Children's Home run by New Roots Children’s Services Limited in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 1 Registered provider: New Roots Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a small private organisation. It provides care for up to three children with social, emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2020.

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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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 04/06/2019 Full Good 11/02/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child is currently living in the home and is making progress. Care planning arrangements for the child are good. Staff understand the child’s individual needs and tailor the care they provide accordingly. Because of this, the current child has been living at the home for a period of three years and is enjoying the stability of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have embedded a culture of learning and educational attainment. They have been successful in supporting the child to achieve 100% attendance at school and he is exceeding in educational targets for some of his subjects. One teacher said that the communication from the home is effective and that staff promote the child’s educational needs. As a result, the child is thriving in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Thoughtful staff create positive memories with the child and are building a photo memory book of the child’s time at the home. The child has enjoyed visits to the beach, theme parks and the zoo. These experiences have supported the child’s overall development and have helped the child to develop positive and trusting relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have been successful in supporting the child with his health needs. Staff use play to help him to develop his understanding and personal care skills. As a result, the health of the child has improved, and he can now brush his teeth without assistance from staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child knows that staff care about him. The registered manager and staff seek the views of the child through regular resident meetings and questionnaires. This helps the registered manager to address any worries or concerns that the child may be experiencing while living at the home. As a result, the child knows that his views are listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have strong and effective working relationships with external agencies. One social worker said that she is astonished by the progress made by the child and that communication is excellent. Consequently, the child benefits from a good care planning arrangement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff team have been effective in overcoming the difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and when the child tested positive with the virus. The registered manager and deputy manager supported the child during the period of self-isolation and helped him to understand the reason for self- isolation. This ensured that the child had consistent staff caring for him during an emotionally challenging time. This reassured the child that staff will keep him safe. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of the child’s behaviours. They know the child well and can identify his risks and vulnerabilities. This means that they can use strategies effectively to promote positive behaviour. An individualised care plan sets out clearly what action should be taken to keep the child safe. This means that staff have been successful in reducing the severity of any incidents.

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

Staff are imaginative in the way they provide one-to-one support to the child. For example, direct work is embedded into the day-to-day care provided to the child and staff empower the child to make better choices. This has helped the child to understand the impact his behaviour has on others, as well as himself. This means that the child now seeks help and guidance from staff instead of expressing himself in a way that causes harm to himself and others.

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

The child benefits from a good level of individual support from two members of staff at all times. This helps the child to develop trust with staff and a relationship with them that is based on mutual respect. The placing authority commissioning manager said that the child feels safe at the home and staff have gone above and beyond in meeting his needs.

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

In the main, safeguarding procedures have been carried out effectively. There is one isolated incident where the registered manager has not reported an allegation of abuse to the local authority designated officer. The registered manager said that this was because he used professional judgement and decided that this did not require reporting to the local authority designated officer. As a result, the registered manager undermined his own internal safeguarding procedures and the child’s risk assessment. The registered manager took swift action to resolve this during the inspection.

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

There is one isolated incident, where the registered manager has not made a notification to Ofsted relating to allegation made by the child, this is because the registered manager has not considered it to be serious incidents. This prevents the regulator from having oversight of serious incidents in the home, in line with regulation.

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

Two new staff members have not been recruited in accordance with the organisation’s internal safer recruitment and vetting process. One staff member has gaps in their employment history which have not been explored, and another staff member’s employment references do not match the dates of employment as stated on their application. This means that there is a potential for unsuitable staff to be employed to care for a vulnerable child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is aspirational and highly passionate about improving the outcomes for the child. He is supported by two competent deputy managers and a staff team who share his vision in achieving positive outcomes for this child. The Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 5 registered manager and staff team are in the process of embedding a therapeutic model of care. This has improved the quality of care provided to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been successful in providing staff with supervision that helps them to understand how to carry out their role effectively and build resilience. All staff speak highly of the support they receive from the management. The staff team is stable. Therefore, the child receives a positive experience of living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have successfully completed therapeutic training, which has enhanced their knowledge and skills. The staff team and the registered manager consult with the child and adolescent mental health services regularly, to develop various behaviour management strategies. This has helped staff to look beyond the behaviours displayed by the child. The psychotherapist told the inspector that this has helped them to determine the child’s long-term requirements in terms of his emotional, mental and behavioural needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child’s placing authority does not receive the independent person’s monitoring report. In addition, the independent person has not always identified shortfalls. For example, the independent person has not reported an allegation to the local authority designated officer and did not seek feedback from external agencies during his visit.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not considered all known local geographical risks when considering the location of the home. These include potential risks associated with the open field opposite the home and known areas which are triggers for the child to display antisocial and sexualised behaviour. This has a potential to impact on children’s welfare and safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s workforce development plan does not provide guidance in relation to staff induction, the staff probationary review process, the time frame and timescales of supervision and how the registered manager addresses poor performance of staff. This is a missed opportunity for the registered manager to demonstrate that staff performance is kept to a high standard to meet the needs of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In the main, the registered manager’s oversight is well considered. However, he has not captured all his reflection and lessons learned that have informed future practice as part of his monitoring, reviewing and evaluating of the child’s progress and the development of staff and the home. This undermines the effectiveness of his own internal monitoring system. As a result, the requirement for regulation 44 has not been met and the requirement for regulation 40 has been raised because the recommendation was not met at the last monitoring visit. Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 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, 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

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

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager and staff ensuring that all allegations of abuse relating to staff are reported to the local authority designated officer. 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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that all staff have undergone a safer recruitment check, including gaps in employment history being explored. 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 29 April 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 7 This relates to the registered manager ensuring that serious incidents are reported to Ofsted without delay.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

the placing authorities of children. (Regulation 44 (2)(a) (5) (7)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeat requirement. The registered person must ensure that when the independent person carries out visits to the home, they seek feedback from professionals, children and staff. In addition, they must ensure that they identify any safeguarding concerns in the report and share the report with the child’s placing authority. 29 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s workforce development plan provides clear guidance and details in relation to the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training. It should include the process for managing and improving poor performance of staff and the process and timescales for supervision of practice. The registered person should keep appropriate records for all staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 10.8, page 53)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s location risk assessment has considered all known local geographical risks, including those which have been presented since the child has been living at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 15.1, page 64) Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 8

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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: 1277656 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Roots Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 139, Stoney Lane, Merseyside L35 9JY

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1277656 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 looked children looked, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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