Children's home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. The home provides care and accommodation for a maximum of five children and young people with social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 September 2020 to carry out an assurance 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/07/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/05/2019 Full Inadequate 11/12/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop positive and trusting relationships with staff. As a result, children can talk to staff about difficult subjects. For example, exploring their own sense of identity. One young person said, ‘Staff listen to us, not because it’s their job, it’s because they are genuinely interested.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work closely with social workers and the children’s families to ensure children maintain important relationships with family and friends. Staff have supported children to rebuild relationships, when these had previously become fractured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are confident and have the required skills and training to support children’s complex needs. They have strong aspirations for the children and want the children to thrive and to achieve. Staff enjoy working at the home and supporting the children to make progress. One staff member said, ‘I have a real passion and dedication to the children. It’s a great place for children to live, be safe and develop key life skills to set them up for their life as an adult.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop the skills they will need to live independently. The manager and the staff have developed individualised semi-independence plans for children. Children develop skills in shopping, cooking, financial management and independent travel. This ensures that children have the skills to successfully move on to semi-independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have previously had poor experiences in education. Staff have worked closely with involved professionals to support children’s engagement in education. All children have made significant progress in this area and have increased their school attendance. One child has just celebrated passing their GCSE exams. While another child has made exceptional progress in securing a college placement to study a multi-skills construction course.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child smokes tobacco regularly. The manager and the staff provide children with help and support to understand the harmful impact this can have on their health. However, tobacco was found in a child’s room. Staff had not removed this tobacco or challenged this child. Appropriate action has been taken to ensure the chid is receiving the right help and support to improve their overall well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff have not always ensured that the maintenance to the home is completed. This detracts from what is otherwise a pleasant environment.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and safety needs. Thorough and individualised risk assessments for children are understood by staff. Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 4 These assessments provide staff with clear guidance as to the actions they should take to keep children safe. As a result, children are kept safe.

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

Staff go above and beyond to disrupt children’s risk-taking behaviour. Staff demonstrate a high degree of commitment to safeguarding children, even if this means placing themselves in difficult situations. Staff work creatively and use all the information available to them to ensure the safety of children. When there have been incidents of concern, staff have followed the correct procedures and protocols and, if required, reported their concerns to the police.

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

When children return home from being absent, staff talk to the child to identify the underlying reasons for going missing. This helps the staff and the other professionals gather important information about who the child has been with and where. Additionally, children complete formal return home interviews with their social workers. However, this record is not shared with the home, and this can hamper the information-sharing process.

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

Staff use a range of de-escalation and calming techniques to support children to manage strong emotions and behaviours. As a result of this, physical intervention has become rare. The staff employ strong and consistent behavioural boundaries and structured routines. This helps children to understand what constitutes acceptable behaviour and helps them to feel safe and secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is inspirational. She has a wealth of experience and leads a very motivated team that shares the same drive and passion that she does. She has made significant improvements since becoming the registered manager. There is now a vision, shared by all, which is ambitious in wanting to improve the outcomes for children and to help them progress in all areas of their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the strengths and the weaknesses of the home. She acts quickly to address any shortfalls or areas for development. She has embedded effective monitoring and review systems as part of her quality assurance. These have been key to the smooth running of the home and to improvements in how the staff manage challenging behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported. One staff member said, ‘The manager is very approachable and supportive; I don’t think we’d have made the progression we have as a home and a team without her. She’s always there for us.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and speak positively about how helpful they find their supervision sessions. However, records of supervision are poor and would benefit from being more reflective. Some learning opportunities have been missed because of this. Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 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

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children being educated on the risks of smoking and encouraging them to stop smoking. 13 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. Children’s homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional ‘impression. This is in relation to the home’s maintenance not being completed to an acceptable standard. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information

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Recommendations

provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 6 place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. This is specifically in relation to the poor quality of supervision records. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 1255748 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Earnshaw

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Rachel Rodriguez Rosario

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1255748 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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