Children's Home run by New Futures (Children) Services in Wolverhampton

Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 1 Registered provider: New Futures (children) Services

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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 home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children aged 10 to 16 who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s registered manager has the relevant qualifications and has been in post since July 2019.

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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

Date of last inspection: This is the home’s first inspection.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 2

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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—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(vii)(c)(i)) 12/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study. 12/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 3 (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11 (1)(2)(a)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)) 12/02/2020

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)) 12/02/2020

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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 12/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 4 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(e)(h)) 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 individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. (Regulation 32 (2)(a)(b)(3)(b)) 12/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience employees. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 12/02/2020

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Recommendations

 The statement of purpose is of particular importance to this standard (regulation 6(2)(a) and (b)(i)). Homes are required to developed and keep under review a ‘statement of purpose’ (regulation 16 and schedule 1). The homes Statement of Purpose should be child-focused indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the Quality Standard of the children in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 14–15, paragraph 3.5)  The information set out in the statement of purpose is essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 5 able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 14-15, paragraph 3.6)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance, and supplement that provided by their school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of the health and well-being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18) In particular, the registered manager should ensure that staff have the relevant skills to support young people with advice and guidance regarding appropriate

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improvement to be good

This is the home’s first inspection. There is currently one young person living in the home. Although the young person has made some progress, this has not always been maintained.

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improvement to be good

The young person has experienced some difficulties in attending school. Staff have liaised with teachers to escalate their concerns. However, staff have not supported the young person to engage in alternative education arrangements. For example, staff do not always promote and encourage the young person to engage in learning activities.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not use key-work sessions effectively to help to keep the young person safe. For example, when staff have identified that the young person may be at risk of gang affiliation and child sexual exploitation, the staff have not used key-work sessions to help the young person to better understand the risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always help the young person to improve their lifestyle regarding their sexual health needs. This leaves the young person vulnerable and at risk.

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improvement to be good

Although the young person’s bedroom is personalised and comfortable, other areas of the home are less welcoming and lack a homely atmosphere. This has the potential to compromise the young person’s comfort and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage and support the young person with a range of opportunities to attend social events and recreational activities, such as going to the cinema and trampolining, and being supported to visit friends. These varied opportunities help to promote the Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 6 young person’s self-esteem, confidence and social skills.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage and support the young person to maintain positive relationships with their family. Staff recognise the importance for the young person of being able to spend good-quality time with their family. As a result, the young person has a sense of belonging and has sustained meaningful relationships with their family.

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improvement to be good

Staff consult the young person through house meetings. These meetings help the young person to express their wishes and feelings.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager has not ensured that risk assessments accurately reflect the level of risk the young person can face. For example, the young person’s risk assessment does not cover their risks of alcohol misuse, gang affiliation and child sexual exploitation. This leaves staff without all the necessary information they need to help to keep the young person safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not have clear written guidance on how to support the young person to achieve more positive outcomes. For example, the young person’s behavioural management plan does not contain advice for staff. This means that staff are unable to support and manage the young person’s behaviour effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always work with the young person to reduce risk that is outlined in the young person’s individual care plan. For example, staff do not always follow up issues relating to child sexual exploitation, county lines, fire risks and personal safety. This does not promote the young person’s health, welfare and safety.

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improvement to be good

Safe recruitment procedures are not well established. For example, one staff employment history was not subject to enough vetting. This practice has the potential to compromise the young person’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond well when the young person goes missing from the home. They act quickly to try to locate the young person and work well with the police and the young person’s placing authority to reduce risks and consider ways to prevent the young person going missing again.

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

The registered manager does not always effectively implement monitoring and review systems to support his oversight of the home and of the young person’s progress. As a result, the registered manager does not identify areas for development or act quickly enough to address shortfalls.

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

Not all staff have the relevant training to meet the needs of the young person. For example, not all staff working in the home have received mandatory and supplementary training to increase their knowledge about self-harm and child sexual exploitation. This Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 7 means that staff do not yet have the necessary skills and knowledge required for the role. This has the potential to limit the staff’s ability to respond to presenting risks effectively.

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

The quality and frequency of practice-related supervision that staff receive is variable. Although some staff receive regular supervision, this does not include the registered manager.

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

The statement of purpose does not reflect the current staff structure and does not accurately reflect all the staffing levels required. The failure to keep the statement of purpose up to date means that there is a potential to mislead placing local authorities over staff sufficiency.

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

The registered manager maintains positive working relationships with other professionals and family members, he communicates well and keeps individuals informed on the young person’s 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: 2519269 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Futures (children) Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 77 Francis Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 8SP

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2519269 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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