Children's Home run by BREAK in Norfolk

Inspection report children's home: SC060743 1 SC060743 Registered provider: Break Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care for up to four children who have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma along with family and placement breakdowns. It is owned by a registered charity.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2011.

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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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected 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: 17 September 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC060743 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2019 Full Good 19/09/2018 Full Good 07/11/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC060743 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy living at the home and spoke positively about their experiences there. Children have good relationships with staff, who are committed to working in children’s best interests. One child said, ‘It’s a great place to live, and they’ve [the staff] really helped me.’ Staff are positive about children, and they work in ways that recognise their achievements. A parent said that staff ‘have treated him like he is a member of the family.’ Positive relationships with staff help children feel wanted and settled at their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress while living at the home. One child has recently been successful in securing a part-time job. Staff have recognised this achievement, helping the child to feel a sense of pride. Another child has grown in confidence while living at the home. Their parent said, ‘My child was very withdrawn before, but has become more confident living at the home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have made good progress in their education. One child has recently completed their GCSEs and has been successful in being offered a college place to study A levels. Staff have helped another child to understand acceptable behaviour at school after incidents that have happened there. This has helped the child to recently start attending school full time, after a period of building up to this. The child’s teacher said that the home had been ‘instrumental in making this happen’ and spoke of daily communication with staff to support the child’s education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has struggled for some time to engage in education and currently has unhealthy daily routines. Staff were uncertain of the child’s progress in their current education provision. The child’s care plan does not give a clear overview of how staff support the child in these areas. Poor planning has contributed to a lack of support for the child in their education and daily routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children help to prepare for when they move on from the home. One child, who is due to move on in the coming months, has worked to develop a variety of skills to help prepare. The child spoke of feeling confident about moving on from the home. When moving on from the home, good support for children helps to properly prepare them for more independent living and reduce their anxieties about this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to maintain and build relationships with their families. One child hopes to return to the care of their family, and staff are supporting them to strengthen these relationships. Staff have built a close working relationship with the child’s parent, who said that the staff have ‘been brilliant’ in supporting the plan for the child to return home. Inspection report children's home: SC060743 4

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

Incidents of behaviour that is difficult to manage are infrequent. This is a result of children feeling settled at the home. When incidents have happened, staff have used their relationships with the children to manage these effectively. The ability to support children at difficult times adds to their feelings of security and safety at the home.

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

Staff have a good understanding of risks to individual children and of the home’s safeguarding procedures. Children said that they feel safe at the home and can speak to staff if they are worried about anything.

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

Children’s risk assessments are clear and cover a wide range of risks, with strategies for staff to support children to reduce these. However, one child’s risk assessment does not include any strategies for keeping them safe online, despite this being an identified risk in their placement plan and the child spending significant time online.

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

Risks for children have reduced while they have lived at the home. For one child, incidents of self-harm have reduced, and the child has said to staff that they do not feel the need to do this anymore. When there were concerns about the risk of one child’s behaviour to others at the home, the manager worked effectively with other agencies to address this. However, one child has been involved in an unhealthy relationship for a significant period. Clear safety plans are in place, but no ongoing, direct work has been undertaken with the child. This has not provided the help for the child to understand unhealthy relationships or how to withdraw from them.

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

Recruitment checks on new staff are undertaken. However, when staff have previously worked with children or vulnerable adults, the manager has not taken steps to confirm why the staff left these roles. This does not explore potential reasons for ending employment that might affect the suitability of the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by managers, speaking of them as always being available. The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas of development for the home and has high aspirations for all the children who live there. The manager is child focused and this ethos runs throughout the team. Staff want the best for children, and children respond well to the care that staff provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision which includes discussion of children’s needs and how to meet these effectively. Regular team meetings are used to consider how the team is working to support children. One staff member said that the manager always supports the team to resolve any issues by talking them through openly and honestly. Effective support for staff helps them to provide good standards of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One complaint has been made by a child, in relation to the behaviour of another child at the home. The child was able to meet with their social worker and the Inspection report children's home: SC060743 5 manager on two occasions to discuss the complaint. This left the child feeling happy with how it was managed. Listening to children’s views and responding effectively to their concerns helps children feel empowered to speak up, knowing that they will be taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have built good relationships with external professionals and children’s families. A parent spoke about being able to talk to the staff if there are any concerns, and said that staff are always receptive to this and work with them to find solutions. Good links with professionals and families helps everyone to work together in the best interest of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers challenge other professionals when needed. One such challenge resulted in a child having increased time with their family in a safe way. The social worker thanked the staff for feeling able to do this in the best interests of the child. One child’s teacher spoke about how the staff have challenged exclusions that the child has received. The teacher said that this led to productive discussions on such incidents, which had helped both sides’ understanding of them. Managers being confident in challenging fellow professionals has directly resulted in better outcomes for children and supported effective working relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring by the home’s independent visitor has not always included seeking feedback from children, staff and external professionals. The independent visitor’s reports have not always been clear about the home’s strengths and areas for development. This limits the effectiveness of the reports in supporting the manager to identify and address any areas of development. Inspection report children's home: SC060743 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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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

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (1)(b) (2)(a)(vi)(vii)) 2 August 2021

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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.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, plans should reflect children’s current needs and circumstances in relation to their daily routines and education, and how staff are to support these. 2 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC060743 7 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; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 9 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)) 2 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. When there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps that the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Inspection report children's home: SC060743 8

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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: SC060743 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Schofield House, 1 Spar Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 6BX

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Inspectors

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC060743 10 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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