Children's Home run by 1848 Ltd in Somerset

Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 1 Registered provider: 1848 Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider and provides care for up to two children. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 2

p.1

Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected. Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 3

p.2

improvement to be good

The children receive warm, reassuring and nurturing care from the adults who look after them. Children have made steady progress in the short time they have lived at this home. This is because the stable and consistent staff team is skilful at building trusting relationships with the children.

p.3

improvement to be good

Relationships between the children and their families have improved because the registered manager and her team understand the importance of these relationships. When children ask to see family and friends more frequently, they are listened to and, if appropriate, the frequency of visits is increased.

p.3

improvement to be good

The home’s internal care plans are regularly reviewed, and children’s views wishes, and feelings are considered and well documented. However, these plans do not clearly document the children’s daily living routines, They lack comprehensive and creative strategies and targets.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children live in a home that is warm, welcoming and well maintained. Children are encouraged to personalise their living space. However, not all children receive the level of support they need to maintain a clutter-free and clean environment.

p.3

improvement to be good

Safeguarding incidents are appropriately reported to the placing authority’s and safeguarding professionals. However, the registered manager did not liaise with the police when a child’s personal bank account was credited with money from an unknown source. Indicators in the same child’s changing behaviour suggest that she may be at potential risk of online grooming. The registered manager took immediate action during the inspection to report this concern retrospectively to the police.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments detail historic risk and the majority of known risks. However, they do not clearly identify all current risks. As a result, they do not provide staff with comprehensive, clear strategies and control measures to mitigate recent high-risk behaviours. In addition, environmental risk assessments do not provide sufficient information about potential risks in the locality.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a lack of effective management oversight of the home. Documents and records are not being comprehensively reviewed or evaluated by the registered manager. This lack of oversight and scrutiny means that patterns and trends of Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 4 behaviour are not analysed, and care planning does not inform staff well enough about how they are to meet children’s needs and maximise their progress.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a full staff team and the use of temporary and agency staff is minimal. Staff say that they are supported by the registered manager, morale is good and they feel well supervised and trained. Despite this, supervision records do not reflect the actual discussions held. In addition, training records show that two staff are not compliant with basic mandatory training.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager’s and independent person’s monitoring of records has not been effective. They have failed to identify and rectify omissions in records. Omissions include a failure to report the outcomes of safeguarding concerns and clarify the action taken when injuries occur. In addition, some children’s records contain staff’s personal opinions and institutionalised language. Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure a safety plan is in place for a child who is thought to be at risk of online grooming, and ensure that all concerns are reported to the police when required. 3 September 2021

p.5

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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 15 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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)(c)(d)(f)(g)(i)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the manager’s and independent visitor’s monitoring is effective.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (2)(f))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s internal care plans and risk assessments detail the children’s current needs and risks and ensure that they include children’s views and contributions. 15 October 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.6

Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) 15 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 7 In particular, all staff should complete all the basic mandatory training and specialist courses to meet the needs of the children they care for.

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of staff supervision are of a good quality and reflect the discussions held. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. 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 61, paragraph 14.4)

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should review the location of the premises and ensure that all risks in the local area are properly considered and there are strategies in place for managing them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 8

p.7

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: 2623368 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Old Bank Buildings, East Street, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 0AJ

p.9

Inspector

Sharron Escott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2623368 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10