Children's Home run by Archways Care Limited in Worcestershire

Assurance visit report: SC383941 1 SC383941

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of three homes run by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who have emotional difficulties and/or display challenging behaviour.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a manager in post who is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

On 9 September 2019, a full inspection was completed. The home was judged to require improvement to be good. A notice of restriction of accommodation was issued. Furthermore, a compliance notice was issued under Regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard).

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Information about this children’s home

On 11 October 2019, a monitoring visit was undertaken. The compliance notice was deemed to have been met. The notice of restriction of accommodation was lifted on 14 October 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 9 September 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:  children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits. Assurance visit report: SC383941 2 Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit.

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The care of children

Children have trusted relationships with staff. Staff have regular discussions with children, including on topics such as positive relationships, how to manage anxiety and self-care. Staff show curiosity and are nurturing in their approach. This reinforces an open and honest relationship between staff and children.

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The care of children

Staff encourage children to contribute to the care they receive. For example, children take part in weekly meetings and provide feedback to staff about their likes and dislikes. Children choose what evening meals they want and provide ideas on what activities they do. This demonstrates that the staff take account of children’s views.

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The care of children

Staff help children keep in touch with family and people who are important to them. Children utilise online technology to remain in touch with family when face-to-face visits are not deemed safe due to the COVID-19 restrictions. This enables children to maintain relationships with the people who are most important to them.

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The care of children

Children attend full-time education. Staff advocate for children to receive the support they need. For example, staff requested a laptop for one child to allow them to complete work they had missed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff help children with homework and support further learning. Inspectors observed staff helping children with homework, which was made fun and individual to children’s development.

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The care of children

Children enjoy a wide range of activities and hobbies, despite restrictions. For example, they have attended gymnastic competitions, been fishing and played golf. This helps children to have fun and keep fit and healthy.

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The care of children

The home is well maintained and provides a comfortable environment for children to live in.

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The care of children

The manager’s matching of new children moving into the home needs to improve. On one occasion, staff skills in relation to the known behaviours and risks associated with a child were not considered. The child moved out of the home in an unplanned way. This could have been avoided had matching been more detailed and considered. Assurance visit report: SC383941 3

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The safety of children

Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of how to respond to each child’s individual behaviours and risks. Children currently living in the home are kept safe by the staff who care for them.

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The safety of children

Risk assessments are kept up to date. They contain individualised information that informs staff how to keep children safe. Staff were able to tell the inspectors what they would do if a child went missing or how they would report a safeguarding concern. This helps keep children safe, as staff understand the processes they should follow, and they keep up to date with changes made to children’s risk assessments.

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The safety of children

The manager ensures that staff are safely recruited, with all relevant checks completed.

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The safety of children

Staff are open and honest with children and discuss behaviours and risks with them. Key-work sessions are often interactive and interesting. This helps children to participate in discussions that are informative and help children make more informed choices.

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The safety of children

One child found the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic difficult to manage. Staff were unable to keep the child safe when she went missing from the home, despite different strategies and safeguarding measures being implemented. For example, steps taken to safeguard the child included providing additional staffing, completing work with the child about the restrictions and working with other agencies such as the police. Managers made the decision to end the placement due to the risks to the child and staff being too great to manage.

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The safety of children

Staff use de-escalation strategies to manage children’s behaviours. Overall, this is effective, and staff do not routinely need to physically restrain children to keep them safe. The recording of physical interventions does not clearly contain all the information as outlined within the regulations, including the effectiveness and consequence of the intervention and documenting staff debriefs. This appears to be a recording issue rather than a concern with the use of physical interventions, therefore, the impact on children is reduced.

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The safety of children

Staff complete core training that is deemed mandatory by the company. However, other basic safeguarding training has not been completed by staff to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge to keep children safe. This includes training in county lines awareness, managing challenging behaviour, missing from care and online safety. Assurance visit report: SC383941 4

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Leaders and managers

The manager is open and honest and is motivated to bring about positive change. Steady progress has been made in the home since the last inspection. Overall, the requirements made at the last full inspection have been met. New requirements have been made following the assurance visit as the manager continues to develop the home.

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Leaders and managers

Positively, the manager has a good understanding the strengths and weaknesses of individual members of staff. The majority of staff have not yet achieved the required qualification. However, a number of staff are working towards their level 3 qualification. Those staff who are not yet doing so are relatively new to the home and are expected to be enrolled soon.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has good oversight of the home. She reviews records, challenges staff practice and provides advice and guidance to the staff. This helps to develop the staff’s skills and abilities, to equip them to meet the children’s needs.

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Leaders and managers

The staff and the manager do receive supervision and they told inspectors they felt supported. The quality of supervision is good. However, in some months staff supervisions have been missed. The manager recognises this and now has support from a new deputy manager who will be able to assist with keeping supervisions up to date.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has been mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on other professionals and their work. However, she has been too lenient and has not escalated her concerns when social workers have not supplied important paperwork for children, such as care plans and health assessment reports, despite requesting these. Without this information, staff may not be able to meet certain health needs and care requirements of the children. These documents were obtained during the inspection.

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Leaders and managers

Since the full inspection a new independent visitor has been appointed. This has seen an improvement in reports being sent monthly to Ofsted. The independent visitor has not gathered feedback from parents and professionals. The manager has recently addressed this with the independent visitor. However, the reports also lack a statement from the independent person detailing their opinion of whether children are safeguarded and their well-being is met. Assurance visit report: SC383941 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 27/11/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 27/11/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")— has spoken to the user about the measure. 27/11/2020 Assurance visit report: SC383941 6 (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person— if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)(4)(a)(b)) 27/11/2020

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Recommendations

 As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hill Farm, Shawbury Lane, Shustoke, Coleshill, Birmingham B46 2RN

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Inspectors

Lisa O’Donovan, Social Care Inspector Kev Brammer, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: SC383941 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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