Children's Home run by New Roots Children’s Services Limited in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 1 Registered provider: New Roots Children’s Services Interim 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 three children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home does not have a registered manager.

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Inspection date: 11 March 2020

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has declined in effectiveness because there is no registered manager. This has been the situation for more than 12 months. There is now an acting manager who took up his post just prior to the inspection, so he has not yet submitted any registration documents. This situation requires resolution without delay as it will hinder children’s progress and cause instability for staff. At the point of this inspection there was one child in placement.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The responsible individual and staff have made efforts to meet the recommendations made at the last inspection. They have improved the maintenance of records and of staff recording information on children’s files. This was achieved through staff undertaking additional training, helping them understand the importance of accurate and sufficiently detailed record-keeping. The responsible individual and deputy manager have also completed an in-depth quality of care review. This assists them in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the service moving forwards.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The acting manager’s ability to fully evaluate the quality of care provided is hampered because the independent visitor is not sufficiently observing staff working with the child who is currently living at the home. Neither is the visitor consistently speaking to the child or stakeholders. This prevents the visitor from producing a comprehensive report, for the manager, that provides a full range of information relating to crucially important areas of the home’s functioning.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children benefit from a comfortable and well-decorated family home that is designed to meet their specific needs. Staff work hard to keep the home clean and well presented for children. Some areas in the home have been damaged and are awaiting repair; this detracts from what is an otherwise pleasant environment.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff understand the importance of good education provision for children’s futures. The child currently living at the home has made good progress at school. He has achieved 100% attendance and views school positively. Staff demonstrate patience and determination getting him off to school in the morning, which can be challenging. The child is now showing clear signs of making progress at school and becoming settled at home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff demonstrate perseverance when faced with challenging and unpredictable behaviour from children. There have been numerous incidents of staff using physical intervention to keep children and themselves safe. Physical interventions have been necessary and proportionate to the circumstances. Staff and children involved in Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 3 incidents have received debriefs from the deputy manager. Their safety has been and remains the priority.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and the responsible individual listen to children. Staff undertake monthly individual meetings with children to obtain their views. These meetings complement regular house meetings at which the day-to-day running of the house is discussed, and the views of children acted on, if possible. This helps children feel fully involved in the decisions affecting their home and their lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff use a variety of creative means to engage the child currently living at the home, such as puppets, toys and play. Staff spend time with the child and demonstrate care and nurture. One social worker stated that the care of the child was ‘brilliant’ and that he had made good progress.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff report that they feel well supported by the responsible individual and deputy manager. They receive professional supervision and feel that senior managers are always available. The acting manager could further strengthen strategic workforce planning with an active and sufficiently detailed workforce development plan. This would assist in planning training and how to support staff who may have performance or capability problems.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff value training and development. They feel well prepared, through additional training and development, to meet the complex needs of the child currently placed with them. Staff remain positive and optimistic and have good morale. Staff look forward to a stable and positive future. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/06/2019 Full Good 11/02/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 5

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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 provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

(a) there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 22/04/2020

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Recommendations

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) In particular, the independent person should observe young people at the home and regularly consult with them and stakeholders, such as professionals and family members.  The registered person should have a workforce development plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  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

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Recommendations

environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however is doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 8.9)

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 6 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: 1277656 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Roots Children’s Services

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Inspector

Phillip Morris, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 8 to 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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