Children's Home run by In Safe Hands Care Ltd in Doncaster

Inspection report children's home: 1232171 1 Registered provider: In Safe Hands Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A sole provider owns and manages the home. It provides care for up to three children who experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The qualified and experienced manager registered in May 2016.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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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: 1232171 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/07/2019 Full Good 01/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/09/2018 Full Good 20/03/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 1232171 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are two children living in the home, who are cared for by a nurturing and consistent staff team. The children enjoy living in the home and are making progress from their starting points. They benefit from developing trusting relationships with the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm, welcoming and well presented throughout. Children have contributed their views about how they want their individual bedrooms decorated and what furniture they would like. Staff have ensured that these views are acted on, which gives the children a sense of ownership and a feeling that they are valued. However, general consultation about how the home is run and any developments children want to see does not routinely take place. This would give children a greater sense of ownership and an understanding of their own potential influence on the world around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager assesses the suitability of children moving into the home, including how this will affect those children already resident. Staff plan well for successful transitions into and out of the home. Children’s views are included in this process to ensure that they develop a sense of control over their situation. For children who move on to semi or fully independent living, a comprehensive package of support from staff in the home is in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experience of attendance and attainment in education is mixed. Staff offer support with attendance through transport, if necessary, and a suitable space has been allocated if tutors are needed to support children’s learning. Both children have now completed secondary education and are organising college placements for the new term.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff plan a wide range of activities for children, including gardening, ice skating, going to the cinema, and learning to play a musical instrument. The level of engagement in these activities depends on children’s individual likes and dislikes and how much of a social life they have outside of the home with friends in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet the health needs of children by ensuring that they support attendance at check-ups and appointments. Both children have no reported health needs and are not currently using any services or medication to manage their health. Staff monitor the health needs of children as part of reviewing care plans and risk assessments where necessary. This ensures that any changes to children’s health are addressed quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have boundaries and routines in place that contribute to the management of children’s presenting behaviour. Rewards are offered by staff as incentives when children are struggling to manage their emotions and the feelings associated with Inspection report children's home: 1232171 4 growing up. Staff state that occasionally they need to search children’s bedrooms to help ensure their safety. However, these searches are not recorded in line with standards and good practice.

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

Children are supported by staff who recognise and respond to the risks they face. Some significant risks, such as episodes of children going missing from the home, have reduced. This shows that staff are effective at ensuring that children become increasingly safe.

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

When risks increase or new risks emerge, care plans and risk assessments are updated, and other professionals are informed so that safety plans can be put in place. This joint working ensures that all professionals can help children to keep themselves increasingly safe.

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

Children have access to smart phones and tablets and access the internet both at the home and in the community. There are safeguards in place on the internet within the home. However, the policy relating to the use of technology places the responsibility on children for reporting unsafe access. This needs to be reviewed.

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

Children who go missing from the home benefit from a timely response from staff. This includes staff going out to look for them and making repeated attempts to talk to and find them. Other professionals are kept up to date about ongoing situations and what actions the staff are taking to ensure the safe return of any child who goes missing from the home. Children have opportunities to speak to someone independent of the home once they return to ensure that steps are taken to reduce the likelihood of this happening again. However, the manager does not review all missing-from-home episodes to ensure that staff practice is not inadvertently contributing to such episodes.

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good

The manager has been in post since the home opened in 2012 and he is supported by a deputy and a stable team of staff. Children benefit from the consistent staffing arrangements, which helps to provide them with security.

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good

Safer recruitment processes are followed when staff are appointed, which provides assurances that adults are suitably vetted to look after the children in their care. Staff complete an induction period to help them to learn each aspect of the role and to help them understand how to respond to the children’s presenting needs. This learning is evaluated by the management team in supervision sessions before staff are signed off as competent.

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good

Staff meetings are well structured and include practice discussions to help develop the care offered to children. Supervision sessions take place regularly. However, safeguarding is not included to ensure that individual staff have the opportunity to Inspection report children's home: 1232171 5 share any concerns. There is no inclusion of opportunities to reflect on practice- related issues for staff. Both shortfalls hinder the development of effective practice.

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good

The manager and staff have a good understanding of children’s needs, and staff maintain up-to-date records. However, the manager has no formal systems in place to monitor and evaluate the care children receive in line with current standards of good practice. In discussions, the manager recognises this shortfall in practice and acknowledges that his understanding of the quality standards needs development. While this has had no direct impact on any individual child, it does affect staff practice, levels of recording and the ability to develop the service. Inspection report children's home: 1232171 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, 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 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—

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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 the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 30 September Inspection report children's home: 1232171 7 If the Secretary of State publishes a statement of standards in relation to children’s homes under section 23 of the Care Standards Act 2000, the registered person must have regard to the statement(F1). (Regulation 15)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, be familiar with the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ April 2015 and the associated ‘Social care common inspection framework’. 9 August 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

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect. (Regulation 34 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, review the information and communication technology policy to amend the premise that the responsibility for online safety rests with children. 31 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are not generally entered without their permission. Usually, rooms should only be searched by staff if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. All such searches should be recorded separately. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision enables staff to reflect and act on how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)  The registered person should ensure that supervision of staff practice ensures that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so that they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14) Inspection report children's home: 1232171 8  The registered person should ensure that an evaluation of missing-from-care incidents is undertaken to identify any gaps in staff’s training, skills or knowledge

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Recommendations

or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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: 1232171 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: In Safe Hands Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Peter Wray Accountancy Services, 48 to 50 Wakefield Road, Pontefract, South Yorkshire WF7 7AB

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Inspector

Susan Atkinson-Millmoor, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report children's home: 1232171 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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