Children's Home run by Step Up Children and Family Services Ltd in Essex

Inspection report children's home: 1271182 1 Registered provider: Foundations Children & Family Services 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 organisation and provides care for up to five children aged from eight to 17 who have experienced trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 26 January 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

Date of last inspection: 4 December 2019

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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: 1271182 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/12/2019 Full Good 08/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1271182 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently two children living at the home. One of the children moved into the home one week prior to the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child had gaps in her education before moving to the home. She now attends her education place and is engaging well. The other child has applied to an appropriate education provision since moving into the home. In the meantime, he is schooled at the home with a structured timetable. Staff do not allow drift in education. They support children to feel confident to learn and encourage them to make good progress in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have positive relationships with the children. They work hard to ensure that children feel trusted and valued. One child said that the staff make the home feel like a family home. The staff care about the children and have a nurturing approach. This helps children to build positive and respectful relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and parents benefit from the input of a family coordinator. The children meet regularly with the family coordinator to explore any concerns or suggestions in relation to children’s time with their friends or family. One parent said that the family coordinator is excellent and has helped him to build a more healthy and consistent relationship with his child. Parents and children have direct access to the family coordinator. Children and parents have a good support network. Children are helped to develop healthy relationships and spend quality time with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from an on-site counsellor and have weekly counselling sessions. Children are helped to explore and manage difficult emotions in a safe way. The children have direct access to the counsellor for emotional support in between the weekly sessions. This helps them to build a trusting relationship with the counsellor and to engage in processing their difficult experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to explore their interests and take part in clubs and hobbies that they enjoy. One child is a deputy leader within a cadets group and they enjoy weekly dance sessions. Staff are encouraging one child to explore what hobby he would like to pursue. The children experience a range of activities including theme park trips and beach trips, and activities to promote healthy living including swimming and trampolining.

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

Children are safeguarded and they feel safe at the home. The manager has ensured that staff have the appropriate training and that they understand the safeguarding procedures. Staff are confident and well equipped to manage safeguarding incidents, which helps to keep the children safe. Inspection report children's home: 1271182 4 The manager has made improvements to risk assessments. These focus on preventative measures to help keep children safe and give staff clear and thorough guidance. The staff manage risk competently and with sensitivity.

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

Staff rarely use physical intervention; they use their positive relationships to manage challenging situations. On one occasion, physical intervention was used to prevent self-injurious behaviours. The intervention was used appropriately for minimal time. Staff’s meaningful relationships with children help to avoid the need to use physical intervention regularly.

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

Staff have appropriate training to support children with complex mental health needs. Children have access to specialist mental health services. One child has recently reduced self-injurious behaviours. Consequently, access to a mental health crisis team is no longer needed. Children feel understood and helped and able to use alternative coping strategies to manage difficult emotions.

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

There has been a high number of incidents of children going missing from the home. The staff manage these incidents very well and are welcoming and nurturing when children return to the home. The manager has not ensured that children are always offered an independent return interview. Children not having consistent independent return interview means that opportunities could be lost to understand why the child is going missing.

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

The manager has not ensured that all safer recruitment checks have been completed for staff. The manager does not record verbally verifying references neither has she explored a short gap in employment history on one occasion. This does not provide consistently thorough checks for new staff. This requirement was raised at the last full inspection and has been restated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and is currently working towards a diploma in management. The manager has high aspirations for children. She acts as a good role model for the staff, who benefit from her guidance and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they feel valued, respected and empowered by the manager. Staff have good-quality and regular supervision. The manager supports staff and, in addition, staff access the home’s counsellor. 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

The home has a welcoming and family feel with pictures of the children displayed throughout. The home is generally clean and tidy and has various rooms to relax in. However, one child’s bedroom has not been kept to a good enough standard. The manager has not ensured that the gardens, some of the garden decking and some of the decor in communal areas have been well maintained. The manager ensured that staff rectified some maintenance in the garden and booked in a quote for new decking during the inspection. Not maintaining these areas means that children do not have the full benefit of a well-cared-for environment. Inspection report children's home: 1271182 5 The manager has not ensured that all debriefs with staff and independent return home interviews with children are consistently recorded. On one occasion, the manager did not obtain the record of a professionals’ meeting. This means that children’s records are not accurate and do not consistently reflect decisions made by

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not ensured that the independent visitor has collated or reported regular feedback from children, parents, staff or social workers during the visitor’s monthly review of the home. This means that relevant views are not obtained regularly to inform improvements. Inspection report children's home: 1271182 6

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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 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

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all professionals’ meetings, debriefs with staff and children’s independent return interview outcomes are recorded and stored in relevant records. 19 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 19 November Inspection report children's home: 1271182 7 In particular, verbally verify references for new employees and record the outcome and ensure that employment gaps are identified and explored.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last full inspection and has been restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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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 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that regular feedback from interested parties and children is gathered and included in the report. 26 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, ensure that the gardens and decking are well maintained, and that communal areas and children’s bedrooms are maintained to a good 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 provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: 1271182 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Foundations Children & Family Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 742 New Hey Road, Huddersfield HD3 3YQ

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Inspector

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1271182 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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