Children's Home run by Semi-independent House Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1259547 1 Registered provider: Semi-Independent House 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 three-bedded home is run by an independent provider and aims to provide person- centred care for children who have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The manager was registered in February 2019 and possesses the relevant level 5 qualification.

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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: 27 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1259547 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 03/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1259547 3

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Recommendations

 As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, incorporate the need for additional supervision sessions during the probation period into the organisation’s policies, procedures and statement of purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build very positive relationships with the children they care for. Children make good progress. Sometimes this is small but significant progress for the child. Professionals said that they are pleased with the progress children make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A teacher described how, since one child moved to the home, he now arrives at school better prepared to learn. She feels that this is due to close communication between the home and school staff. Another child at the home is not in education. However, his social worker praised the staff for bridging the gap in provision by ensuring that he maintains a level of routine and engaging him in tasks that are helping him become increasingly independent and developing his life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s emotional well-being is prioritised. They are supported and encouraged to access specialist services such as child and adolescent mental health services and to see independent advocates.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to and acted on. Their views are gathered through house meetings, key-work sessions and ongoing discussions with the staff. The children have differing levels of participation depending on their mood and rapport with the staff on duty at any given time. They have each indicated to professionals, in meetings such as their statutory reviews, that they like their home and the staff caring for them. As with many children living away from their families, they like the home but they would also like to live with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are working to increase the frequency of family contact to ensure that the children have improved relationships with their family members, despite being unable to live with them at present. Inspection report children’s home: 1259547 4

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

The staff know the children well. This enables them to ensure that any changes in the children’s behaviour or risks are appropriately incorporated into the children’s behaviour management plans. Staff successfully implement various behaviour management strategies. This has led to a reduction in the number of significant incidents in the home and negative behaviours.

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

The home had a period where one child, who has since moved out, was being reported as missing from the home regularly. Since this child moved out, there has only been one episode of a child being reported missing. This was due to him returning home late, as opposed to being missing for an extended period. This was reported in line with his missing-from-home protocol. He was located and returned safely soon after. Staff follow agreed missing-from-care protocols.

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

The staff team has worked hard to ensure that there is consistency in expectations and boundaries. When appropriate, strategies to manage behaviour are agreed with the children. This inclusion in setting the expectations and consequences is proving effective in minimising the amount of challenge from the children.

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

Staff feel that they have access to the necessary training courses to help them to identify areas of concern and risk for children. This includes the risks associated with child sexual and criminal exploitation, and radicalisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear vision for the home and is in the process of establishing a stable core staff team. This is minimising the use of agency staff. His focus is to ensure that the children receive high-quality care from staff and that the staff are here for the right reasons.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of the children’s needs and the aims and objectives of their placements. He is working with the staff to ensure that they are able to evidence the progress that children make. An example of this is the regular updates provided to families and professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is improving the quality of supervision by using some of the sessions for personalised staff development. This helps to ensure that staff are aware of the many aspects of their role and addresses the shortfalls identified at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff reported that they find supervision sessions helpful for reflecting on practice and discussing their development. However, there are inconsistencies between the organisation’s supervision policy and the statement of purpose, and neither document reflects the need for increased frequency of supervision during the probation period. This increased level of supervision would ensure that staff have appropriate opportunities to reflect on their practice. Inspection report children’s home: 1259547 5 The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and the areas of development required to ensure that the home makes progress. He is currently revising paperwork and processes to ensure that they provide clarity and detail outcomes.

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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: 1259547 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Semi-Independent House Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 51 Ploverly, Peterborough PE4 6HZ

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Inspector:

Sonia Hay, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1259547 7 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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