Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in Southampton

Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 1 SC402135 Registered provider: New Forest Care 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

The home provides care and accommodation for up to four children. According to the statement of purpose, the home specialises in caring for children who have experienced particular difficulties in settling in residential care and accessing mainstream education. The organisation has its own separately registered school and its own therapy team.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 26 November 2018.

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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: 13 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/01/2018 Full Good 15/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children‟s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that recruitment processes a person‟s suitability for the role applied for. 06/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children‟s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs. (Regulation 31 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, maintain a stable, permanent staff team to ensure that children‟s attachments are not unnecessarily disrupted. 06/09/2019

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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 06/09/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 4 arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that planning is made effective through clarity and relevance to the assessed and prioritised needs of the children. 06/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child; details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 06/09/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 5

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child‟s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child‟s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child‟s welfare. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children‟s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than „institutional‟ impression.

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Recommendations

(„Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, this should include the outdoor areas.  The skills, experience and professional background of the independent person, for example in undertaking work of a similar nature, will also be a relevant factor in assessing their ability to reach a rigorous and impartial judgment. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 65, paragraph 15.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Careful and thoughtful plans are made when children move into the home and they settle quickly, and soon start building attachments to the adults who care for them. Feelings of security that develop from consistent routines and clear boundaries enable the children to access learning, engage in therapeutic activities and reflect on their feelings and behaviours. They make progress in most areas, including their ability to express strong emotions in non-harmful ways.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff display a strong commitment to the children and are diligent and attentive in supporting their progress. The children benefit from the coordination between home, school and therapy team. This joined-up approach increases the effectiveness of helping strategies in targeting issues of concern, such as self-harm. This practice is, however, inconsistent and there have been occasions when significant information has not been appropriately shared.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of children‟s families and work hard to support the children in maintaining the relationships that are important to them. At times, staff make exceptional efforts to link children, who have weakened family ties, with their wider, Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 6 extended family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house has a family feel and is well maintained and there are areas where staff and children can be together in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. However, the layout of the home includes a separate flat that can be opened or closed to the rest of the house. Currently, this has the effect that all children cannot access all of the common areas of the home, and this undermines the family atmosphere. The outdoor areas are adequately maintained but are lacking in interest and development.

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

Good staffing levels, and staff who are confident in maintaining clear boundaries and structure, help children to feel safe and secure. Staff are protective of the children and alert to those who might attempt to exploit their vulnerabilities.

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

The staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the children and communicate well with each other. However, the children‟s individual written plans that alert staff to individual risk and vulnerability lack clarity and focus.

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

Staff display understanding and insight into maintaining positive environments for children who sometimes struggle to understand and manage strong feelings. However, staff sometimes lack confidence about when to physically intervene to prevent harm or further harm. When they do intervene, the required recording of these incidents is sometimes insufficiently detailed and managerial oversight is superficial. This does not help staff to learn how to avoid similar circumstances in the future and also detracts from children‟s learning and progress.

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

When children place themselves at risk, for example by going missing, the staff respond quickly and work closely with partner agencies to safeguard them and reduce risks where possible. The wider organisation provides a strong back-up system to support staff when unexpected circumstances arise that may threaten the safety and well-being of the children.

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

This home has been without a registered manager for more than seven months. The provider has not ensured that the interim manager has pursued his application for registration with the necessary urgency. The manager has been working at the home since 16 November 2018. At the time of this inspection, no application to register had been received in respect of the manager. However, an application to register was received by Ofsted on 28 June 2019. There have been significant, and avoidable, delays, but there has been no discernible negative effect on children.

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

There are sufficient numbers of adults in the home to provide stability and feelings of security for the children. However, the number of different adults working in the home is Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 7 high. This reduces the opportunities for the children to build trusted and secure relationships with the adults who care for them and weakens the continuity and focus of their care. This is the result of the movement of adults between the different homes of the organisation. This practice also dilutes team working and discourages staff from investing in the longer-term development of the facilities in the home, such as garden projects and increasing the range of available activities in the home.

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

The implementation of the organisation‟s electronic recording system is ongoing, and all staff are not yet fully competent in its use. This means that plans to support the progress of children are not always clear and effective in guiding, focusing and coordinating the efforts of staff.

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

Managerial oversight is not always evidenced in the records of significant incidents that take place in the home, and overall monitoring systems need to be strengthened. Regulation 44 visits to the home are lacking in rigour and do little to challenge leaders to develop and improve the quality of care of the children. However, leaders and managers recognise this and are taking steps to improve this monitoring service.

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

A good standard of practice around safer recruitment is consistently maintained. However, the methods used to identify adults suited to provide a good quality of care are lacking in validity and reliability.

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

Staff spoke positively about the support and supervision that they receive, as well as the training opportunities. Practice around induction and probation is strong. Staff display motivation and commitment to understand the children and to support their best possible progress.

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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: SC402135 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton SO45 6AA

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Inspector

John Pledger, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC402135 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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