Children's home run by HMO NE Ltd T/A ForeverCare

Inspection report children’s home: 2591471 1 Registered provider: HMO NE LTD Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home provides care and accommodation for up to two children with emotional and/or social difficulties and learning difficulties. One child lives in this home. The home registered in November 2020. The manager registered in 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.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 23 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2591471 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s day-to-day care is good. Children have individual care plans that staff follow. This helps children make progress from their starting points. Feedback from a range of sources includes, ‘the staff team are nurturing’, ‘children make massive progress’ and ‘this is the best placement [name] has had.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to children’s admission, the manager considers their needs. She completes impact risk assessments to ensure that her staff have the necessary skills to help support children in their care. She also considers the mix of children to ensure that they live together safely. The manager consults children before any new children move into the home. This helps with the matching process and provides children with support when there are changes to their living arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting relationships with staff. These relationships continue to be positive when children move on and leave the home. Detailed and child-friendly transition plans help children to understand their future living arrangements. These experiences help children to settle in their new home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For some children, their families live a distance away from the home. Staff support children and their families to spend time together in a positive way. Family time is promoted in line with children’s plans. This improves children’s experiences and helps them to stay connected to their families and the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education attendance and attainment for children have improved. The manager ensures that children have access to an appropriate educational provision. This supports children’s learning and development. Children say that they enjoy their learning and recognise their own progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have individual health care plans. A care team of professionals help contribute to children’s health plans. Prior to children moving into the home, staff register children with key health professionals. This means that children access specialist and universal health services as soon as possible. Children maintain good health as a result.

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

Children say that they feel safe. Children’s individual risk assessments detail how staff will help and protect children. Staff recognise and manage children’s risks well. This helps to better protect children. Inspection report children’s home: 2591471 3 Children receive support from staff to help keep themselves safe. Children’s risk assessments inform targeted key-work sessions. These sessions help children to discuss and reflect on their behaviour. For some children their risks have reduced. This includes a reduction in physical interventions and children going missing from the home.

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

The manager has good systems to monitor staff practice. However, the manager has no system to record when children receive restorative consequences. Additionally, records of consequences do not show how effective they are. For example, they do not indicate if they help children to learn from their behaviour. Therefore, the manager cannot effectively evaluate the use of consequences to ensure that they are proportionate and fair.

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

The manager ensures that staff regularly review the home’s locality risk assessment. However, some relevant information is not included in the updated locality risk assessment. This means that the staff cannot consider potential risks and include them in children’s individual risk assessments. The manager took urgent action to address this during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and has the relevant experience. She is well respected by her staff team and other professionals. Staff say that the manager supports them in their care roles. Staff receive regular supervisions, attend team meetings and access a range of training. The manager utilises the strengths of her staff team to improve children’s outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the home’s strengths as well as the areas that require development. She has a clear plan in place to drive improvements forward. The manager prioritises staff training and development. In addition to mandatory training, staff have completed additional training. This includes trauma-informed practice and other training relevant to the individual needs of the children. Therefore, staff better understand and respond to children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the importance of listening to children’s views. She is a good advocate and acts on behalf of children. She challenges external agencies to ensure that children receive the support that they require. Additionally, the manager ensures that the children have access to an independent advocate. This provides children with opportunities to have an independent adult to represent their views. This makes children feel valued and have a say about their care. Inspection report children’s home: 2591471 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to manage children’s behaviour are restorative, and that they help children to learn from their behaviour. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s locality risk assessment assists in assessing risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2591471 5

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Inspector

Jacqueline Tate, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2591471 6 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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