Children's home run by Homes2Inspire Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2534696 1 Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. It provides care for up to two children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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 children’s home: 2534696 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/07/2021 Full Good 25/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2534696 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For most children who have either lived in this home, or continue to do so, their placements continue, regardless of challenges or the complexity of their individual difficulties. The manager and the staff team’s commitment and dedication to children mean that children experience stability and security. For some, this is the first time they have experienced these in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress children make educationally is variable. One child successfully completed a health and social care course. This was a significant achievement for them. For another child, who has been really struggling to fully engage with education, the manager and the staff team have been relentless in their efforts to address this. In the interim, while the right school is identified, the staff team ensures that the child has a daily routine and that they participate in a range of activities that will assist with the reintegration back into school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team supports children to take good care of their physical health. A healthy diet and regular physical activity have helped one child to lose weight and become fitter. More could be done, however, to educate children about the importance of following health advice regarding specific health conditions so that they can reap the benefits of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Because of the high levels of encouragement and support provided by the staff team, children engage in a range of enriching and enjoyable activities. Praise and celebration of achievements help children to feel good about themselves. This is resulting in improved levels of confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Support provided to an older child has helped them to move on successfully to the next stage of their life. Now an adult, this young person continues to keep in touch with the staff team. The young person told the inspector that he considers the staff team to be ‘family’. He praised staff by saying: ‘They really helped me with the things I needed help with. They helped me become successful.’

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

Staff follow behaviour and risk management plans that are regularly reviewed and updated, which helps to keep children safe.

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

Proactive behaviour support strategies used by staff are mostly effective. High levels of praise and targeted incentives motivate children. Clear and consistent routines and boundaries give children certainty and security. Regular consultation with the child and adolescent mental health service helps the staff team to better understand the reasons behind some children’s behaviours and better support them to regulate their emotions. Inspection report children’s home: 2534696 4 As a result of the above, recourse to physical intervention is infrequent. This is a testament to the staff team’s skill in de-escalating challenging situations. On the few occasions where physical intervention has been necessary to safeguard a child, staff involved were debriefed, and there was management oversight to monitor the impact and effectiveness of restraint practice. Debriefs with children have not taken place. This is a missed opportunity to learn from how the physical interventions

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

Children engage in regular key work sessions in relation to some of their specific vulnerabilities and challenges. However, following significant incidents, staff do not consistently discuss these with children to help them reflect and understand how the incidents may have had an impact on their well-being.

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

Although incidents of going missing from the home have increased recently for one child, the staff team remains vigilant and follows procedures, which results in the child being welcomed home promptly and safely. Return home interviews take place and the information ascertained informs safety planning.

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

Following all incidents of children going missing from the home, staff use a tool to help them assess whether there are any potential or escalating risks in relation to all forms of exploitation. While this is positive, sometimes the potential risks identified do not then translate into a clear risk management plan that outlines potential triggers and the actions to take to reduce the risk of exploitation.

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

Thorough checks and scrutiny of any new prospective employee at the home help to ensure that only those adults who are suitable to work with children are employed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An enthusiastic, aspirational and insightful manager leads the home well. She knows the children in her care extremely well and she is committed to providing them with the safe, consistent care that they need and deserve. The staff feel valued and share their manager’s passion to improve children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is strong. Without exception, every external professional spoken to during the inspection complimented the manager on her levels of communication and effective multi-agency working. This is helping to ensure that children receive the help and support they need without delay. The manager is a strong advocate for the children she cares for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Robust placement matching assessments and careful transition planning gave a new child who moved into the home the best opportunity to settle. However, when external factors beyond the manager’s control resulted in very difficult dynamics developing between peers, the manager took prompt action to resolve this. By carefully balancing the complex needs of both children living in the home, the manager minimised the impact on each of them and established the best possible resolution and outcome for them both. Inspection report children’s home: 2534696 5 All staff have completed a full range of mandatory and additional training. This, and regular team meetings, is assisting the staff team to understand the range of issues affecting children in the home and to respond effectively to their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality and frequency of supervision sessions for staff are variable. While these are stronger for more senior staff, some support workers are not receiving the level or quality of individual support through supervision to help them reflect on and develop their practice. Inspection report children’s home: 2534696 6

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Recommendations

 Children’s homes staff should encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. This specifically relates to staff educating children about the importance of following health advice, and staff supporting children to reflect and learn from incidents that have had an impact on their safety and well-being. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, the placement plan, agreed between the home and the placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risk on a day-to-day basis. This specifically relates to staff updating behaviour risk management plans following the completion of exploitation risk

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Recommendations

assessments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint. Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and

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Recommendations

experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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 children’s home: 2534696 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes2inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Craig Whitchurch

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Inspector

Rachel Griffiths, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2534696 8 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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