Children's home run by SureCare Residential Limited – The White Trees Group

Inspection report children's home: 2525634 1 Registered provider: Sure Care Residential Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home, which is run by a private organisation, provides care for up to five children. The home’s overall aim is to offer support through therapeutic services to children who have experienced trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in February 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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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2525634 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2525634 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and help children to engage with their education. The children all attend education. Staff are sensitive to children’s individual needs and are aware of other influences that have an impact on the children’s ability to learn. The staff support re-engagement for children who were out of education for a long time before they moved to the home. The staff’s understanding and support enable the children to progress and learn at a pace that is appropriate to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand that children can experience difficult circumstances and situations in relation to their families. Staff enabled one child to have time with a relative who lives a considerable distance away from the home. Parents feel supported to have quality time with their children. One parent said, ‘The home is fantastic. My child is thriving.’ Staff give good support to help maintain relationships that are important to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are supported by a well-being team that plans key work to address sensitive issues for children, including bereavement and loss. The key-work plan includes how staff need to approach the subject and how to manage the session in a therapeutically informed way. This means that children experience support, nurture and help, to process difficult emotions safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to develop independence skills. The children have appropriate and individualised living-skills targets, and the staff review these regularly. One child uses public transport independently to get to and from her education. Well-assessed positive risk-taking enables children to develop the skills that they will need as they become more independent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that children move out of the home in a planned way whenever possible. On one occasion, this was not possible for safety reasons, and the manager considered the needs of all the children. The manager completed a review and reflected on the circumstances of when the child had to leave the home without planning. Children moving into the home have planned moves and are involved with the planning. Children’s individual needs are considered, including the potential impact on the children already living at the home. Children feel prepared to move in and out of the home. When this has not been possible, the manager has been open to learning from the situation to help prevent recurrence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious, suitably decorated and has various communal rooms. There is a vibrant and energetic feel to the home. The kitchen is large with a table and seating area that has a very homely feel. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to their likes and tastes. The children benefit from a well-kept environment. Inspection report children's home: 2525634 4

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

Children are safeguarded and feel safe at the home. The manager has ensured that staff have appropriate training and that they understand safeguarding procedures. The staff are confident and well equipped to manage safeguarding incidents, which helps keep children safe.

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

The manager has worked closely with local police and fire officers. Children have engaged with presentations delivered by the police, about personal safety and road safety. Children have also engaged well with a local fire officer who delivered a presentation on the risks of fire. The local fire officer said that he has been impressed with how the manager manages fire risk, and that he enjoys visiting and educating the children.

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

Effective protocols give staff good guidance on managing incidents of children going missing from the home. Staff manage such incidents well and with sensitivity. Staff always welcome children back to the home and ensure that they are offered an independent return interview. One child who regularly went missing before moving to the home has not had any incidents of going missing from this home. The child said that this is because she has good relationships with staff. Following these incidents, children feel listened to and supported, and this has led to a reduction in the frequency of children going missing from the home.

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

Staff understand that physical intervention should only be used as a last resort. They use their positive relationships with the children to prevent unnecessary physical interventions. Staff support children after an intervention and encourage them to manage their feelings safely. This practice has led to a reduction in physical interventions.

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

Children have detailed and appropriate risk assessments. The risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated. However, on one occasion, staff did not follow all the actions in a child’s risk assessment. This was not detrimental to the child; however, it could leave the child more vulnerable to risk.

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

The manager has a location risk assessment to consider the risks the risks the local area may pose for children. The report is generally good, however, it has not considered the risk of gangs or the risk of the local train station in relation to county lines. This means that not all areas of risk have been thoroughly considered and could leave children vulnerable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and qualified for the role with a relevant diploma in management. He has high aspirations for children. He acts as a good role model for the staff, who benefit from his guidance and knowledge. Inspection report children's home: 2525634 5 Staff said that they feel valued and respected. Staff have regular good-quality supervision. The manager has individual development plans for staff to promote their development. The manager supports staff well. In addition, staff have access to an internal well-being service and an independent phone counselling service. This support helps to create a stable and resilient staff team that can provide good care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training to help them to understand and meet children’s individual needs. Staff said that the training is good. However, after their initial induction training, they do not have refresher training in managing self-harm. County lines training is planned but has not yet been delivered. This means that staff may not have full understanding in these areas or be able to fully support children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses a range of monitoring tools to review the effectiveness of the home. He uses information from reviews to develop and implement an action plan. The manager writes a detailed six-monthly review of the home. However, the report does not include feedback from children, social workers, staff or parents. The manager makes improvements at the home and improves the quality of care for the children. However, lack of feedback from relevant people means that improvement opportunities may be limited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not ensured that the independent person has consistently obtained feedback from children, parents, staff or social workers. This means that the manager does not have a regular overview of this important feedback. Inspection report children's home: 2525634 6

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Statutory requirement

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

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives, and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 29 October 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, ensure that all actions stated in children’s risk assessments are implemented. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff access training in understanding and managing self-harm and county lines. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. In particular, ensure that views from children, parents, staff and other professionals are included in the regulation 45 report. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. In particular, ensure that risks relating to gang activity and county lines are considered. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) Inspection report children's home: 2525634 7

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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: 2525634 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SureCare Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Snap Factory, Twyford Industrial Estate, Twyford Road, Bishop’s Stortford CM23 3LJ

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Inspector

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2525634 9 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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