Children's home run by Child First Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2605554 1 Registered provider: Child First Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A privately run home which uses the ‘Lovin’ Care’ approach, registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children aged eight to 18 years who may have experienced a chaotic early family life. This includes abuse, emotional neglect and exploitation.

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Information about this children's home

There has been no registered manager in the home since 23 July 2021.

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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 . This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered in December 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2605554 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in a spacious home and benefit from individualised bedrooms, large open spaces and ample communal space. Children are at the centre of adults practice and children’s needs are central to how the home is run. For example, there are plans to reduce the formal office space in the home so that children have even more space to enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop and maintain important relationships with people who matter most to them. Adults have the children’s best interests at heart and want the best for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by adults to attend education. For one child, who struggled to engage in education, adults supported them to attend school and meetings. This allowed the child to have a stable timetable at school and complete their GCSE qualifications. The child now has a place in college from September. However, there is not always enough challenge from the adults team when attending meetings on the child’s behalf. For example, adults could be more assertive about ensuring that a child’s educational needs are being better met. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that the child is accessing a full curriculum.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual sessions with children are used to support children, encourage positive behaviour and provide informal educational opportunities. These sessions are an effective tool to address any concerns around people's culture and identity. Children can speak about their feelings and concerns and know that they are listened to and respected. Adults also take the time to educate children about socially acceptable behaviour. Children have benefited from developing their awareness of other cultures, faiths and traditions. This helps children to develop their understanding of the world.

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

There has been a significant number of missing incidents due to the risks that children have faced in the community. Adults in the home are acutely aware, and have a good understanding, of community-based risks such as exploitation. However, on one occasion when a child went missing, the response from adults was slow. There was an avoidable delay in contacting relevant agencies, and adults should have done more to look for the child.

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

Risk assessments and risk management plans are not always kept up to date. For example, one risk assessment fails to make clear the potential risk of a child wearing certain items of clothing. Although familiar adults know about this potential risk through direct work, there is the risk that unfamiliar adults may not be alert to this risk factor. Inspection report children's home: 2605554 3 The manager has ensured that community risks have been considered. There is a focus on the risk of exploitation as this is a primary concern for the children in the home at present. There is good knowledge of local risks, and adults can talk about these risks with a good understanding. The manager has considered the advantages and shortfalls of living near the sea, and all associated risks have effective measures in place to minimise harm to children. This allows children to benefit from what is on offer in the community around them.

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

Adults acted quickly and decisively when a child was at risk of being trafficked away from the home. Adults identified the risk and notified relevant agencies. This led to the child being located before they came to harm, and further safeguards were put in place to protect the child.

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

Restraint is only used when necessary. Adults ensure that children are protected from harm and the measures used are reasonable and proportionate. They focus on proactive strategies such as education and de-escalation to minimise the need for restraint. Since registration, there have been two occasions of restraint. On both occasions, children were offered individualised care and support. This allows children to express their emotions safely and understand the impact of their expression on others in a non-judgemental manner.

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

Allegations are managed appropriately by the management team. The responsible individual maintains effective dialogue with the designated officer, and allegations of abuse are managed in a timely and effective manner. This means that when children make an allegation, it is taken seriously and managed appropriately.

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good

Not all adults in the home receive regular supervision, and some training is outdated in line with the provider’s timescales. This is due to a lack of effective monitoring from the manager. This lack of oversight means that the leadership and management of the home requires improvement.

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good

Adults in the home are not all confident in following the designated officer reporting process. This means that there is the potential for delay in reporting concerns or allegations about adults.

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good

However, the manager is knowledgeable about the children in the home and can talk about the progress for each child. The manager was able to speak of the risks children face and can measure progress against these. This ensures that the individual needs of children can be considered by the manager and the adults team, who understand the children that they care for.

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good

Adults like working at the home and there is excitement at the positive changes taking place. These include the appointment of the new manager, the introduction of the new model of care and the appointment of a new deputy manager. This Inspection report children's home: 2605554 4 creates a sense of excitement and anticipation. Children feel an enhanced sense of togetherness and joint investment into further improving the home.

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good

Safer recruitment processes are followed in the home. This is completed centrally by the provider and all checks undertaken are verified in a timely manner. This means that children’s care is delivered by appropriately vetted adults.

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good

Children's plans are regularly updated and have clear actions to help them progress. These are mostly reviewed and overseen by the manager. There are occasions where the manager has failed to ensure that children’s targets are met. For example, one child had a health need that had gone unaddressed. Inspection report children's home: 2605554 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that adults—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or adults 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.

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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 adults— 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

(Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 8 September 2021

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that adults have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(h)) 8 September 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2605554 6 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 33(4)(a)(b)) 8 September 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other adults misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 43, paragraph 9.14)

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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: 2605554 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 40 Oxford Road, Worthing BN11 1UT

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Inspector

Matt Nicholls, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 2605554 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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