Children's home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 1 SC442401 Registered provider: ROC Northwest Limited Full inspection 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 five children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2016.

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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

Date of last inspection: 3 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2020 Full Good 06/02/2019 Full Good 19/01/2018 Full Outstanding 18/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from well-planned care from staff who are committed to giving them the best possible chances of success. Meaningful relationships provide a foundation for care that helps children develop a sense of belonging. One child said, ‘I was made to feel welcome from the start. Staff tried to get to know me, and I got the feeling that they want me here. I feel safe and cared for.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning and care practice are highly individualised. The home’s records are of a good quality and provide a good insight into each child’s needs, progress and development. The manager and staff routinely engage children in meaningful discussions and activities that enable them to influence the decisions affecting their care. When necessary, staff will advocate on behalf of the children to ensure that decisions made are in the best interest of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are ambitious for the children and provide the support they need to attend and achieve in school or college. Strong links that promote high levels of attendance and success are maintained with each child’s education placement. This arrangement has been effective in ensuring that the complex needs and behaviour of one child can be fully supported in a mainstream primary school setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enjoy spending time with the children, and the children enjoy purposeful activities, including charity and fundraising events. Children spoke about taking advantage of the neighbouring countryside to go for walks and bike rides in addition to trips to the seaside, trampolining and the cinema. One child spoke with enthusiasm about his interest in fishing while showing the inspector his photos of the fish he had caught.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a strong focus on helping children prepare for independence. Managers and staff provide a bespoke package of support that enables children to develop age- appropriate life skills and independence. They work closely with the placing authority to promote good pathway planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain, rebuild and improve relationships with the important people in their lives. This includes supporting children to spend time in the community with their friends. As a result, some children are enjoying the same social experiences as their peers.

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

Effective safeguarding practice contributes to each child’s safety and well-being. Individual risks and vulnerabilities are captured in detailed risk assessments. These are fully understood and implemented by staff. Past behaviours that have placed children at risk are carefully considered. An educational approach, high levels of Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 4 supervision and emotional support are having a positive impact in reducing unsafe behaviours such as self-harm.

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

Children say that they feel safe. They demonstrate an age-appropriate awareness of risk and most children make the right choices about keeping themselves safe. On the occasions that children do place themselves at risk, such as going missing from home, staff make every effort to secure a safe return for the child. However, children are not always offered an independent return interview after being missing from care.

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

The manager has a good knowledge of safeguarding and takes her responsibilities seriously in this respect. She can identify key safeguarding agencies and has used these effectively when managing safeguarding concerns. Children benefit from living in a structured environment that is based on clear expectations, boundaries and planned daily routines. The staff act as any reasonable parent would do and are good role models. They look for opportunities to acknowledge, praise and reward positive behaviour and take a supportive approach when managing challenging behaviour. Staff are trained in the use of physical restraint, which is only used as a last resort. When restraint has been used, it has been done in a supportive way, with staff showing high levels of patience, resilience and care. Several staff have been recruited since the last inspection. Overall, the organisation is adhering to safer recruitment practice by ensuring that suitable checks are

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

completed for each new starter. However, one member of staff started working in the home before checks with the disclosure and barring service (DBS) had been done. No child was harmed because of this oversight, and the manager took full responsibility for it.

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

Children are protected by a range of health and safety procedures and checks. Risk assessments are reviewed annually, including the home’s safe area assessment. The annual review of the fire risk assessment is overdue. The manager is in the process of identifying a date for this and is aware of the need to consider the potential risks associated with storage next to the boiler and the lock on the patio door.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by an experienced and qualified manager who is focused on getting the best possible outcomes for the children. She has high expectations of her staff team, whose members also demonstrate a passion for their work. Children said that the best thing about living at the home was the manager and the staff. One child described his experience of living at the home as ‘being part of a kind, happy and loving family’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and her deputy maintain good oversight of staff practice, care planning and children’s progress. Internal quality assurance processes and regulation 44 reports are used to identify and address shortfalls. Children are at the centre of Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 5 these activities, with each child contributing to their own individual development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run in a way that responds to each child’s known and emerging needs. Rotas are planned in a way that ensures that there is always sufficient staff on duty to accommodate individual activities, appointments and contact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are highly supportive of each other and are complimentary about the support they receive from the registered manager. Staff have been well inducted into the home and receive purposeful supervision that supports professional development. They have continued to access a good range of mandatory and needs-led training throughout the pandemic. However, several staff have not completed training in working with children who self-harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Suitable arrangements are in place to ensure that unqualified staff can attain a qualification. However, the manager has yet to assess the components of a qualification held by one staff member to ensure it that it is relevant to their role. Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 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, the 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 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; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

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

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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) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 6 May 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s fire risk assessment is reviewed, considering the potential risks associated with storage next to the boiler, and whether the lock on the patio door needs changing if this form parts of a fire escape route. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that the responsible authority fulfil their statutory obligation to provide their child with and independent return home interview when their child returns to the home after being missing from care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that staff complete any training as well as training in working with children who self-harm. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 7  The registered person should complete a thorough assessment when considering whether the qualifications of staff are the equivalent of those used in regulation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.13)

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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: SC442401 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: ROC Northwest Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Paul Scott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC442401 9 regulates and inspects 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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