Children's home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Monmouthshire

Inspection report children's home: SC470290 1 SC470290 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. The home provides care for up to three children who may have social, emotional or behavioural needs. In addition to planned placements, the home may, subject to risk assessment, take children who need to be placed in an emergency.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the post in April 2021. A new manager was appointed from April 2021 and left in July 2021 before an application to register with Ofsted was submitted. The post is currently vacant, with a view to the previous registered manager returning in October 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 9 and 10 December 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted. Inspection report children's home: SC470290 2 Date of last inspection: 27 August 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC470290 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/08/2019 Full Good 11/09/2018 Full Good 03/10/2017 Full Good 01/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC470290 4

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improvement to be good

Children’s experiences and progress in this home are variable. One child has recently left the home after living there for 12 months. There were significant concerns around exploitation for this child, which the staff found challenging to manage. Staff did have a good working relationship with relevant professionals but often looked to them for direction in managing the risks and behaviours that are present with exploited children.

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improvement to be good

Another child has lived in the home for several months and it has proved challenging for the staff to engage him in activities. Although the child has positive relationships with staff, they have not found more creative ways to help the child to develop his social skills and make friends.

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improvement to be good

Another child has lived in the home for over two years and is making good progress towards their goals. For example, the child is having driving lessons and developing their independence skills. The child is being prepared well for adulthood and achieving milestones consistent with their peers. Moving on plans are underway. Good working relationships between the home and the child’s next placement ensures the move is taking place at an appropriate pace for the child.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not ensure that they carefully consider children’s differing needs to ensure that they can live well together. Staff’s attitude towards risk was sometimes optimistic in relation to how these difficulties could be overcome.

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improvement to be good

Children’s plans do not sufficiently detail how staff will support children to achieve a healthy lifestyle, for example, considering children’s use of cigarettes and cannabis or eating a balanced diet.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the children’s educational needs and advocate well for them. Staff have challenged decisions around education and achieved smaller or bespoke education packages to support children’s learning. However, staff are not ensuring that every child has a full timetable of education and are given the right support to achieve well.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to pursue their interests. One child has a pet at the home and has achieved certificates in open water diving. Staff are committed to the children and work hard to ensure they have a range of experiences and opportunities to develop their interests.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to build positive relationships with children. Inspectors found staff to make a concerted effort to develop a relationship with a child who had recently moved into the home. Inspection report children's home: SC470290 5

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improvement to be good

Staff lack professional curiosity around exploitative relationships. Staff thinking is linear around exploitation and considers only the county lines model of criminal exploitation. This narrowed the staff’s focus and other concerns were overlooked.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not understand the ‘push and pull’ factors of exploitation well enough. When caring for one child who no longer lives in the home, staff allowed the child to visit areas of risk and associate with others known to be part of gangs, which put the child at risk of exploitation.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers did carry out regular checks of the child when he was away from the home and did raise concerns with the local authority about his safety. However, not enough work was done to mitigate the risks.

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improvement to be good

On occasions, a child has gone missing during the night and staff were unaware until waking the next morning. Protocols around children going missing were followed and return home interviews offered consistently. Staff do have positive relationships with the children and supportive conversations are had with them following incidents of concern.

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improvement to be good

The home is a calm environment. There has been one incident when a guide restraint was used. This was necessary to keep the child and staff safe. The staff use natural consequences to teach children and have only had to enforce one sanction, which was proportionate to the incident.

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good

The home has been without a registered manager since April 2021. A new manager was appointed but left the post for a new role before registering with Ofsted. Leaders and managers have appointed to the post and the new manager is due to commence his role in October 2021.

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good

Leaders and managers recognised that they were unable to meet the needs of a child who was at risk of exploitation. They worked with the local authority while they found another home for him.

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good

Senior leaders have not ensured that staff were well equipped to care for this child and that managers were fulfilling their responsibilities properly. For example, managers have not notified Ofsted consistently of significant incidents. As a result, the regulator was unable to ensure that the required actions were taken to safeguard a child.

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good

Leaders and managers do not take swift action to prevent serious incidents from happening again. For example, despite a child going missing at night, managers did not consider ways to prevent this until it happened a third time. Inspection report children's home: SC470290 6 The support given by managers to staff is limited. Staff supervision is brief and offers little support and direction to staff. Opportunities for staff reflection are missed. This means that staff feel unsupported in managing the complexity of their work.

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good

Managers do not challenge inappropriate language within the home and in children’s files. Language used is stigmatising and places blame and responsibility on the child who is the victim of exploitation, for example, ‘He didn’t allow us to help him.’ This shows a lack of understanding of the dynamics of exploitation and would be harmful for the child to read.

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good

The arrangements in place in respect of safer recruitment are good. Reference checks are completed and gaps in employment explored.

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good

There is a stable and consistent staff team in the home. The use of agency staff is minimal. Children are supported by experienced team members who understand the children well. Inspection report children's home: SC470290 7

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 1 November 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC470290 8 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 30 September

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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 30 September Inspection report children's home: SC470290 9 promotes their welfare.

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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

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)(h))

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans, behaviour management plans and risk assessments are reviewed in order to provide new and temporary staff with clear, concise and current information about how to manage and mitigate risks and meet the children’s current needs. 30 September Inspection report children's home: SC470290 10 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure all staff have an opportunity to reflect on their practice individually and as a team. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 31 August 2021

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Recommendation

 Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: SC470290 11

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Masonic Hall Offices, School Hill, Chepstow, Gwent NP16 5BZ

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Inspector

Katie Ratcliffe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC470290 12 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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