Children's Home run by K & G Care Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 1 Registered provider: K&G Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home and is the only home owned by this provider. It can provide care and accommodation for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted and is suitably qualified and experienced.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 19 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on our website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 5 February 2020

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Two compliance notices were set under Regulation 12 and Regulation 13 on 7 February 2020 and a restriction noticed served. During a monitoring visit on 19 Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 2 March 2020, sufficient progress had been identified for the restriction to be lifted and the compliance notices met. Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 3

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 14/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/08/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 06/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from a nurturing and supportive staff team. Staff know and understand the children very well. Children said that the staff really care about them.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have formed secure and trusting relationships with the adults in the home. This has contributed to improvement in children’s emotional health and well-being, and there has been a significant reduction in incidents.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaged in education which is specific to their individual needs. In addition to this, they are supported to learn essential, practical life skills to prepare for moving on from the home.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning processes, including helping children to prepare for leaving care, are not well embedded. Local authority care plans are sometimes missing, having not been shared with the home. Other plans were found to be significantly out of date and did not contain relevant or current information relating to the children. This prevents staff from working in line with the authority’s plan for the child and impedes the ability to work towards shared goals effectively.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s placement at the home ended after a very short period of time. The manager had assessed that the home could not continue to meet the child’s needs and that this placement was having an impact on the other children. Managers have reflected on this and plan to hold a ‘lessons learned’ meeting to consider the impact this had on the child and the home.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to see themselves as part of the wider community. One child has raised money for an animal rescue charity and will be taking part in a charity sky-dive imminently. Staff celebrate children’s achievements.

p.4

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

Staff support children to be safe. Risks are known and understood, and staff have a clear understanding of the risk assessments. However, relevant information is not always recorded in all of the plans. This can make it difficult to find the most current information, and there is a risk that something could be missed.

p.4

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

Incidents have reduced in the home, and there has been a significant decrease in concerns about a child’s behaviour. When incidents have occurred, these have been well managed, and there is clear management oversight.

p.4

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

Incidents of missing from care and unauthorised absences have also reduced. Staff have followed the protocols in place and have a good understanding of why Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 5 absences may have occurred. Children have the opportunity to speak to people independent of the home on their return.

p.4

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

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and child protection procedures. Staff are provided with a wide range of training in this area. They are aware of their own roles and responsibilities in protecting children.

p.5

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

The physical environment is warm and homely, and there is a schedule of redecoration at present. Where there are areas that may present a hazard, such as stair bannisters, risk assessments have been put in place to try to mitigate the risk.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for the home, the staff team and the children. She knows the home well and can identify the strengths and weaknesses. She has a clear plan for further development of the home. The management team provides strong leadership and effective role modelling for staff.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable and consistent staff team. This consistency of carers has supported children to develop positive and trusting relationships. Staff have access to a wide range of training. The manager has allocated staff specific roles and responsibilities to cascade this knowledge throughout the team to further develop the team’s skills and experience. There is a commitment to learning within the organisation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well as individuals and understands the progress they have made since arriving at the home. A lack of relevant plans being shared by the placing authority has impaired the capacity to have a full evaluation of children’s progress. The manager has challenged the placing authority but had not considered escalating these concerns more robustly.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager utilises monitoring tools, such as the independent visitor’s monthly reports, to support further development of the home and to monitor the quality of care. The manager has clear oversight of the running of the home and has implemented a range of systems to support this. Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff-

p.6

Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the need for children to have up- to-date local authority care plans, and, where relevant, pathway plans in place. This will support planning for children living at the home and support children preparing to make the transition to adulthood. 1 June 2021

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have access to relevant, up-to- date information, to assist the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13) Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 7 Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 1270767 8

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Knightsbridge House, Rooley Lane, Bradford BD4 7SQ

p.8

Inspector

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1270767 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9