Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in New Forest

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC035593 1 SC035593

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New Forest Care

Monitoring visit 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 four young people. The home’s statement of purpose states that it caters for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It states that the home specialises in the support of young people who have had a poor education experience. No age range is specified in the statement of purpose. Young people stay in the home during term-time only, with an additional two weeks of care available during school holidays if necessary.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2019.

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This monitoring visit

This children’s home was judged good at the full inspection on 16 October 2018. The next planned full inspection could not be undertaken due to restrictions in line with Ofsted’s guidance on COVID-19 (coronavirus). Consequently, this monitoring visit was undertaken remotely. Telephone discussions were held with the registered manager and responsible individual. Documentary evidence was emailed to the inspector for consideration. The inspector gave verbal feedback to the responsible individual and registered manager on 4 May 2020. No judgement was made at this inspection.

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This monitoring visit

Outcomes for children and young people are mixed. Two young people have had long and successful placements, and two young people have had much shorter placements. The arrival of one young person had a significant detrimental effect on the other young people. The registered manager arranged for internal strategy meetings to agree plans. Given the legal status of the young person, there was no social worker overseeing the placement, and so there was no independent oversight of the quality of care. The registered manager has reflected on the admissions Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC035593 2 process, resulting in plans to ensure that future impact risk assessments are suitably detailed and thorough.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager acts on new information that comes to light about the young people. She works with others such as the placing social worker to ensure that all are kept safe while the necessary agencies follow due processes. In one case, this meant a young person moving to another home within the same organisation. This was in the best interest of the young person.

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This monitoring visit

The senior management approach to investigating an allegation about a member of staff was poor. No formal investigation report was written, the interim risk assessment did not address the pertinent points and documents indicated a premature conclusion. There was no clear written audit trail about the decision not to suspend during an investigation or any guidance on whether the staff member could be involved in any behaviour management in the interim period. In addition, dates on documents did not concur with what had happened in practice. The subsequent letter to the complainant gave no indication as to whether an advocate was offered, and the right of appeal was unclear. The provider did not have a valid reason for a significant delay in notifying Ofsted of the event.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager notified Ofsted of a serious incident, but this lacked detail of the event. The notification gave no indication of the victim’s injuries and did not identify the victim. It did not demonstrate how the registered manager came to the decision not to involve other agencies. The process for notifying significant incidents requires improvement. From three serious incidents since the last inspection, two notifications have been of poor quality, and one serious incident was not notified at all.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager does some analysis of incidents, breaking these down into monthly statistics for each young person. Although she offers explanations for periods when there are a lot of high-risk interventions, there is little further in-depth analysis of behaviour. For some young people, there is no allocated social worker, and this brings risks in the absence of independent oversight.

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This monitoring visit

Staff now hold the relevant health and social care qualification, as required from the last inspection. The registered manager has identified suitable training for staff such as in child criminal exploitation. Following the online training, the registered manager requires staff to complete a quiz, with a minimum score required to pass the course. She does not currently use any external agencies to embed the training further. The effectiveness of such training is yet to be determined.

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This monitoring visit

Senior leaders have appointed an independent visitor who provides monthly reports to relevant agencies, including Ofsted, as required by regulation. The registered manager has responded to the recommendations by the independent visitor to improve the frequency of supervision. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC035593 3 The home is registered with Ofsted under the category of emotional and behavioural difficulties, but the statement of purpose includes learning difficulty and moderate learning difficulty. This was corrected during the inspection.

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This monitoring visit

The requirement under leadership and management at the previous inspection was about internal monitoring. The new registered manager accepts that the statutory six-monthly reporting to Ofsted and the statutory notification processes require improvement.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 16/10/2018 Full Good 24/10/2017 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/10/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC035593 4

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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 person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home of a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

the child protection enquiry involving a child concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry).

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation must include—

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(d)(ii)(5)(a)(i)(iii) 30/06/2020

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(vi)) 30/06/2020

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the above principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 9.36, page 46) Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC035593 5  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, paragraph 14.13, page 63)

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Information about this inspection

Ofsted is aware of the challenges that COVID-19 is currently posing to those we inspect. During this visit, the inspector took into consideration the impact of any measures being taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 by the setting. This has included the effect these have had on staffing arrangements.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: New Forest Care Ltd, West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton, Hampshire SO45 6AA

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Inspector

Keith Riley, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC035593 6 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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