Children's Home, Residential special school run by Young Foundations Limited in Northumberland

Inspection report children's home: 2607536 1 Registered provider: Young Foundations Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight children who may experience a range of difficulties. These can include social and emotional difficulties, mental ill health, learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorder, and vulnerability within other settings. The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2020.

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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.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: Not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: 2607536 2

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress in some areas. Their day-to-day experiences vary depending on their reactions to individual situations and events that can trigger behaviours. There has been a high staff turnover. Despite this, children still make good relationships with members of staff. Children respond well to the structures and expectations in place and trust their carers. As a result, children feel listened to and respected.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend education. The manager and her staff advocate on behalf of children to ensure that those who are without mainstream education are offered alternative provisions to suit their needs. This has resulted in children engaging in education happily and making progress. Children spoke positively about their education provisions during the inspection visit.

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improvement to be good

Staff meet children’s general health needs. However, some children smoke, and although there are agreements in place to hand over tobacco late evening, Staff do little to help and support smoking cessation. This leaves children at risk of long-term health problems.

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improvement to be good

Children have direct access to the provider’s in-house clinical team, who also advise and support the staff. This is in line with the provider’s statement of purpose and helps the staff team to develop individual health plans for children. However, not all records are up to date. A placement plan for one child was not fully completed in either paper or electronic record. This does not support the provision of consistent care planning that meets the children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

The home is a large building that needs repair, redecoration and upgrading. During the inspection visit, new fire doors were being fitted throughout the home, which are a vast improvement both cosmetically and for safety reasons. The manager has a programme of work in place to improve the home environment and has actively involved children in what they would like. This helps them to gain a sense of belonging and ownership. Inspection report children's home: 2607536 3

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always complete children’s risk management plans promptly. This means that there is no clear guidance for staff to follow. Children are, therefore, at risk due to potentially inconsistent care. Staff, during the inspection visit, were not clear about where to access safeguarding policies or simple flow charts. Although staff were able to describe safeguarding procedures if an allegation is made, it was not clear that this was supported by documented guidance. This does not support less experienced staff and potentially could leave children at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Children do not go missing, and there have been no physical interventions. The home has good relationships with the local Police. There have been incidents of bullying. However, these are dealt with quickly and appropriately. Children spend time with their key workers during one-to-one time, and they discuss bullying together as a group in children’s meetings. This support helps children to understand how to treat others with respect.

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improvement to be good

Children spoken to during the inspection visit all said positive things about staff, and warm interactions with the manager, her deputy and staff were observed. This helps children develop a sense of belonging and well-being among trusted adults.

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good

The registered manager has taken on additional tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, oversight and monitoring of records have not consistently taken place.

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good

The registered manager is warm, nurturing and affectionate towards the children. Staff recognise her commitment to the changes made in the home environment and in raising the knowledge and skills of her staff team. Staff have either a relevant social care level 3 diploma or are enrolled on the level 4 when they commence their posts. This provides children access to staff who are knowledgeable and skilled to be able to meet their needs and support their progress.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision, and team-meeting minutes are detailed and purposeful. A staff member said, ‘Management don’t find problems, they find solutions, nothing is a problem.’

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good

External professionals are mixed in their evaluation of communication, with some very positive and some stating quite clearly that there have been a few ‘bumps in the road’ during the new ownership of the home. Leaders and managers have recognised this and have taken steps to improve.

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good

The registered manager has not followed the home’s child protection procedures when dealing with allegations. The manager informed the local authority social worker, but the designated officer and Ofsted were not. This relates to four Inspection report children's home: 2607536 4 allegations made by a child. On two other occasions, the registered manager has failed to notify Ofsted of significant events promptly. On these occasions, there was no harm to a child. However, this unsafe practice compromises the children’s welfare, does not enable independent scrutiny and potentially risks any future safeguarding investigation.

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good

The inspector found weaknesses in the home’s administration and document management. Some children’s records were not readily available to the inspector. The home has been through a change of ownership and records are still in transition.

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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, the 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being;

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff seeking appropriate advice and services to enable children to stop smoking. 27 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected by harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; 27 May 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2607536 5 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff recording, understanding and implementation of each individual child’s risk assessment and adhering to the home’s safeguarding policies.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(h)) 27 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located. (Regulation 34 (1)(b) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring prompt referral of allegations to the designated officer. 27 May 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2607536 6 The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

Children’s case records (see regulation 36) (Regulation 38 (i))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to good housekeeping in transferring records from one system to another effectively and in a timely manner. 27 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each 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 an allegation of abuse against the home or person working there;

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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)(c)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring prompt notification to each relevant person. 27May 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that for the home to be a nurturing and homely environment any maintenance or home improvements are carried out promptly. This is to minimise any disruption to the children and to meet their needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 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: 2607536 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Foundations Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Beresford Adams Commercial Ltd, 7 Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DD

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Inspector

Michael Dack, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2607536 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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