Children's Home run by Searchlight Care Services Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2490939 1 Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services 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 children’s home is operated by a private company and offers care and accommodation for one young person who has experienced early childhood instability that has led to trauma and/or associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2019 and holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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: this is the home’s first inspection since registration

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2490939 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

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— 03/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2490939 3 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3(d))

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Recommendations

 Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since registration in July 2019. Since this time, one young person has lived at the home. Staff have a good understanding of the young person’s needs and work with him to meet his individual targets. As a result, the young person has made good progress relative to his individual circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although the manager understands the importance of careful matching, the young person’s impact risk assessment failed to include the views of other professionals. This represents a missed opportunity to ensure that stakeholders’ views help to inform decisions about new admissions to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has a clear health plan and is registered with the relevant primary healthcare services. Staff receive oversight from relevant professionals to support their work with the young person, so that they can meet his emotional and psychological needs. Medication kept within the home is stored and administered safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is supported to attend school. Staff encourage him to have high aspirations and to work hard towards achieving his academic goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has Wi-Fi access. However, there is no computer in the home for the young person to use. This does not promote home learning or internet safety for the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person retains positive links with his family and friends. Staff support these arrangements and have re-established links with family members. This approach ensures that the young person stays in touch with those significant in his life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is mainly well maintained and decorated. However, the central heating is not working effectively in the downstairs of the home, which affects the homeliness of the setting. Inspection report children’s home: 2490939 4

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

Staff work alongside other agencies, including the local authority and youth offending team, to keep the young person as safe as possible. Staff carry out tailored work with the young person to address any vulnerabilities and risks. Care plans, behaviour management plans and risk assessments all contribute to meeting the young person’s changing needs for safety and protection.

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

Staff manage challenging behaviour effectively and encourage the young person to reflect on incidents in a constructive and supportive way. Inappropriate behaviour is challenged or de-escalated as appropriate. Staff reinforce clear boundaries and provide daily routines and stability for the young person. This is supported by praise and recognition of achievements.

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

Staff carry out regular health and safety checks and follow a range of safety procedures to protect the young person from potential hazards. These include fire drills to ensure that the young person knows what to do in the case of an emergency. However, the outside electric meter door has come away, meaning it is not covered and the decking located in the rear garden is not safe due to missing barriers and loose spindles. This failure to address repairs swiftly means that the young person is not encouraged to be proud of his home.

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

Management oversight of the recruitment of agency staff is not always effective. For example, some recruitment documents, including identification documents, have not all been verified. This does not ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards young people and minimises potential risks to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. She is well supported by a staff team whose members report feeling supported in their roles and share her commitment to improving the lives of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses staff meetings and supervision well to communicate the positive ethos of the home. Staff report that they find supervision helpful and supportive. Performance management systems are effective in challenging staff to maintain high standards of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good arrangements in place for the development and training of staff. New staff complete an induction and progress towards completing the level 3 diploma in residential childcare. All staff benefit from a diverse range of appropriate training to develop their knowledge, skills and professional practice. This ensures that staff keep their skills and knowledge up to date and are competent in looking after young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working with educational settings, parents, health professionals and placing social workers is effective. This ensures that appropriate support is in place to assist the young person’s progress and to maximise his potential. Inspection report children’s home: 2490939 5 An independent visitor carries out monthly visits. The visitor gathers the views of staff, the young person and professionals. These views are then used to help evaluate the quality of care.

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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: 2490939 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Marcus House, Parkhall Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 5XA

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Inspector

Dave Carrigan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2490939 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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