Children's Home run by 2nd Nurture Limited in St Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 1 SC413223 Registered provider: 2nd Nurture Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home. It is registered to provide care for one child. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2014.

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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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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.

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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 for children’s home: SC413223 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2019 Full Good 31/07/2018 Full Good 13/12/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved on from the home. One child moved into supported accommodation after a significant period of time living in the home. The other child successfully moved back to their family home, as part of their agreed plan. The child currently living in the home has only been living there for a short period of time. Staff conversations with the inspector demonstrated that they know her well and are gradually building relationships with her.

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improvement to be good

The child is enrolled in full-time education, although they have on occasions refused to attend school for short periods of time. The registered manager is developing relationships with school staff and relevant professionals to ensure that the child has the right support in place to help them reach their full potential. One education professional said: ‘They [staff] attend all the scheduled meetings and will come in at short notice if needed. They are very supportive.’

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improvement to be good

Staff use key-worker sessions to capture significant conversations with the child regarding a range of topics. These records capture the child’s wishes, views and feelings and are signed by the child.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff team recognise the importance of the child being supported to maintain contact with people who are important to her. Shortly after moving into the home, the child was required to undertake a period of isolation due to COVID-19 restrictions. She was supported to stay in contact with people important to her through video calls. The staff were able to support and talk to the child about the importance of adhering to the restrictions in place. She was very responsive to this and did remain in the home for the required period.

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improvement to be good

The child has a behaviour management plan in place which provides staff with strategies of how to support her. These plans will be updated as the staff team gets to know the child and any new behaviour emerges.

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improvement to be good

The home is working with other professionals to ensure that the child’s educational needs are being addressed. Further work is planned with additional services to support her emotional well-being and help her to understand her past experiences.

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improvement to be good

There has been a serious incident when a child left the home during the night, without the knowledge of staff. As a result of this incident, door sensors have been fitted to the home’s front door. However, no sensor was fitted to the back door of the home. This means that a child is still able to leave the property without staff being alerted. This risk had not been identified prior to this inspection. The Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 4 registered manager made arrangements for sensors to be fitted to the rear of the property during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Since living at the home the child has been missing-from home. However, there has been a reduction recently in the number of missing-from-home incidents. Staff are proactive in searching for her. They contact family and friends to try to locate her and notify professionals without delay. Staff spoken to were able to describe the steps to take when the child goes missing. However, the written guidance does not reflect all the actions staff describe. Furthermore, the actions staff take to keep the child safe when she is missing are not consistently recorded. This prevents the registered manager from monitoring staff practice effectively or ensuring that staff are consistent in their practice to safeguard the child. Return home interviews ensure that the child has the opportunity to talk to someone independent of the home about the reasons for going missing.

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls were identified in the recruitment of staff. In one of the records sampled, discrepancies were noted between a reference and information on the member of staff’s application form, regarding their work history. This had not been identified by the registered manager during the recruitment process. Furthermore, suitable checks have not been completed for staff identified in the home’s statement of purpose as ‘on call’ staff. Additionally, these staff have not undertaken recent training. Consequently, decisions made about the child out of hours are being made by staff who have not been suitably vetted or trained.

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good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager. She manages a small team of consistent staff who care for the child.

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good

Staff say that they feel supported. They are able to approach the registered manager with any issues or concerns they may have. When incidents have arisen, the registered manager has taken steps to increase staffing levels, enabling staff to safely manage the child.

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good

The registered manager uses impact assessments to look at potential admissions to the home. Children move into the home in a planned way, and the registered manager contacts other professionals as part of the admission process. However, for one child, the assessment did not address the need for staff training in self-injury to enable them to confidently manage this risk, despite the child displaying this behaviour. As a result, the child moved into the home without staff having received specific training to meet their needs.

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good

Formal supervisions are undertaken regularly. Appraisals have been undertaken annually although they do not include feedback from other agencies or children. This is a missed opportunity for the registered manager to use feedback from other professionals to improve the quality of care in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 5 The home’s statement of purpose has recently been reviewed. However, it does not include the home’s approach to the use of door sensors as a means of monitoring and surveillance. Furthermore, consent from the child’s placing authority for use of this measure has not yet been received.

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good

The home has an independent visitor in place to provide external scrutiny of the home. However, the content of reports gives limited feedback to the provider. This does not support the registered manager to develop practice within the home.

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good

The registered manager has completed a review of the quality of care which includes feedback from key stakeholders. However, this report lacks evaluation of the service and does not support the registered manager to drive improvements in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 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, the 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that arrangements in place to manage risk are assessed, particularly in relation to the risks of children going missing, and that plans include clear strategies for staff to follow. 12 January 2022

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff have the necessary training to undertake their role. 12 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 7 The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home’s statement of purpose is accurate and up to date, and includes the home’s approach to monitoring and surveillance. 12 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the use of any means of monitoring and surveillance. 12 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32 (1))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that relevant checks are undertaken on all staff in order to ensure children’s safety. 12 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates in particular to incidents when a child goes missing from the home. 12 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 8 (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals consider the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and of

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Recommendations

children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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 for children’s home: SC413223 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: 2nd Nurture Limited

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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