Children's Home run by Aegis 247 Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 1 Registered provider: Aegis 24/7 Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by a private provider. The home is registered to provide care for up to one child who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2021.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 3

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improvement to be good

Two children have lived at the home since it opened. Moves into the home are well planned for. Children are welcomed by staff and receive information about living at the home through key work and a children’s guide. The manager provides training for staff around children’s specific needs. One child’s placement has been short- lived; however, the child currently living at the home is settling in well.

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improvement to be good

Children engage in regular key-work sessions. Key workers understand their role and make plans to discuss pertinent topics. The current child is building trusting relationships with staff; he feels listened to and talks positively about living at the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff understand children’s education levels and create informal learning opportunities in the home. The current child is now learning to prepare meals and tell the time. The manager advocates for children who are newly placed and have been out of education for a significant time. Senior managers escalate challenges around timescales for securing education placements, and an interim in-house tutor has been identified as a result.

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improvement to be good

The staff promote children’s interests and support their hobbies. The current child enjoys scootering and regularly goes to the skate park. Staff recognise children’s progress and skills, and they celebrate these achievements.

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improvement to be good

The current child is now more responsive to health professionals; he is trying new foods and is learning about eating a more nutritious diet. The child arrived as a smoker and is engaging in cessation within the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff build positive relationships with family members and facilitate travel arrangements. The current child frequently spends time with people who are significant to his life despite living a considerable distance from the home area. This enables children to develop their identity and maintain familial relationships.

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improvement to be good

The manager has not always implemented effective safeguards to protect children and staff following allegations about staff practice or completed a debrief with staff and children. Records relating to the manager having challenging conversations about the management of allegations or providing assurances of staff’s understanding of their responsibilities in relation to whistle-blowing are poor. On one occasion, information shared with the designated officer has not been followed up. This impedes learning being achieved from incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 4 Individual risk assessments and behaviour management plans are not consistently reviewed and do not include all the necessary information about how to manage children’s risky behaviours. Support strategies are not always clear or followed by staff. Sharp objects, including knives, are locked up and out of children’s reach.

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improvement to be good

An incident following a butter knife used to threaten staff led to the temporary removal of all knives and forks, which were replaced by disposable cutlery. A more proactive response from the manager at making this change could have avoided further threats.

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improvement to be good

Challenges made to children regarding smoking in their bedroom have been poorly timed. As a result, prolonged incidents have occurred, and children and staff have been exposed to avoidable situations of potential harm. However, having noted that a child had been smoking in the home, the staff were proactive and responded by ensuring they were informed about fire safety. This included reviewing personal evacuation plans and providing a fire blanket and fire-resistant bedding in the child’s bedroom. Requests are made for external support from local fire services in line with children’s presenting risks. Additional in-house routine environment assessments are taking place. This has increased the safety of the child and staff at the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff receive training in managing challenging behaviour and how to use physical intervention proportionately. The staff have utilised police intervention when children’s behaviour escalates. However, children are not criminalised as a result. Key work, consequences and rewards are used to promote children’s good behaviours and provide restorative justice. Due to the short length of children’s placements, the impact of this support cannot be fully assessed.

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improvement to be good

Risks relating to substance misuse and missing from care have reduced for children since living at the home. Missing-from-home protocols provide the necessary detail for the police and staff should a child go missing from home. The current child is now able to have free time in the community to develop his independence.

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good

The guidance in organisational safeguarding policies is not explicit or thoroughly followed by the manager, who is responsible for overseeing safeguarding practice in the home. The direction provided to staff and the decisions made in managing allegations have been poor, which increases the vulnerability of both children and staff. Records relating to allegations and actions taken as a result are not recorded appropriately or thoroughly. This leaves both staff and children vulnerable.

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good

Arrangements for staff supervision and professional development are unclear. Supervision sessions are not used as a forum to address concerns or for reflective practice. Documents do not show a review of the progress staff make as part of their probationary period. The need for staff to complete appropriate qualifications for their role is not understood or challenged. Opportunities are therefore missed to develop the staff’s skills and learning. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 5 A statement of purpose defines the service and ethos of care provided at the home. The document contains inaccurate information regarding accessible therapeutic support and limited details about the staff who work at the home. This provides unreliable and inaccurate information for stakeholders who make decisions about the home’s suitability to meet children’s needs. Quality assurance processes are ineffective. The manager has implemented routine

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good

monitoring and comments on incidents when they occur. These reviews lack analysis and are not thorough in identifying incorrect information recorded. The manager’s oversight has not enabled prompt action to address the shortfalls and findings of this inspection. One safeguarding notification has not been sent, which has an impact on the regulator’s ability to monitor safeguarding practice effectively at the home. The staff access mandatory training and feel supported by managers. They are passionate about the care they provide and have high aspirations for children. The team has established positive working relationships with supporting professionals and family within a short period of time.

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good

The manager uses information shared from placing authorities to inform the home’s care planning. Managers lead bespoke training to prepare staff for children’s admissions. The manager recognises when the home is not meeting children’s needs, when they are not settling or making progress and takes decisive action in the child’s best interests.

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good

The atmosphere is homely, and space in the small home is used to its full potential. Staff support children in looking after their bedrooms. Efficient systems are in place to ensure that the physical environment is well maintained and that children have a safe space to live.

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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 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— that staff— 11 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 6 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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to risk assessments accounting for clear risk- reduction strategies and staff following de-escalation methods as described in behaviour management plans. Staff are to understand their responsibilities for safeguarding children; when allegations are made, staff are to respond accordingly and managers are to ensure policies and procedures are followed.

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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

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and 11 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager ensuring that staff receive performance related supervision and that post-incident debriefs are fully documented.

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Requirement Due date

The manager must ensure that practices in the home are reflective of the home’s statement of purpose, inclusive of staff skills, support and access to a therapist.

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Requirement Due date

The manager is to analyse the care provided through incident evaluations and internal quality-assurance processes.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29 (4))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the registered manager’s professional development is monitored by the responsible individual and that the registered manager effectively exercises the responsibility of being the home’s designated safeguarding lead. 11 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or 11 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 8 in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to care staff being enrolled on and working towards the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager reviewing staff’s progress and development throughout their probationary period and documenting this within the personnel records. 11 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for liaison and co-operation with any local authority which are, or may be, making a child protection enquiry in relation to a child accommodated in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider reviewing the guidance stipulated in the home’s safeguarding policy and the managers implementing systems to monitor the actions taken and outcomes when allegations are made. 11 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 9 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry). (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(d)(i)(ii)) 11 February 2022

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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: 2630701 10

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Beverley Jackson

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Inspector

Alex Howitt, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 11 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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