Children's Home run by Plus One South West Ltd in Somerset

Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 1 SC386430 Registered provider: Plus One (South West) Ltd

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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 children’s home is one of four services which are operated by a private company based in the south west of England.  The home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The manager was registered by Ofsted in May 2013.  There is currently one child living in the home, who participated in the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

Date of last inspection: 27 September 2018

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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: SC386430 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2018 Full Good 18/12/2017 Full Good 07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 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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The protection of children standard

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to understand how to keep safe; 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; and that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(b)(d))

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The protection of children standard

In particular, the registered person must ensure that:

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The protection of children standard

– work continues to help children reduce their risk-taking behaviour – children cannot enter and leave the premises at night without the staff’s knowledge – action is taken to reduce hot-water temperatures to avoid the risk of scalding. 30/06/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child currently living in the home was making very good progress in school and attending full-time until December of last year, when he was faced with a series of life- changing events. The manager and staff have responded to the child’s change in behaviour. They work hard to engage him in constructive activities to try to distract him from leaving the home without permission, but these attempts have been largely unsuccessful. He has gone missing on numerous occasions. In turn, this has led to a Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 4 reluctance to attend school and an increase in impulsive and unsafe activities. This has the potential to affect his educational attainment and life chances, as well as his personal safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, the child was absent from the home and was with friends in a nearby town. The staff kept in touch with him and visited him several times to take him food and charge his mobile phone, so that he could keep in contact with them. Consequently, the child phoned the staff several times during the day to keep in touch.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child eats a healthy diet, although when he is away from the home he sometimes misses meals, and occasionally misses taking his medication. Missing medication can have a serious impact on the child’s health. To avoid this, staff take medication out to the child, if they can locate him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from warm, nurturing relationships with their staff. Children feel comfortable about speaking to staff if they have any concerns. They are consulted regularly to ensure that their views are heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, staff show exceptionally strong and enduring commitment to the children. They have recently cared very well for a young woman who is expecting her first child. She has now left the home, but the staff keep in touch to offer support.

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improvement to be good

There has been a breach of household security. During the night, the child let a friend into the house. The staff found the children in the bedroom the next day. Although no harm appears to have come to either child, it is of concern that someone unconnected with the home managed to enter the house at night without the staff’s knowledge.

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improvement to be good

The child’s significant distress in recent months was not caused by any events within the home. It led to a deterioration in the child’s ability to keep to boundaries. The child has been involved in antisocial behaviour and alleged offences in the community. As a result, there has been significant police involvement.

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improvement to be good

In addition, there have been some serious incidents in the home, including assaults on staff and damage to the house. The staff involve the police when the child goes missing, but do not resort to calling the police to manage incidents in the home. This helps to promote trust and maintain the staff’s positive relationships with the child.

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improvement to be good

The home’s detailed risk assessments and strategies have reduced some of the risks to the child. The registered manager and responsible individual keep the situation under constant review. However, these strategies have not been completely successful in changing the child’s behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Despite these challenges, the staff team remains strong and cohesive, with the child’s needs at the centre of its practice. Consequently, there have been very few restraints Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 5 since the last inspection. The small number that have taken place were appropriate and have been well recorded.

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improvement to be good

The home has enough qualified staff to support children safely. Two new staff have been appointed since the last inspection. The home has obtained all the recruitment information required by regulation to help ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

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improvement to be good

There has been no decisive action taken to reduce the hot-water temperature to a level suitable for a children’s home. At the full inspection in September 2018, a recommendation was made because the water in the child’s bathroom was exceptionally hot. The registered manager risk-assessed the hazard and referred the matter to the landlord for further action. Eight months later, the temperature has still not been regulated and this poses a risk to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced, qualified registered manager monitors all aspects of the children’s care. She has an exceptionally good knowledge of their needs and understands the reasons behind their behaviour. This high level of empathy helps the manager to support her staff to respond to children who are angry or distressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates significant commitment to the child. She tries extremely hard to help him through some difficult times and escalates concerns and challenges decisions if she believes they are not in the young persons’ interest.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is proactive in seeking outside agencies’ support and using resources available within the home and local authority. She is also acutely aware of the need to keep the placement under review to ensure that the risks and needs are managed appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads her staff team by example and provides regular, professional supervision. The staff also receive good-quality, up-to-date training. Clinical supervision from a qualified psychologist helps the staff to feel valued and confident. His input brings fresh ideas on how to respond to the children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is very good at keeping in touch with social workers and the local child and adolescent mental health services team. The team also communicates well with the police and the youth offending team to improve children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are a small number of maintenance actions required. In addition to the hot-water regulation described above, the fascia boards around the eaves of the house have deteriorated. Before the inspection took place, the registered manager had already requested action from the home’s maintenance team to repair or replace the fascia boards. Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 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: SC386430 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Plus One (South West) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Mount, 21 High Street, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8QT

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Amy Davey Susan Bate

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Inspector

Heather Chaplin: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC386430 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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