Children's home run by Future Focused Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 1 Registered provider: Future Focused Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to accommodate up to two children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The service is delivered and managed by a small independent organisation. This is the home’s first inspection following registration. The manager was registered with Ofsted in October 2018.

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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.

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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: not applicable

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 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

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement. (Regulation 8 (2)(a)(vi)) 01/05/2019

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all risk assessments and plans in relation to children are relevant and kept up to date. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

29: Continuing professional development: registered person and responsible individual

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider is an organisation, the organisation must ensure that the responsible individual undertakes such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the responsible individual has the skills needed for supervising the management of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the 31/05/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 3 registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29 (2)(4))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 31/05/2019

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Recommendations

 There may be circumstances where a child can be prevented from leaving a home for example a child who is putting themselves at risk of injury by leaving the home to carry out gang-related activities, use drugs or to meet someone who is sexually exploiting them or intends to do so. Any such measure of restraint must be proportionate and in place for no longer than is necessary to manage the immediate risk. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 48, paragraph 9.52)  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no

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Recommendations

education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under Regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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improvement to be good

The children report how happy and settled they feel in the home. The inspector witnessed close and nurturing relationships between the children and staff that enable children to grow in self-belief and confidence. A social worker said, ‘I’ve been impressed on how quickly the staff have developed a strong rapport with my child.’

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improvement to be good

Day-to-day care plans hold good, clear information about the children’s aims and goals. Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 4 The home has developed a child-friendly plan and it is clear from the document that children are aware of what is in their plans.

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improvement to be good

The children live in a spacious detached home in a residential area, which is close to local amenities. The children take pride in being able to invite their friends to visit and spend time with them as they would in a family home. One child recently thanked a member of staff for making the effort to drive and pick her friend up from another city and bring her to the children’s home to have tea before driving her back again.

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improvement to be good

All the children did attend suitable education provisions up until recently when their school placements ended. The staff team members did their best to facilitate their daily attendance at school and were satisfied that they had met the children’s wishes of attending mainstream schools. However, this was against the advice of the education providers, who felt that the children’s schools may not be the right environment for their specific learning needs. This has, despite the home’s best intentions, led to a breakdown of education placement after only a short time and further disruption to their education progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff had been completing ad hoc worksheets and taking children on educational visits to museums without any clear direction from the education providers. It was suggested to the registered manager to contact the virtual head in the local authority, a process that the registered manager was unaware that could be done.

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improvement to be good

The staff’s commitment to facilitating contact arrangements ensures that the children can have regular and satisfactory interactions with their family members and friends. The children can maintain important community and cultural links.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff have sometimes been unable to change children’s high-risk behaviours due to inconsistent implementation of the home’s risk and care planning framework. For example, sections of children’s compatibility assessments and risk assessments, which relate to high-risk child sexual exploitation behaviours, consist of only a few lines within the document. Risk management strategies and guidance for staff are very limited. This approach does not support individualised risk management and therefore has had little impact on some children’s complex needs.

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improvement to be good

Partnership working with the police, particularly in agreeing missing from care protocols, is misunderstood. For example, the registered manager had called the police to assist the staff at the home to prevent a child from leaving the children’s home. However, the statutory guidance allows the registered manager and the staff to act appropriately to safeguard the children. Furthermore, the registered manager had failed to notify Ofsted that they had called the police to assist staff on this occasion. This demonstrates a lack of understanding by the registered manager of his responsibilities.

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improvement to be good

While there are concerns about the framework for missing from care incidents and Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 5 subsequent risk management, staff provide a consistent response when children go missing. Staff always follow children, and reporting timelines are individualised and reflect the degrees of vulnerability of children.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is seldom used. Records generally show effective practice by staff with a broad use of de-escalation techniques and demonstrate that physical intervention has been used only as a last resort. Debriefs with both staff and children and managerial oversight demonstrate scrutiny of staff practice. Discussion with staff helps children to understand the reasons for physical intervention and to explore alternative and more positive behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Concerns about bullying are challenged and discussed, but there are no current concerns. Children feel happier because staff challenge behaviours that could be considered as bullying. Group discussions at weekly meetings develop children’s awareness and help staff to monitor dynamics in the home.

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

The newly appointed registered manager and his deputy have worked very hard since opening the children’s home to build good working relationships with the children, staff team and professionals in creating a nurturing environment. However, the registered manager and deputy manager admit to learning on the job and seeking advice from peers when making difficult management decisions. They acknowledge the need for improvement and show clear commitment to addressing the shortfalls identified in this inspection report.

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

There is no operational manager for the company and only very recently the responsible individual finished their role as a full-time teacher to take on the full responsibilities of directing the organisation. This has led to frustrations within the senior leadership team in the children’s home as the team members feel that they have had limited management support in making operational decisions.

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

Children are looked after by a cohesive staff team whose members offer a range of experiences. Good teamwork is a result of well-organised and in-depth induction and all staff are on track to pass their probation. Staff value the mentoring by more experienced staff. Staff also value the registered manager’s and deputy manager’s child-centred and passionate leadership.

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

The child-centred approach of the staff is clear in the consultation with, and participation of, children in the running of the home. Regular meetings help children to evaluate the week before and to plan their week ahead. All children are encouraged to express their concerns, and they receive good information about their right to complain. There is a clear focus on giving children time for reflection and on celebration of achievements. Key-working records are of a high quality and give children a detailed account of their journey. Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 6

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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: 2495397 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Future Focused Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 1, Crows Nest Business Park, Ashton Road, Wigan WN5 7XX

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Inspector

Elaine Clare: social care inspector Kamal Bhamra: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2495397 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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