Children's home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 1 Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private organisation and can care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. According to its statement of purpose: ‘the home is for young people and children with individualised needs who may benefit from living in a smaller home that supports their needs’. 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

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 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 inadequate

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 2

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improvement to be good

The admissions process for some children does not always consider whether the staff have the skills and experience necessary to meet a child’s identified needs. This has had an impact on slowing the progress for some children as the staff do not always understand and provide an appropriate response to their social and emotional needs.

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improvement to be good

One child has made some progress in his educational attainment since living at the home, However, at present, he is not engaging in any education or employment. This child spends most of his day away from the home, and the registered manager has not guided or supported the staff team to establish necessary and appropriate expectations and boundaries for this child to encourage him to re-engage.

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improvement to be good

Other children’s educational plans are well thought out and supported by the staff. These children are making strong progress and are excelling in their studies.

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improvement to be good

Children who frequently went missing from the home are no longer doing so. There has been a significant reduction in their episodes of going missing from home, due to the support and encouragement they receive from the staff. Similarly, children who have previously self-harmed are being encouraged to find safer ways to cope with their feelings. Such incidents are reducing. The staff use key-work sessions well to encourage the children to engage with their wider professional network to get the support that they need for their emotional needs.

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improvement to be good

Gaps in the safer recruitment vetting of some staff pose potential risks and, although concerns about any misconduct are investigated, one example was not followed up with a referral to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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improvement to be good

Risk management plans to guide staff on keeping children safe are in place and being followed. However, these plans are not always updated when changes are agreed by leaders. Consequently, some staff are not aware of the changes, and this results in inconsistent practice.

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improvement to be good

One child with a significant history of exploitation has been successfully supported and encouraged by the staff to significantly decrease their episodes of missing from home. However, some risks remain due to the staff not being fully aware of this child’s whereabouts when the child is away from the home for extended periods of the day. Leaders and managers are not swift as risks and behaviours change. Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 3 Responses to children when they do go missing from home are robust. Return home interviews are completed and linked through documents that show the efforts of the staff to respond to and support such incidents. Children feel cared for and understand that the staff worry about them. This has resulted in a decrease of incidents of missing from home for the children.

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improvement to be good

The management oversight of the staff’s responses to children’s behaviours does identify errors when these occur. For example, the improper use of a physical restraint was explored and discussed with the child. However, no such reflection occurred with the staff member, and this is a missed learning opportunity to prevent a similar occurrence happening again.

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improvement to be good

The home is well presented, with personal touches and is comfortably furnished for the children. Checks and balances in respect of health and safety matters are generally sound. However, a lapse in the home’s gas safety maintenance had not been picked up by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to respond to the areas for improvement that were identified following the registration visit. These included minor gaps in safe recruitment, the need to update the statement of purpose, and the need to ensure that specific areas of the home were made safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A registered manager remains in post and is also the registered manager of another of the provider’s children’s homes. However, due to wider organisational issues, she has also been providing cover and support to some of the provider’s other children’s homes. Senior leadership has not acted swiftly or strategically and has failed to identify and mitigate the risks of the registered manager’s time being spread so thinly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a consequence, numerous aspects of the registered manager’s role and responsibilities have fallen behind, including administrative tasks, the staff team’s supervision and appraisal, team meetings and monitoring tasks. The registered manager has not received supervision and appraisal from senior leaders with sufficient frequency. This is particularly relevant, given the additional workload that she has been carrying.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

More recently, the registered manager has returned to her substantive post and is already in the process of implementing plans to steer the home back on course. Staff are on board with this approach and remain committed to supporting the registered manager and the children through this next stage. Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 4

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a) (2)(a)(x)) 31 March 2022

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(d)) 25 February 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 5 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

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

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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; and

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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)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

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)) 31 March 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.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 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) (3)(d)) 14 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

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)) 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. 31 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 6 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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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: 2629097 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Muchatuta

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Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2629097 8 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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