Children's Home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Kirklees

Inspection report children's home: 1236450 1 Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It provides a specialist service for children with autism spectrum disorder and/or other complex needs. The home also provides care for children who may have learning and/or emotional difficulties. It can accommodate up to five children from the age of six to 18 years. The planning for care is individually tailored to address the specific and changing needs of the child.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post is vacant. The operations manager is overseeing the home until a manager is recruited.

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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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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people , taking into account good

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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2020

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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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Inspection dates: 7 and 8 February 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1236450 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Full Outstanding 18/12/2018 Full Outstanding 13/06/2017 Full Outstanding 08/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: 1236450 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lived at the home for a long length of time and have formed trusting relationships with staff. Together, they enjoy a variety of activities, including sensory play, walking and raising money for charity. This gives children a chance to develop their relationships with staff and to socialise. Staff capture these special moments by taking photos of the children while they are having fun and making memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s complex needs and are able to work effectively with them. Staff deliver care that is tailored specifically to the individual child and is in line with their care plans. This means that the children are receiving consistent care. This has resulted in trusting and secure relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children communicate in a variety of ways with the staff, including verbally, through communication in print, and, on occasions, through using the Picture Exchange Communication System. This enables children to express their views, emotions and wishes for what activities they would like to do. This helps children to express themselves no matter what their communication style is.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication between leaders and managers, school, social workers and parents is positive. This cohesive approach is strengthened by the input from specialist services, such as epilepsy nurses and the child and adolescent mental health services. These services enable staff to provide appropriate care to meet the child’s individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in education and attend specialist provisions that meet their individual needs. Due to the support from staff at the home and school, children are making progress in education. One teacher said, ‘[Name of child] is making remarkable progress in school, and the development in their speech is very pleasing.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are supported to attend their routine health appointments. They are encouraged by staff to eat a balanced diet and are active. This is promoting the children’s health and well-being, which aids a healthy lifestyle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff with family time. One child is now visiting their parent overnight. This means children are spending time with the ones who mean the most to them.

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

Staff make sure that children feel comfortable and safe in their home and in the community. Stable relationships mean that children are making sustained progress as a result of living in the home. Inspection report children's home: 1236450 4 Staff work in line with the children’s individualised behaviour support plans and are consistent with their approach. This reinforces boundaries and routines to the children. As a result, incidents of unwanted behaviour are reducing in frequency.

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

Some physical intervention documents are well recorded. They give a good level of information about the incident and what staff did to reduce risk of harm to the child. The child and staff are debriefed following interventions. However, staff do not routinely record that they are monitoring children’s breathing during and following restrictive physical interventions. This does not help to ensure that the child’s safety is being consistently monitored.

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

The registered person has oversight of agency workers’ recruitment files. However, the registered person does not verify their references before they start to work in the home. This is carried out by the agency. This limits the registered person’s oversight of agency workers.

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

Leaders, managers and staff can identify changes in moods, and, on some occasions, are able to stop disruption before it escalates. Children’s emotional stability and their ability to cope when angry are continuously improving. This is evident as there are very little incidents in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The operations manager is in day-to-day charge of the home until a manager is recruited. She has a vast understanding of the children living at the home and has a positive relationship with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Allegations against staff are investigated in consultation with the local authority designated officer and the children’s social workers. Leaders and managers ensure that the appropriate actions are taken to prevent misconduct reoccurring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The operations manager will professionally challenge others when needed. This ensures that the children have access to the support they need to achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive high levels of support and encouragement from leaders and managers. This includes regular supervision and team meetings. Both are reflective and encourage staff development. All staff spoken to at the inspection said that their supervision sessions are reflective and that they learn from them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Monitoring systems are in place which highlight any shortfalls. Where shortfalls were identified during the inspection, the operations manager was quick to act. Leaders and managers have development plans in place for the home. This means that the home is evolving to continually meet the child’s needs. Inspection report children's home: 1236450 5

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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—

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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)) 10 March 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that good employment practice is maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 1236450 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: CareTech Community Services Limited, 5th Floor Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Gemma McDonnell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1236450 7 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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