandatory training in core areas, which include safeguarding, physical intervention and first aid. Training focuses on the roles of the staff and their responsibilities for the children. The training ensures Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 7 that the staff have the skills that they need to meet the children’s individual complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals and parents are complimentary about the good level of care and communication with the home. Professionals said that the staff and the manager call them regularly with updates on the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person visits the home and produces monthly reports. The information contained in the reports is satisfactory and gives a good overview of the home. However, the independent person does not consistently give their opinion on whether the children are safeguarded effectively and whether the home promotes the children’s well-being. The independent person does not consistently speak with the children and their relatives and external professionals. Consequently, those people’s views do not contribute to the review of the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s review of the quality of care is informative. However, the report does not include the opinions of children, their parents and professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One child’s file did not have up-to-date information, and one file did not have a behaviour management plan. The impact of this shortfall is minimised because staff know the children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met to good effect four of the six requirements and the two recommendations raised at the last inspection.

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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: SC069178 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inroads Essex Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suffolk House 7 Hydra, Orian Court Addison Way, Great Blakenham, Suffolk IP6 0LW

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Inspector

Cathy Russell: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC069178 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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