Children's home run by Young Generation

Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 1 SC028460 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care and accommodation for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home provides care to children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2002.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2021 Full Good 08/04/2019 Full Good 09/04/2018 Full Good 15/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good experiences and make steady progress from their starting points. They share mutually trusting relationships with staff. A child said, ‘Staff came to see me when I was in hospital. It was great, they gave me a big hug.’ The home’s continuing focus on providing care to children that is more therapeutic in approach has a positive impact on the progress and experiences of children. Staff know individual children well and work diligently to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are treated with respect and dignity. Staff meet children’s identity needs well. This is particularly the case for issues around gender and sexual identity. Children have good opportunities to share their wishes and feelings about the home and how it is run. Staff encourage them to make day-to-day choices. Children’s meetings and key-work sessions ensure that children contribute to shaping how the home is run.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are aware of how to make complaints, but do not do so, preferring to speak directly with staff instead.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to live healthy lifestyles. Staff register children with primary care services and encourage them to keep medical appointments and follow treatment plans. Children have access to specialist healthcare professionals as required. Staff’s management of medication is safe and appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive excellent support that promotes their positive mental health. The home provides a number of innovative therapeutic services that help to encourage children’s emotional well-being. These include weekly sessions with the organisation’s counsellor, regular assisted therapeutic dog therapy and direct work with an art therapist. This approach to care is largely effective. Children’s emotional well-being shows improvement the longer they remain in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are effective in minimising the risk of COVID-19 within the home. Children benefit from clear guidance and preventative measures in place which help to keep children, staff and others free from infection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that appropriate educational resources are in place to support children’s learning. When children are not attending school, staff devise bespoke learning opportunities for them. For example, staff encourage children to use educational workbooks. This ensures that children continue to learn while they are awaiting enrolment in formal education. Children benefit from staff’s consistent and effective communication with education professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Older children are prepared well for adulthood. The home’s independence programme helps children to develop essential daily living skills. This includes tasks such as laundry, shopping and meal preparation. Staff encourage and support Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 4 children to apply for jobs and apprenticeships when this is what they wish to do.

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

Children say that they feel safe. Their safety and well-being are at the centre of practice at the home. Staff’s therapeutic approach to care has a positive impact on reducing risks. This is particularly the case in staff’s management of self-harm incidents. Staff have a clear understanding of the organisation’s child protection policies and procedures. This helps to keep children safe.

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

Risk assessments identify known and anticipated risks to children. Staff keep these under review and up to date. Assessments include strategies that help to reduce risks. Staff receive bespoke training in key safeguarding issues, for example, drug and alcohol misuse, self-harm incidents and gang affiliation. Children are also encouraged to undertake training in issues such as healthy relationships and child sexual exploitation. This is effective in reducing some children’s risk-taking behaviour.

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

Staff promote positive behaviour and children largely adhere to the house rules. Staff’s supervision of children is good, and they manage children’s behaviour well. This promotes the protection of children. Since the last inspection, there have been a number of critical incidents, which staff have managed well. Staff do not restrain children.

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

Staff conduct bedroom searches if they believe there are objects that may pose a risk to children. Room searches are conducted appropriately and in line with the home’s policies. As required, staff observe children in their rooms at regular intervals. This ensures that they are safe and not causing harm to themselves.

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

Children benefit from clear boundaries set by staff which help to keep children safe. Staff are familiar with missing person protocols and they take effective action if children are missing or are away from the home without permission. Staff’s communication with the police is consistent. This ensures that there is a coordinated effort to encourage the safe return of children.

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

Staff work effectively with other safeguarding professionals to ensure that children are kept safe. Staff’s communication with partners is frequent and they highlight placements issues as soon as they arise. Managers participate in regular professional network meetings that explore safeguarding concerns and how to best to resolve these. This helps to keep children safe from harm.

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

Staff recruitment and vetting practices are appropriate and safe. Staff personnel files contain comprehensive information about staff wanting to work at the home. This ensures that potential new staff have the necessary skills and training to work with children.

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

The home’s premises are comfortable and meet children’s accommodation needs. Staff conduct regular health and safety checks to confirm that the building is safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 5 Communal areas are decorated with positive affirmations, children’s artwork and photos of celebrations and social events. Children are comfortable in their surroundings and enjoy personalising their bedrooms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management of the home are strong. The registered manager has managed the home for several years and is supported by a deputy manager and senior staff. Managers have high ambitions for the home’s development and high aspirations for what children can achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s monitoring and review systems are good. Managers undertake regular monitoring exercises. These explore most aspects of the running of the home and offer some insight into the quality of the service. Managers are able to chart effectively the progress children are making. However, monthly monitoring reports as required by the regulations are not consistently forwarded to Ofsted, and do not always contain feedback from stakeholders. Furthermore, safeguarding notifications to Ofsted do not always contain clear and concise information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case records are organised and outline well the work being completed with children, their progress and any placement issues. Staff encourage children to review information written about them, as one child was seen to do during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team works effectively and sensitively with children. Staffing ratios are appropriate to meet the individual needs of each child. When staff identify high risk, additional support staff are promptly made available. This ensures that children are kept safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide good support to the staff team. Staff receive regular, meaningful supervision and annual appraisals. A member of staff said, ‘I have to say, I’m very much supported by managers. Supervision is just what I need. It leaves me feeling very different. It’s refreshing.’ The support of managers leads to the effective development of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training opportunities are very good and cover a range of issues. This allows staff to provide children with safe care that meets their specific needs. Staff training is moving towards being held face to face. This had not been the case in recent months due to COVID-19 restrictions. Staff training workshops are bespoke and tailored to address emerging issues for children. This helps to improve staff’s understanding and management of relevant care issues as they arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers prioritise the needs of children. The home’s care planning process is effective. Children’s outcomes improve from their starting points and their experiences are positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is meeting the aims and objectives as stated in its statement of purpose. Managers and staff share good working relationships with other professionals and Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 6 parents. This ensures that all parties are aware of placement issues and developments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A local authority social worker said, ‘The staff team are brilliant. My young person speaks very highly of them; they would be torn apart if the placement came to an end. Communication is good, staff consult before they take action, and their reports are written within minutes of incidents happening. Safeguarding plans are live documents that are constantly reviewed. There’s a sense of stability.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 7

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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 registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; 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.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 1 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 8 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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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

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 1 May 2022

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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: SC028460 9

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC028460 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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