Children's home run by First 4 Care Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 1 SC399586 Registered provider: First 4 Care 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 provides care and accommodation for up to two children or young people who may have learning disabilities and emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private company.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager was appointed in September 2019. She was registered with Ofsted in February 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2018 Full Good 15/11/2017 Full Good 14/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 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, the 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 order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(5)) 03/05/2020

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Recommendation

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping, and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Recommendation

Ensure that factual records are maintained of any welfare checks undertaken by staff when they have concerns about a child or young person. Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have consistently high aspirations for children and young people irrespective of the complexity of their needs. There is a real ‘can-do’ approach to the care provided. As a result, children and young people have made significant progress in all areas of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people receive good-quality, personalised and individual care that reflects their abilities, needs and vulnerabilities. The registered manager and staff team are extremely committed to improving outcomes for all children and young people who live in the home. Consequently, children and young people are happy, settled and thriving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff focus on helping children and young people to progress, through promoting a variety of experiences that enhance social, emotional and physical development. S mall steps, such as children and young people learning how to dress themselves, playing with their peers and eating healthily, represent significant improvements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children and young people to attend their education provision. They work collaboratively with education staff, communicating daily to promote consistency and structure. Because of this, children and young people are attending daily, engaging in and enjoying school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager demonstrates a strong commitment to ensuring that children and young people maintain contact with family and friends. This supports children and young people’s emotional well-being and identity. Parents spoke highly of the service. One parent said, ‘The manager and the staff team have done wonders with my child. He is happy and is thriving in all areas. I really couldn’t be happier with how he has come on.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment replicates family life. Children and young people clearly enjoy spending time in the home with staff and each other. This further creates a lovely relaxed atmosphere within the home.

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

Children and young people are better protected as a result of living in this home. Staff are appropriately trained in safeguarding and understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children and young people safe. Staff are committed to providing children and young people with emotional warmth, nurture and affection. This level of care is embedded in staff practice and results in a happy and relaxed atmosphere.

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

Personalised individual risk assessments provide staff with the necessary guidance that they need to confidently promote children and young people’s safety and well-being. Regular evaluation of risk also ensures that staff are aware of any changes to agreed Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 5 risk-management strategies. These measures further promote children and young people’s welfare and well-being.

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

There have been no serious incidents, complaints or allegations since the last inspection. That said, staff understand what action to take should they have concerns about the safety of a child or young person.

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

The ethos of the home is one of encouraging positive behaviour, kindness and respect. Staff work very effectively as a team, and this means that children and young people are supported in a consistent way. Staff are skilled and meticulous in using de-escalation and communication techniques to lessen children and young people’s anxiety. Physical restraint has not been used since the last inspection.

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

Some children and young people have complex health needs. Because of this, they require close monitoring to support their health and well-being. On occasions, staff are required to undertake welfare checks throughout the night. This is good practice. However, records relating to these checks do not contain enough detail. They lack information about the frequency of the checks, what staff observed and any action taken. This hinders the registered manager’s ability to monitor and evaluate staff practice.

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

The home uses safer recruitment processes to ensure that any person employed to work at the home does not present any known safeguarding risk to children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is committed to supporting children and young people to gain positive outcomes in all aspects of their development. She knows the children and young people well and shares a positive relationship with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates an aptitude for her role and provides good support for staff. Staff complete mandatory training, such as in safeguarding, child development and health and safety. This ensures that staff are suitably equipped to meet children and young people’s known and emerging needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoken to commented positively about the registered manager’s supportive leadership of the service. They said that the registered manager is child focused and offers visible leadership to the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager develops and maintains good relationships with professionals and parents. This means that children and young people benefit from the best possible support. The registered manager communicates effectively with all agencies to ensure that children and young people continue to make good progress. Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 6 Monthly monitoring visits by an external visitor are undertaken. This ensures independent scrutiny of the quality of care provided. Any shortfalls identified as part of this process are suitably addressed by the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s report on the quality of care does not meet regulation. The report does not contain the views of parents, staff and professionals. This does not assist the registered manager in understanding the effectiveness of the approaches used in securing improved outcomes for children and young people. More positively, the registered manager has taken steps to improve the overall quality of the next report. However, this cannot be fully evaluated for effectiveness at the time of this inspection.

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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: SC399586 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First 4 Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 313 Goodison Boulevard, Doncaster, Yorkshire DN4 6TP

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Inspector

Ceri Evans: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC399586 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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Inspector

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