Children's Home run by 1848 Ltd in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 1 Registered provider: 1848 Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider. The statement of purpose states that the home can provide care for up to three children. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/06/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 3

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improvement to be good

The outcomes and overall progress for children are mixed. The education arrangements for one child are poor. Leaders and managers have been persistent in escalating their concerns about this with the placing authority and the headteacher of the virtual school. Despite their efforts, the child only receives four hours a week of education. Two children have completed formal education. The team is supporting both children to pursue further education and employment opportunities that they have expressed an interest in.

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improvement to be good

Children’s care plans do not align well with aims and targets set out in their local authority care plans. Leaders and managers recognise that the internal care plans and targets are not child-friendly. They confirmed plans are in place to review these documents. The current plans do not have specific, measurable, achievable or relevant targets and they focus on the child’s history and not their future. This means staff are not provided with the guidance they need to maximise children’s progress.

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improvement to be good

Children’s healthcare needs are prioritised and responded to daily. However, in recent months, one child’s mental health has deteriorated. Well-being discussions and debriefs after incidents do take place. Despite this good work, information gained from these discussions has not been fully considered. As a result, indicators that the child’s emotional well-being has declined have not been formally identified, and consequently additional supportivemeasures have not been considered.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff team are well informed about the children’s life experiences. They use this knowledge effectively to respond to children’s daily needs. Children’s interests, talents and hobbies are promoted well. Children enjoy days out, playing their musical instruments and maintaining contact with family and friends who are important to them. Children are helped to develop and manage relationships with family members.

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improvement to be good

The children live in a home that is well maintained, warm and homely. They enjoy spending time in their bedrooms and in the communal rooms, which are comfortable spaces to relax in. One-to-one staffing means that children are provided with continuity of care.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding concerns are recognised and responded to well because staff attend regular safeguarding training courses and apply their learning in practice. Staff are confident in recognising concerns when a child may be at risk of harm, and they Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 4 respond swiftly. Records are well maintained. However, leaders and managers have not reported all notifiable safeguarding concerns to Ofsted as required.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to take responsibility for their own well-being and safety. Children know how to make a complaint and do so feeling confident that their concerns are taken seriously. Records confirm this. Negative consequences are rare, and those imposed are proportionate and restorative. Children’s positive choices are now recognised and rewards are personalised. Fast food and visits to high street coffee shops as rewards for positive choices are no longer used, and instead a healthier and more individualised approach is promoted.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home incidents are rare, with one reported event since the last inspection. Staff followed missing-from-home protocols well and worked closely with safeguarding agencies to secure the child’s return to the home. The child was provided with an opportunity to discuss why she went missing, who she was with and how she felt. However, the local authority failed to meet their statutory responsibility, despite being asked to provide the child with an independent return home interview.

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improvement to be good

Appropriate action has been taken in response to the one medication error. The internal investigation identified lessons to learn and set actions to prevent other medication errors being made.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager regularly reviews the risks in the home’s locality. Staff are provided with the information they need to identify, manage and mitigate those risks.

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good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been registered with Ofsted. The registered manager understands how the home is performing and is working hard to lead and manage the home effectively. She has a good understanding of the team’s strengths and weaknesses and provides the team members with the support they need to fulfil their roles effectively. Staff told the inspector that the support and guidance provided by the registered manager and management team have been welcomed and appreciated.

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good

Staff training is managed centrally. As a result, the registered manager does not have effective oversight of the staff’s training needs. Records show that not all staff are compliant with basic mandatory or specialist training to meet the current needs of the children. Leaders and managers recognise the current system is not working and confirmed there are plans are in place to move the management of staff training to the registered manager.

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good

Team meetings take place regularly and are usually well attended. Discussions held focus primarily on organisational needs, record-keeping, roles and responsibilities, and in-house routines and expectations. These meetings do not provide staff with Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 5 an opportunity to collectively review the children’s progress or consider their suggestions.

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good

The registered manager and staff are provided with regular formal supervision. These discussions focus on staff welfare and organisational changes and expectations. Discussions held encourage individuals to share their views about the quality of care they provide to children. Despite this good work, not all supervisions provide professional challenge or consider individual’s ongoing professional development.

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good

The home’s development plan is extensive. It identifies a broad range of development opportunities for the home and the quality of care provided. Children are consulted, and their requests are included in this plan. However, the children’s suggestions are hard to locate within this extensive document and therefore hard to prioritise.

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good

Management monitoring requires improvement. The manager’s monitoring report does not contain the relevant data in a way that is easy to follow. It does not set out lessons learned, an analysis of trends and patterns or how to improve the quality of services offered. Similarly, the registered manager’s monitoring of daily records can be improved. She has not identified or rectified weaknesses in reports written by staff. Records are not always clear, concise and evaluative.

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good

The home currently uses an electronic recording system. However, poor Wi-Fi connections regularly prevent staff from accessing important records. Similarly, these ongoing technical issues and a complex passcode system hindered the inspector’s prompt access to required documentation during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 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, 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome such barriers; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment opportunities. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to leaders and managers continuing to escalate their concerns to ensure all children are provided with a full-time education programme. 12 September

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1)

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Requirement Due date

requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(i)(ii)) 12 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 7 This particularly refers to aligning the home’s care plans with the local authority care plan aims and objectives and ensuring targets set are specific, measurable, achievable and relevant.

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met;

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Requirement Due date

and 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)(d)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

the registered person should ensure that the manager’s monitoring is effective and evaluative;

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Requirement Due date

ensure all records completed by staff are factually accurate, clear and concise; 12 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 8 ensure all staff complete all the basic mandatory training and specialist courses to meet the needs of the children they care for;

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Requirement Due date

ensure children’s requests are easily located in the home’s development plan.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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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)(e)) 1 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that electronic records can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2491059 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Old Bank Buildings, East Street, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 0AJ

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Inspector

Sharron Escott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2491059 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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