Children's home run by Nuevavida Ne Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 1 Registered provider: Nueva vida Ne 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 private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties or a learning disability. The home was registered in January 2019. The manager was registered on 4 January 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 30 April to 1 May 2019

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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 requires improvement to be 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: this is the home’s first inspection

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people living in this home receive a very good standard of care. They enjoy the benefits of having a number of pets and animals to care for such as goats, rabbits and chickens. This helps to promote children’s and young people’s confidence and sense of responsibility. The manager has plans to introduce animal assisted therapy. The aim is to train all of the staff team to enhance the experiences of children and young people through the care of animals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people access additional learning via ASDAN educational courses. Such courses aim to motivate and enhance confidence, self-esteem and resilience. This is well received by the children and young people living in the home. Subsequently, children and young people are making progress in most areas taking into account their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For those children and young people who are not in full-time education, further education and training opportunities are explored. Two young people are currently being supported to enrol on to apprenticeship courses of a vocational choice. Education is given great significance and importance. A professional commented, ‘This is one of the best homes I have worked with. The staff team is just fantastic. [Name] is much more settled and starting to make real progress since moving to the home. There should be more homes like this.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children and young people are well supported. Routine health appointments are well attended. The children benefit from a healthy lifestyle with healthy food options made available and outdoor activities encouraged. Some young people enjoy the benefits of gym memberships. This promotes good health as well as opportunities for children and young people to spend quality time with the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For those children and young people who smoke cigarettes, there are efforts made to educate them on the health risks. Support is offered to help reduce or stop the habit via programmes such as smoking cessation. This has not yet been effective. The staff team revisits the support that is available.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the home opened in January 2019, there have been three admissions to the home. New admissions are well considered and risk assessed to consider the needs of all children and young people. Children and young people are sensitively welcomed into the home and this enables them to settle quickly. A young person commented, ‘I really like living here. The staff are brilliant and they make sure we have everything that we need. We can make suggestions about anything and they listen to us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are consulted via regular house meetings and within key- worker sessions. The wishes and feelings of children and young people inform part of their care planning, including the activities that they access. The needs of children and Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 3 young people are well understood by the staff team. Care plans do not explicitly refer to all the needs of the children and young people and how those needs are being met. This would strengthen care planning and help to measure progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are good routines and boundaries in the home. The inspector found the children and young people to be courteous and polite. They were seen to engage in educational programmes as well as structured activities. Two young people were observed being attentive to the animals and building the goats a table from reclaimed timber. Additionally, children and young people are well praised for their participation and achievements.

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

There is good evidence that children and young people are effectively safeguarded. There are good risk management processes and regular reviewing of risk assessments. Safeguarding is not yet added as a standard agenda item within team meetings and in staff supervisions. This would strengthen the safeguarding culture within the home.

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

Where there have been safeguarding incidents, the correct procedures have been followed. The staff team follows individual risk assessments to manage risks effectively. The inspector found one incident that had been reported to the appropriate agencies but there had been a delay in notifying Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector A recommendation has been made in this area.

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

Missing from home episodes are rare. Where missing from home episodes have occurred, swift action has been taken to aid the safe return of children and young people. Recordings include the steps that are taken to safely return children and young people. However, children and young people do not have access to an independent visitor on their return home. This has not been escalated by the manager. This means that children and young people do not have an opportunity to discuss their experiences independently from the home and therefore valuable information may not be shared to help keep them safe.

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

Children and young people spoken to say that they feel safe and know the adults are there to help protect them. Children and young people have not had the need to complain about the quality of care that they receive. The complaints process is highlighted in the young person’s guide that is made available to children and young people.

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

The home has an appropriate system in place to log any compliments or complaints. The manager reviews all documents and signs and dates them. This demonstrates accountability. There is not yet a manager’s evaluation added to some of the documents reviewed to demonstrate that effective safeguards have been considered and monitored.

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

The use of social media and the internet is carefully managed to enable children and young people to enjoy using them safely. The staff team takes a rigorous approach to educate the young people around keeping safe in a variety of settings. This includes Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 4 educating them on the risks of accessing social media, bullying and relationships as well as planning for their futures and independent living. This helps children and young people to keep themselves safe in and outside the home.

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

The manager has developed her own monitoring tool to track negative behaviours. This has aided the implementing of effective behaviour management plans. Low level disruptive behaviour is managed well without the need of external agencies. Consequences are restorative and fair in their approach. This helps children and young people to learn from their behaviour and to develop prosocial behaviours.

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

Physical interventions have not been an issue of concern in this home and this was supported by the children’s and young people’s comments. A young person commented, ‘It doesn’t matter how you feel there is always someone there to talk to you. I can talk to them about absolutely anything.’

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

The home has been open since January 2019. The manager and staff team are newly formed. There is good evidence that the staff team members have received an appropriate induction. Safer recruitment records indicate that all necessary checks have been completed on the adults working in the home. The manager has been astute in the recruitment process and there is a varied and skilled work force.

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

Like any newly formed team or provision opening there have been teething problems. The manager is aware of the home’s strengths as well as areas of development. She has a plan in place to address the shortfalls. There are no serious or widespread failings. Areas that require improvements to be good are around the quality of care plans. Care plans do not yet sufficiently detail how children and young people will be supported in all aspects of their care. This includes how their cultural and identity needs will be met by the adults who care for them. Furthermore, care plans do not provide a baseline to help measure the progress of children and young people from their starting points.

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

Daily records are not consistently used to provide timelines on daily events. Other recordings are not written in a way that is factual and objective. This does not help children and young people to understand actions to be taken to support them.

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

The manager ensures that the staff team members receive regular supervisions and team meetings. Training is encouraged beyond the mandatory training that is in date for all staff. The staff team members feel motivated and valued as a result.

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

The manager and staff team have made positive links with relevant professionals. Good working relationships and effective communication support the progress that children and young people are making. The manager and staff team utilise the support from external agencies. A professional commented, ‘They are very organised and hands on. They have excellent relationships with the children. It’s also very homely and inviting. They manage behaviour well because of the activities that they have to offer.’ Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 5

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background; and help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(2)(b)(iv)(v)) 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, following any critical incidents, that the manager’s comments provide an evaluation of the actions taken to ensure effective safeguarding of children and young people. 31/05/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 6

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, that there is a consistent approach to recording times and actions in daily logs. Additionally, factual and objective language should be used when recording.  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

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Recommendations

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)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) In particular, safeguarding to be added as a stand-alone agenda item in team meetings and individual staff supervisions.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 7 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: 2502176 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nueva vida Ne Limited

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2502176 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 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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