Children's Home run by Hopedale Children and Family Services Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 1 SC444869 Registered provider: Hopedale Children and Family Services Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and provides care for up to 15 children who have suffered adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has two managers. One manager has been registered with Ofsted since 22 September 2020 and is suitably qualified. The second manager, who has been in post since 14 February 2022, has not yet applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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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 date: 21 March 2022

Date of last inspection: 22 November 2021

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Inspection date: 21 March 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 21 March 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judged that it has sustained effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, four children have moved out of the home and five children have moved in. At the time of this inspection, 13 children were living at the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager does not always carry out an effective assessment of the needs of children who move into the home in an emergency. This has resulted in one child moving into the home despite there being no identified education arrangements in place. Some children have moved in without all the required statutory documentation being available to staff. This means that staff have not had all the required information to meet the needs of the child.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some risk assessments are vague and do not provide clear guidance to staff. For example, one risk assessment does not clearly set out how staff should monitor a child who has epilepsy during bath time. Furthermore, staff do not always follow agreed strategies to protect children. For example, staff have allowed a child to spend time with a family member despite the child’s risk assessment identifying safeguarding reasons why this should not happen.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Not all staff have received the required training to safely care for children. Gaps in training include epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and autism spectrum disorder. This means that staff are not suitably trained to meet the behavioural and health needs of children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The provider’s behaviour management policy states that ground-based physical interventions should only be carried out by staff who are trained to use such holds. Despite this, some staff use ground-based physical intervention without first completing this training. This places children at greater risk when staff use ground- based holds.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff do not record the steps they take to avoid the need for a physical intervention. Furthermore, they do not record the description of de-escalation techniques used. This is a missed opportunity to learn from these incidents, which includes the review of effective and ineffective behaviour management strategies used with children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager has not taken effective action to address shortfalls identified by the fire safety officer. For example, most fire doors in the children’s bedrooms do not have a fire intumescent strip. The failure to monitor and act on the fire safety of the home means that the children currently living in the home would be at an increased risk of harm should there be a fire. Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 3 The independent person’s reports do not provide an accurate assessment of the quality of care provided to children. Managers are aware of this shortfall and are planning to appoint a new independent person.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A second manager was appointed on the 14 February 2022 to assist the registered manager. It is planned that they will also register with Ofsted so that the home will have two registered managers. The appointment of this second manager has not yet resulted in tangible improvements to the leadership of the home. In part, this is because the new manager has only been in place for a short period of time. Both managers have clear lines of accountability and are supervised by the responsible individual.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager has made improvements to the maintenance of the home. The home is clean, tidy and well maintained. All children have suitable furniture in their bedrooms. As a result, children live in an environment they take pride in and enjoy.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children enjoy positive and trusting relationships with staff. One child told the inspector that he likes the staff and that they help him with his education and behaviour. The inspector observed positive interactions between staff and children. Because of this, children enjoy a positive experience of living in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff encourage and promote positive reinforcement through regular one-to-one support sessions. Staff help children to express themselves in a way that does not cause harm to others as well as themselves. As a result, incidents of bullying and physical aggression towards the other children have reduced.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager is effective in his partnership working with external agencies. The registered manager has escalated concerns to professionals in the best interest of the child. This has helped the social worker ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved for the child, with support from the registered manager. One social worker spoke positively of the registered manager and staff. Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/11/2019 Full Good 14/01/2019 Full Outstanding 19/09/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This is a third repeat requirement. This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the children’s risk assessments provide clear guidance to staff on how to respond to incidents. 29 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; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 6 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; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeat requirement. This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the staff have the training and skills to carry out their roles and responsibilities.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeat requirement. This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the impact risk assessment of the child moving into the home has considered the risks of all the children living at the home. 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that all fire safety doors are compliant with fire safety regulations. 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (2) (3)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeat requirement. This specifically relates to the registered managers ensuring that staff carry out all ground- based holds in accordance with their internal behaviour management policy and that records reflect what steps were taken to avoid the use of restraint.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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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. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that there is an independent visitor in place to make sure that there is 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 8 effective external scrutiny of the quality of care provided to the children.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeat requirement. This specifically relates to the registered manager using his six-monthly monitoring quality of care report to drive improvements to the care provided to children. 29 April 2022

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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: SC444869 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hopedale Children and Family Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hopedale House, Off West Drive Cheddleton, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 7ED

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Inspectors

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Melanie Griffin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC444869 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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