Children's Home, Residential special school run by Young Foundations Limited in Northumberland

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2607536 1 Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to eight children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is located on the same site as a small independent school that is owned and managed by this provider. The inspector only inspected the social care provision at this school.

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This monitoring visit

Following the previous monitoring visit on 20 January 2022, Ofsted issued two compliance notices under regulation 12 and regulation 13. In addition, a restriction of accommodation notice was issued.

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the provider’s response to these notices.

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This monitoring visit

At the time of the visit, two children were living in the home. One child had recently left the home to return to live with their family. The manager and staff supported this child’s move well.

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This monitoring visit

Children maintain positive relationships with the staff. These positive relationships enable the children to seek out the support of the staff when they are feeling unhappy and distressed. The staff respond appropriately to promote the children’s safety at these times. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 2 Children continue to make progress with their education, and the staff ensure that the children’s health needs are met.

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This monitoring visit

The manager takes effective action when she identifies that she and her staff are unable to keep the children safe. She works with the placing local authorities to ensure that children can be moved on in a planned way to a more suitable home.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s care plans and risk assessments have been reviewed. However, these remain inconsistent, so they do not provide the staff with up-to-date information, or the strategies they must use to keep the children safe. In addition, the strategies are often written in a way that puts the onus on the child to make the changes to their behaviour rather than on the support that the staff will provide.

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This monitoring visit

The children’s daily records are poor. They do not link to the children’s care plans to help the staff evaluate whether the children are meeting any of their set targets. In addition, children’s key-work sessions are still reactive and are not planned or linked to the children’s care plans to ensure that they are effective. Furthermore, the staff do not always record incidents promptly. This could affect the accuracy of the records. All of which leaves children vulnerable and potentially at risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

The manager is knowledgeable, but she has been unable to make effective changes to practice following her review of the records and her subsequent action plan. As part of the response to the compliance notices, training for staff to help them care for children who may self-harm has taken place. However, not all staff have attended this. For those staff who have not, other training from a different provider has been organised. This means that the staff may be provided with inconsistent information about practice and different strategies to manage the children’s behaviour. This could lead to confusion for children and raise their anxieties further.

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This monitoring visit

The restriction of accommodation remains in place. The compliance notices under regulation 12 and 13 have been reissued as the provider failed to meet all of the steps identified previously in these notices.

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This monitoring visit

The senior management team acknowledged the shortfalls identified during this visit. They have put a detailed action plan in place to support the manager and staff to ensure that the outstanding actions are met quickly. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/12/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 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

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

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must review of the children’s risk assessments to ensure that they include all of the children’s known and emerging risks. They must include an up-to-date evaluation of level of risk to the child and provide the staff with strategies to manage these risks safely for the children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that there is a system in place to ensure that the home is safe and free from avoidable hazards, with particular reference to items that can be used to self-harm where the risks are known.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 3 April 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; 3 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 5 and promotes their welfare.

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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;

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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)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that there is a system in place that ensures that she can review all of the children’s case files and records to ensure that the information held is accurate and up to date.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must implement a monitoring system that identifies shortfalls in practice so that she can take the required action to address this.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that there is a system in place to ensure that the staff are aware and respond to children’s new and emerging needs and risks.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that the staff have the skills and training that they require to meet the individual needs of the children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. 3 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 6 (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the registered manager ensuring that the children’s care plans describe all of their relevant needs and the strategies that the staff must follow to meet those needs. In addition, the children’s progress needs to be tracked through the child’s care plan.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation. (Regulation 19 (1) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the use of financial sanctions.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 3 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DD

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Inspector

Susan Atkinson-Millmoor, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2607536 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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