Children's home run by Capstone Care Provider Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 1 SC431699 Registered provider: Capstone Care Provider 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

The home’s statement of purpose says that it aims to achieve a child-centred, caring and nurturing home, offering short- to long-term care for three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2013 and is due to complete his level 5 qualification this month.

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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: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the need for effective communication between staff and education providers, and for staff to ensure medical appointments are made and attended. 30/11/2019

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about 30/11/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 4 a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii) and (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to staff understanding how to keep children safe when they are missing from the home. It also refers to the need to ensure that the location assessment is adequately detailed to ensure the safety of children. 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(f)(h)) 30/11/2019

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 5  Homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. This relates to the habitual locking of doors, the signage in the home and the use of language, written and verbal. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person must ensure that recruitment 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)

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improvement to be good

The experiences and progress of young people are mixed. Some young people make good progress, especially in their academic life and in the pursuit of their hobbies and interests. For others, progress is not yet good and experiences have not always been positive.

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improvement to be good

Communication between staff and education providers is not always good. This has led to confusion over a young person’s timetable and uncertainty about a young person’s absences from college.

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improvement to be good

Staff have also not followed up on missed medical appointments or been proactive in ensuring that young people have access to the services they need.

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improvement to be good

One young person has been on holiday abroad for the first time and really enjoyed the experience. He participates in a range of leisure activities, such as football and boxing.

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people to learn skills that will help them when they leave home. These include learning to cook and carry out household tasks, managing money and establishing a social network. One young person has a part-time job.

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improvement to be good

Young people are involved in planning their care and take part in discussions about their care, safety and how the home is run. They understand how to make a complaint and regularly meet with an advocate.

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improvement to be good

Some of the language used by staff in records, reports and verbal feedback lacks the warmth and nurture that is detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. This is reflected in several institutionalised aspects of the home, including routinely locked doors and unnecessary signage.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 6 Staff understanding of risk, especially in relation to young people who are missing from the home, is not good enough. Risk assessments, protocols and policies provide conflicting advice for staff. This leads to inconsistent practice when young people go missing. Communication with the police is not always good, staff do not always provide sufficient information for the police to enable them to take appropriate and swift action. Following some incidents, staff reflect on the actions taken, however this learning is not always implemented. As a result, similar mistakes were made in later incidents. On one occasion, decision making by an on-call manager resulted in a young person not being returned to the home as swiftly as they could have been. This has not been pursued by the registered manager.

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improvement to be good

The location and environment risk assessment lacks sufficient detail in some areas. There is an electricity substation adjoining the back garden of the property. The risks that this may pose have been partly addressed, although there is no mention of educating young people about the dangers and how to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Some recruitment information is not available at the home. The manager believes this is held at head office. Currently, it is not clear that all vetting checks have been completed.

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improvement to be good

There has been no use of restraint since the last inspection. Young people’s behaviour in the home is generally good.

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improvement to be good

Allegations are handled swiftly and appropriately. The manager participates in safeguarding network meetings. This enables good sharing of local information to keep young people safe.

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

The registered manager is experienced and has been in post for several years. He is due to complete his level 5 qualification in the next few weeks.

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

The staff team contains a good mix of skills and experience. Staff either have the appropriate qualification or are completing the award. Staff said that they feel supported by the registered manager but some expressed concerns that they are not given the opportunities to develop within their roles and lack the confidence to make decisions about the care of the young people.

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

The quality of training is poor. Many courses are only available online, and staff complete several in one day. This means that the depth of learning may not be enough to help young people with their specific needs. Some training is now out of date and staff need to complete refresher courses. There has been no training on county lines exploitation and very little on the safe use of social media, which is a key concern in this home.

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

The manager monitors the progress of young people and consults with others to produce a regular review of the home. However, this report is not evaluative.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 7 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: SC431699 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Capstone Care Provider Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Renewal Trust Business Centre, 3 Hawksworth Street, Nottingham NG3 2EG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Trevor Edinborough

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Inspector(s)

Judith Longden, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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