Children's home run by Nuevavida Ne Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 1 Registered provider: Meadowfield Nuevavida NE Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home can care for up to three children with emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post. They are not registered with Ofsted.

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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: 2502176 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/04/2021 Full Good 27/11/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 30/04/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they feel safe and are happy in this home. They enjoy trusting relationships with those who care for them. The staff deliver personalised care that helps the children to make good progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the support that they receive from the staff. Staff have high aspirations for the children and they advocate well for them. One professional said that the home’s environment is like a ‘family’ home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to the children. They spend time with the children during their days off, so that they can participate in special events in the children’s lives. This means the children feel important, cared for and valued by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move into the home are supported with personalised plans to make the transition as smooth as possible for them. This includes gradual introductions to the staff team, the home and the other children who live in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move out of the home benefit from ongoing relationships with the staff. This includes celebrating important life events and enjoying trips out. Children who have moved on are also supported well to maintain positive relationships with those children they have lived with. This work supports the home’s ethos of creating a second family for the children, and contributes to the children’s sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children well to maintain positive relationships with their families. The manager is responsible for managing one child’s family time. The social worker said that this is because of how well the staff know the child, their family and how to keep the child safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities in the local area and the staff have forged positive relationships with the local community. Staff encourage the children to be creative when organising community and fundraising events. This enables the children to make safe friendships in their local area, and further contributes towards their sense of belonging. Children also enjoy the various activities that are required to meet the day-to-day needs of the many animals the home houses in its paddock.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have many opportunities to share their views about how the home is run. They regularly make requests to the manager and are given clear explanations of the outcome of their requests. As a result, children feel listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with their education. When children face barriers to attending their education provision, staff structure the day to include activities that are educational in nature. These opportunities help the children to develop and learn. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 4 The home is decorated to a good standard and damage is repaired quickly. However, the home’s living room is kept locked at night. There is no assessment to identify whether this is necessary, and no review in place. This restricts the children’s freedom of movement around their home, which hinders them from experiencing a truly homely environment. This was addressed by the manager during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

While most documents were up to date, several key documents were seen to contain outdated information. This oversight prevents children from receiving care in line with their current assessed needs.

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

The manager thinks about all the needs of the children living in the home when she is considering whether another child can move in. Children already living in the home are consulted as part of this process. When it is necessary for a child to move out, to keep them and others safe, staff maintain contact with the child. This ongoing support maintains a level of predictability for the child during their transition.

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

Staff escalate their concerns to keep children safe. When the staff and manager have concerns about a child’s welfare, they consult with other relevant professionals to establish their views. The staff and manager challenge professionals about unsafe decision-making.

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

When children make allegations, these are responded to quickly and are investigated using the appropriate protocols. Children are supported throughout the process and are informed of the outcome. This helps them to feel safe and listened to.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When they do, the staff follow the appropriate procedures to keep the children safe. The staff regularly share any relevant information with the police. This helps to better protect the children.

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

The staff seek to avoid criminalising the children at all costs. A local police officer commented positively that staff frequently manage difficult situations involving the children when they could defer to other agencies. One social worker said, ‘The stamina the staff show [name of child] when they are in crises is tremendous.’

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

Risks to children reduce because the staff know them well and understand their needs. When new risks emerge, the manager and staff are proactive in developing updated safety plans. However, while staff know how to keep the children safe, one child’s risk assessment was seen to contain outdated information. This may mean the child experiences unnecessary safeguarding restrictions.

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

Sanctions are only used if necessary, and recordings are detailed. However, sanctions are not always restorative in nature. This means that the children do not consistently understand the impact that their behaviour has on themselves, the staff, other children and the community that they live in. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 5 Children are rarely held, and when this happens, it is only to keep themselves or others safe. While these incidents are all clearly recorded, the restriction of movement around the home is not correctly recorded as a restraint.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated and committed to the children in her care. She has a clear vision to progress the home and she can identify its strengths. She is realistic about the areas that need to be developed and she continuously seeks ways to improve the operation of the home. This ensures that she and the staff provide a good level of care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported well by a loyal and dedicated staff team. Professionals stated that the manager and her staff ‘go above and beyond’ to meet the needs of the children. The staff team also feels exceptionally well supported by the manager and described how she is ‘inspirational’, ‘amazing’ and she ‘leads by example’. One member of staff said, ‘She is the strongest woman I know.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is visible to the children, who enjoy a positive relationship with her. The manager has clearly developed a fine balance of conducting her managerial duties while spending time with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reviews the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home annually. She identifies any new risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and highlights the strategies that must be implemented to manage these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a safer recruitment policy and process in place, which addresses any gaps in employment. The process ensures that the appropriate references and safeguarding checks are completed prior to a potential employee being offered employment. The home benefits from an experienced staff team; staff either have or are working towards the necessary qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is regular and reflective. It considers the needs of each individual child, the performance and practice of the staff member, and areas for continued development. The training needs of the staff are also considered in supervision and opportunities for professional development are provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff benefit from the organisation’s training manager, who identifies monthly training sessions that all staff must complete. This is in addition to the basic mandatory training that the provider expects the staff to complete. The training manager identifies emerging themes or areas of potential interest to enhance the team’s ability to understand and meet the individual needs of the children. The home further benefits from the use of a mental health practitioner, who said that the staff are eager to put into practice the advice and guidance she offers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 6 While the manager has an auditing system in place, this does not identify consistently and effectively any missing, conflicting and outdated information held on the children’s records. Furthermore, some of the children’s documents do not track and monitor effectively the progress that the children make. This means that

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the opportunity to identify areas where children could further develop are missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 30 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv)) 30 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that restrictions such as liberty of movement are recorded as restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.42)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s records are kept up to date, and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2502176 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nuevavida Ne Limited

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Inspector

Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2502176 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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