The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House

Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 1 The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House The Woodbridge Family Centre Family Residential Assessments Ltd 2 Knot Tiers Drive, Upton, Northamptonshire NN5 4AY Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This privately run residential family centre is registered to accommodate four families (consisting of a total of five persons). The primary purpose of the centre is to carry out evidence-based assessments of parenting capacity and skills. Families are typically assessed for 12 weeks.

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Information about this residential family centre

The registered manager has recently left the service.

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre registered in December 2021. This is the centre’s first inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account

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good

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of previous inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Families benefit from a service that offers good-quality care, support and guidance. Parents receive support to help them understand their own capacity to change and the impact their behaviour has on their children. This results in improved outcomes for children. Assessment reports are evaluative and thorough. They clearly demonstrate the parents’ ability to safely care for their children. Staff responsible for the completion of written assessments are experienced and skilled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Care planning is effective. Initial placement planning meetings help the centre’s staff, the family and the social worker involved in the family’s care to identify and formulate a plan to address the parents’ strengths and weaknesses. This process helps to settle families in and helps to address some of the fears that they may have about their assessment. Plans and risk assessments are reviewed regularly, in consultation with parents, to ensure that the assessment process takes into account placement progress and considers any issues. A parent said: ‘They gave me a fair chance. They were friendly. There were lots of opportunities for me to improve. [Staff] always gave me feedback kindly. They gave me the chance to correct anything I didn’t agree with in my reports. They always wrote it down for me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Assessment tools, such as direct one-to-one sessions, explore areas such as attachment, child development, building positive relationships and addressing harmful behaviours, such as substance misuse. One parent has been learning how to put together simple nutritious meals. Assessment programmes are effective in evaluating parents’ strengths and weaknesses in caring for their children and in keeping them safe. Staff work creatively, tailoring the individual support they offer to meet parents’ learning needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents are listened to, and their requests are acted on in the development of the service. An example of this is the refurbishment of the kitchen, which was undertaken following feedback from families, who said that the space and equipment available was not suitable for communal living. Parents’ feedback about their relationships with staff was positive.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Safeguarding children is the centre’s priority. Staff receive effective training in child and vulnerable adult protection. The staff team uses professional curiosity to help ensure that parents and children are kept safe. A recent example of this is staff’s interest in understanding how a parent managed their money. This helped to uncover some concerning financial issues.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff work in partnership with other professionals very effectively. Safeguarding incidents are rare, as staff vigilance and supervision of families is effective. Staff are very familiar with safeguarding protocols and demonstrate good knowledge of the Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 3 actions to be taken in the event of a child being at risk of harm. In relation to a recent safeguarding incident, a social worker said: ‘I was happy with their [the staff’s] decision-making. They did the right thing. They resumed full supervision of the child.’

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Individualised risk assessments identify specific concerns or vulnerabilities. These issues may have an impact on parenting capacity and the safety and well-being of children. Areas typically considered may include mental health concerns, domestic violence and abuse, and/or substance misuse. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and they address all known and emerging risks effectively.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The centre has effective arrangements in place for recruiting staff. New staff are recruited safely, and this helps to ensure that only suitable people work with children and vulnerable adults.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

There are effective systems in place to monitor health and safety in the building. Fire evacuation procedures are practised regularly, however, there is no log to show which families have participated in a drill, meaning that some families may not have had this opportunity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The centre’s registered manager has recently left and recruitment to fill this position is ongoing. Continuity in leadership and management arrangements is maintained for families and staff through the company’s director, who was previously the centre’s responsible individual, acting as interim manager until the manager’s position is filled. A new responsible individual has recently taken up his post. Members of the current senior leadership team are well qualified and they have considerable experience in children’s social care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Policies, systems and processes are becoming embedded. Management monitoring systems are effective and the new responsible individual has plans to further enhance these. He has already identified that not all relevant events have been notified to Ofsted. This limits the regulator’s ability to monitor the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Families receive support from an experienced and committed staff team. There is a good mix of skill and expertise, with a team who specialise in family support and a team who specialise in early years development. Staff reflect regularly on their practice. They benefit from an effective induction, regular supervision and annual appraisals. Staff training opportunities are plentiful. The centre offers placements to social work students. This further enhances the skills of the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A strength of the service is the use of critical reflection. When shortfalls or areas for development are identified, a lessons learned debrief takes place and steps are taken to improve practice. Currently, there is no system in place to review the effectiveness of actions taken after a lessons learned debrief. Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 4 Complaints from parents are treated seriously and ongoing feedback is provided to families before a final outcome is reached. On one occasion, a complaint from a professional was not investigated thoroughly enough. This was a missed opportunity to consider how improvements to staff practice could be made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The majority of staff feel valued and well supported. New staff receive a structured induction and probationary review. They receive ongoing training and appraisal of their performance. The company recognises the benefit of face-to-face training. For example, the director has recently undertaken a medication training course which will enable her to directly train staff in the safe administration of medication. Staff receive regular supervision, which provides them with the opportunity to reflect on their practice. Team meetings are an opportunity for staff to evaluate their interventions with families and to review their planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The centre is housed in a large property on a new housing estate. Bedrooms are spacious and the majority have private bathrooms. Children and their parents enjoy spending time in the lounge and kitchen area. There is a garden and a playroom which is equipped with toys and sensory items. Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that any complaint made under the complaints procedure is fully investigated. (Regulation 20 (2)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

If, in relation to a residential family centre, any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 26 (1)) 31 July 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure there is an emergency escape plan that all staff, parents and children are familiar with and have practised so they know what to do in an emergency. (Residential family centre NMS 11.6)  The registered person should take action to address any issue of concern that they identify or which is raised with them. This relates to ensuring that any action taken to address any issue of concern is reviewed for effectiveness. (Residential family centre NMS 19.7)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 6

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: The Woodbridge Family Centre Family Residential Assessments Ltd

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 28 Hever Close, Northampton NN5 4WN

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Residential family centre details

Email address: lmwape@thewoodbridgefamilycentre.org.uk

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Inspector

Catherine Honey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: The Woodbridge Family Centre Upton House 7 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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