Children's home run by T-Junction Children’s Services

Inspection report children's home: 1252023 1 Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The newly appointed manager is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 9 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

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

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 23 October 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: 1252023 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/10/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/04/2019 Full Good 16/07/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1252023 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are receiving good care and are making progress in all areas of their lives. All children have education placements that are specific to their individual needs. One child is in the process of registering at college to participate in further education. Feedback from parents and professionals is positive and highlights the commitment of the staff in supporting the children. Communication between staff and professionals is good. This supports a consistent approach for all those involved in the care of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff at the home know the children well and have a good understanding of their needs. Staff use a therapeutic model of care in their day-to-day practice and they have all received training in this. Children benefit from this nurturing care and have positive and trusting relationships with the adults in the home. This has supported children to engage with external services and has improved their emotional health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming with lots of photographs showing the children engaged in a range of positive activities. Children and staff build positive relationships within their local community and they regularly engage in social events with their neighbours. During COVID-19 lockdowns, the children participated in fitness classes on the communal green with their neighbours. This activity promoted the children’s sense of belonging to the area where they live. It also gave the children additional opportunities for social interactions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An independent advocate has now been commissioned by the home. This gives children an additional outlet for expressing their views about their care. Children are encouraged to express their views about the home and give feedback about their care and experiences. Children can identify a trusted adult that they would speak to if they had any concerns. They know how to make a complaint if they are unhappy about anything.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to have friendship groups away from the home. This supports children to develop social skills and age-appropriate independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with the people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

All children have risk assessments. However, these risk assessments are not implemented consistently by staff. On one occasion, this has led to a significant incident in the home. An external investigation found that this shortfall was caused by staff not following a child’s risk assessment. This led to children being placed at risk of harm. There was a robust response from leaders and managers to this Inspection report children's home: 1252023 4 concern with staff receiving additional training. There was also a review of risk assessments. This was an isolated incident which was well-managed.

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improvement to be good

Since the last visit, there has been a conclusion to an investigation regarding an allegation made by a child about staff in the home. This led to disciplinary action being taken. A member of staff has since left the home and there has been a change in the management arrangements.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments do not always reflect all known risks and behaviours. For example, children’s risk assessments sometimes refer to risks that are generic rather than specific to the child. This can erroneously mean that risks are attributed to children when in fact there are no known risks. For example, the risk of substance or alcohol misuse is based on what might happen if a child engaged in this behaviour rather than a known risk. This unfairly attributes risk factors to a child which could impact on them in the future.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not use safe recruitment processes. When concerns have been identified within application forms or references for prospective staff, these have not been adequately scrutinised or responded to. This means that potentially unsuitable adults could be employed at the home which would place children at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of challenging behaviour have reduced. Staff now understand the emotions underlying the children’s behaviour and potential triggers that may lead to incidents. Children have clear daily routines with consistent boundaries. This supports them to feel secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last visit, there have been changes in the leadership and management of the home. The new manager is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by the management team, and morale is good. Staff have regular supervision. However, scheduled supervisory meetings can change due to competing priorities in the home. The responsible individual regularly meets with the staff team to gain their feedback on the home and the care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the home well and has a good understanding of the children and their needs. They can identify the strengths and weaknesses in the home. The new manager has clear plans regarding the changes they want to make to further develop and improve the home. The responsible individual also carries out their own auditing and quality assurance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have undertaken a wide range of training, and all staff have completed mandatory training in key areas. However, staff have not received specific training in response to some of the children’s identified needs. Inspection report children's home: 1252023 5 There are some shortfalls in the management oversight of key documents in the home. An example of this is the statement of purpose, which does not contain all the relevant information. The quality-of-care review of the home was not completed in a timely way, and information was out of date once received. Online recording sometimes does not correlate with information held in paper files. This could lead to information being missed and not shared.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager has good relationships with other professionals and works well with them. They have established links within the local community. This has promoted tolerance and acceptance of the home in the local area. Inspection report children's home: 1252023 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from 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— that staff-

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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;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to carrying out a learning review in respect of a significant incident that placed children at risk. The manager should also ensure that risk assessments are relevant to known behaviours for each child. 1 September 2021

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 1 September 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1252023 7 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to management oversight of key documents and monitoring tools in the home. The manager should also ensure that staff have training to meet children’s specific needs.

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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

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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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) (2)(a) (3)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The manager should implement a system to ensure that pre- employment checks are carried out and any concerns are followed up. 1 August 2021

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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: 1252023 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: T-Junction Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 27 The Pastures, Narborough, Leicester LE19 3DS

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Inspector

Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1252023 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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