Children's Home run by Worcestershire Children First in Worcestershire

Information about this children’s home

This home was previously owned by the local authority. It was re-registered in October 2019 when the local authority moved to be a holding company. It is registered for up to four children who have suffered adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020 and is working towards his level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: Not previously inspected

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Not previously inspected

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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:

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Information about this visit

 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.

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Information about this visit

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. Assurance visit report: 2548569 2

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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

Staff work hard to develop and maintain strong and supportive relationships with children, who are happy and thriving physically, emotionally and socially. Staff told inspectors that the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed them to spend more time with the children. As a result, they have developed stronger and more trusting relationships with each other.

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The care of children

The national lockdown resulted in children having restrictions imposed on their everyday lives. To counter this, staff engaged the children in meaningful consultation that resulted in finding creative ways to spend their time. As a result, a table tennis table, pool table and new board games were purchased. Staff have helped children to stay active by enjoying walks and getting involved in doing physical exercises.

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The care of children

Staff have been proactive in supporting children in their education throughout this period of COVID-19 restrictions. They have engaged children in home tutoring and online learning . Staff have sent clear messages to children that education is important and have worked tirelessly with other professionals to gain the right support for children. For one child, this has meant that he has started to re-engage in education after not attending school for some time.

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The care of children

The registered manager has ensured that during lockdown children have been able to stay in touch with their family and friends. As a result, children have benefited from speaking to their loved ones using online technology or, when it has been safe, to have face-to face contact. This has enabled children to stay in touch with people who are important in their lives.

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The care of children

Although work has begun, some areas of the home look tired and are in need of redecoration and refurbishment.

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The care of children

Despite children making progress in the home, children can be moved in and out of the home quickly. Records do not demonstrate that these moves are carefully planned and child focused. On one occasion, this led to a child becoming distressed.

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The safety of children

On most occasions, staff have dealt with children’s significant challenges well. The registered manager ensures that reflection has taken place to help identify areas where practice can be improved. However, the registered manager has not always notified Ofsted of all serious incidents as required by regulation. Assurance visit report: 2548569 3 Staff help children to understand risk by holding regular key-worker sessions. These sessions help children to understand danger. However, not all of this hard work is captured in children’s records.

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The safety of children

Children have been helped to understand how to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff and children have watched ‘daily TV briefings’ together and held discussions to help address any anxieties that children may be feeling. Consequently, children have felt engaged and informed.

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The safety of children

When appointing new staff, the registered manager has not consistently followed safe recruitment practice. For example, not enough checks are carried out to explore the reasons why there are gaps in employment. This has the potential to compromise safeguarding measures when recruiting new staff.

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Leaders and managers

The home has a core team of regular staff, who provide consistent care for children. Staff have worked overtime to cover vacancies. This has reduced the need for the use of agency staff in the home. Social workers and an independent reviewing officer all speak positively about the home and the relationships between the staff and the children. As a result, children have become more confident and willing to receive support from professionals.

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Leaders and managers

The manager and assistant manager provide regular supervision to all staff. Supervision records discuss the care for children and these allow for improvements to be identified. This has a positive impact on the care that the children receive.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has a good oversight of the home and seeks the views of children in making improvements. However, these are not always captured in the quality of care report produced by the manager.

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Leaders and managers

During the COVID-19 period some children have struggled to live with other children all day every day. As a result, a number of complaints have been raised. These have all been managed well by using mediation and holding key-work sessions. This support has helped children to repair relationships.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has not submitted the latest version of the home’s statement of purpose to Ofsted. The statement of purpose is also inaccurate and refers to out-of- date information. This prevents the reader from having accurate information about the home and the staff associated with the home. Assurance visit report: 2548569 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 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 18/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 18/12/2020

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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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2 (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(d)) 13/11/2020

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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

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 18/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2548569 5 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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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 feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(b)) 18/12/2020

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).  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 environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc); however in 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

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Worcestershire Children First

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Worcestershire Children First, County Hall Campus, Spetchley Road, Worcester, Worcestershire WR5 2NP

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Inspectors

Louise Battersby, Social Care Inspector Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 2548569 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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