Children's home run by Good Foundations Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 1 SC419808 Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is run by a private organisation. It is registered to care for up to four children who may have social or emotional needs and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since October 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspector spoke to children as part of the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 28 October 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the inadequate judgement made at the full inspection on 28 October 2021, a compliance notice was issued under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000, in relationship to regulation 12, the protection of children standard. At the monitoring visit which took place on 14 December 2021, the registered provider had made sufficient progress to meet the steps of the compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/10/2021 Full Inadequate 18/12/2019 Full Outstanding 05/12/2018 Full Outstanding 06/12/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they enjoy living at the home. The staff create a homely environment and build positive and trusting relationships with children. Children are consulted about their wishes and feelings. They make positive progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The needs of children already living at the home are not fully considered as part of the process for new children moving into the home. The staff arrange for children to visit the home before moving in, and support children to visit new accommodation when they are due to move on. However, these important transitions are not recorded in the children’s plans. This is a recording issue and has not directly impacted on the quality of care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand children’s barriers to learning if they have not accessed education for a long time. They support children to develop routines and to understand the importance of education, to encourage them to re-engage. Children who attend school full time are making positive progress and enjoy after-school clubs. Staff work closely with schools to ensure that children’s needs are being supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff promote healthy lifestyles to enhance children’s physical and emotional well-being. Staff work with external services and help children to access extra support. However, some children’s plans do not capture all important information from their reports. This has the potential to compromise children’s future health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff monitor children’s relationships with significant people in their lives and share any concerns with social workers. This helps to ensure that children’s experiences are safe and positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to try new activities that enrich their life experiences. They are thrilled that the staff remember requests that they make several months in advance about special events, such as birthday treats.

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

The staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and vulnerabilities. They are more confident in their understanding and ability to challenge local authorities’ care plans when children’s safety is compromised. Risk assessments are now dynamic documents. The staff review and update plans in response to any incidents.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home have reduced. Information about the actions that staff take in response to a child going missing is recorded in several locations. This makes it difficult to review the action taken and whether the manager Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 4 highlights how practice can be improved. Independent return home interviews are now taking place.

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

The staff work closely with other agencies to put safety plans in place for children who may display self-injurious behaviours. They encourage children to talk about their feelings or worries and have introduced other means of communication for children, such as writing a diary or sending text messages on a mobile phone provided for this purpose.

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

Any safeguarding concerns that children disclose are appropriately and promptly reported to relevant agencies. The staff work with children to understand risks, for example, in relation to using the internet. The staff tell children about the outcome of any investigations. This helps children to feel safe and to know that the staff will respond to their concerns.

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

Children respond well to boundaries that are put in place to keep them safe and to manage their behaviour. As a result, sanctions and physical interventions have not been used.

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

Safer recruitment procedures are followed. However, the manager does not review new employees’ files before they start work in the home.

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good

An experienced manager leads the home. She has a good understanding of the needs of the children. However, she has not consistently ensured that documentation in the home clearly demonstrates the progress and experiences of children. This is a missed opportunity to show children’s progress.

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good

The staff team is stable and motivated to provide children with good-quality care. The team feels well supported by leaders and managers.

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good

The manager now ensures that local authorities provide the relevant plans that the staff need to carefully plan children’s care. Plans cross reference to the direct work that the staff complete with children in relation to specific areas of their lives. However, records are not always signed by the author and do not always record the progress that children are making each month. This makes it difficult for children to understand how they are helped to achieve.

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good

The staff have access to a range of training to meet the individual needs of children. However, not all staff have completed mandatory training or had the opportunity to undertake refresher training to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to care consistently for children.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose does not include current information about services for children. The manager and staff are not aware of the local offer, setting Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 5 out the support available for children with special education needs or disabilities. This is a missed opportunity to access additional resources for children.

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good

Supervision is now regular, in accordance with the provider’s policy. The staff report that they reflect on their practice in supervision, although this is not always recorded clearly. Additional supervisions are held with individual staff members to address specific practice issues.

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good

A new provider completes independent monitoring of the home to support improvement to practice in the home. The report would be improved by more frequent consultation with external stakeholders. The manager’s report of the quality of care has improved. This helps to identify areas for development in the team’s practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

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;

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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;

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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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the manager should ensure that all staff receive mandatory training to meet children’s needs safely. Management oversight should clearly identify and address any improvements required in staff practice. 19 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date; and 19 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 7 are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that records of when children go missing are clear about the actions that the staff have taken to locate the child, including contacting other individuals and searching for the child. All children’s records should be signed by the author.

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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.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, children’s records should include clear transition plans for children moving to or leaving the home. Children’s plans should clearly outline the work that staff will undertake to support children to achieve the outcomes as set out in local authority plans. Plans should clearly track children’s progress. 19 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff clearly record how they support children in a helpful way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that current placing authority plans are on file and seek to challenge any delay in receiving them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.3)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose is reviewed and updated and includes information about the local offer for children with special educational needs or disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that supervision records include discussions with staff that reflect on their practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment files are reviewed to ensure appropriate checks are completed before new staff start work in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC419808 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspector

Karen Willson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC419808 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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