Children's home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 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

This home is operated by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. It provides care for up to five children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Leaders have recently changed the statement of purpose. They now provide 12- week assessments.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a manager who is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/05/2021 Full Good 09/12/2019 Full Outstanding 12/03/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 3

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improvement to be good

This home is not yet good because there have been concerns over safeguarding arrangements for children. Children’s relationships have, at times, been difficult. Staff have not always exercised vigilance over children’s whereabouts and children have been missing from care. These areas require improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

Children are generally happy and have positive relationships with staff. The atmosphere in the home is relaxed, warm and friendly. One child said, ‘The staff are lovely. They are always there if I need to speak to them.’

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improvement to be good

Children make small but significant steps towards progress in the 12 weeks they are at the home. However, their progress can sometimes fluctuate. Staff persevere in building very positive relationships and providing support to children.

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improvement to be good

Children feel they are listened to. They say that they can share any worries with staff. Children have chosen not to have formal children’s meetings. They feel able to express their views without the need for a meeting, which can feel formal. The manager ensures children are invited to and involved in relevant professional meetings about them and seeks the children’s views on matters affecting their lives.

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improvement to be good

Children learn independence skills, for example, cooking and baking. Staff support children to develop these skills further. Staff support children to learn new skills that will prepare them for their eventual move to adult life. This increases their self- esteem and confidence.

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improvement to be good

Children have education arrangements in place. Before moving to this home, some children had missed a lot of formal education. Staff work to increase children’s self- esteem and build their confidence. They sensitively support children to engage in education and help children to understand the importance of educational progress for their futures.

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improvement to be good

Children’s relationships have been unsafe at times. Interactions between children have become strained. Managers have worked with the relevant local authorities to identify suitable alternative placements for children. However, this has not always been done in a planned way, resulting in one child moving to an unregistered provision. There has been organisational learning from this. As a result, managers have a better understanding of the importance of carefully matching children to live together. Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 4 Staff failed to protect children from potential risk of harm. Two children were able to leave the home at night and access the home’s garden for around 15 minutes without the knowledge of staff. Staff failed to follow the risk management plans for children. An in-depth investigation into these events was undertaken. The manager has implemented a plan and worked with staff to minimise the likelihood of this

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improvement to be good

The frequency of children going missing from care has been high. Children have not always had return home interviews. Additionally, multi-agency meetings have not taken place in accordance with missing-from-care procedures. This prevents staff and external professionals having a clear assessment of the risks children may have been exposed to.

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improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments do not provide staff with guidance on managing their risks and vulnerabilities. For example, self-harm is a known risk but guidance to staff on the action to take if a child harms themselves is very basic. This fails to ensure that staff manage these risks in a consistent manner and that appropriate support is provided to children to help them keep safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the potential risks and dangers posed to children in the community. This is because the manager undertakes a detailed location risk assessment. The manager has taken into account the views of partner agencies. This has helped to create strong guidance to keep children safe.

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good

The manager is motivated, passionate and committed to improving the quality of care for children. She has led the home through a difficult period. She is ambitious and determined to make continuous improvement.

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good

There are shortfalls in management monitoring and oversight. Weaknesses include the oversight of risk assessments and ensuring return home interviews are carried out. The focus of the manager has been on supporting children through an unsettled period and keeping the team focused. As a result, some management tasks have not been completed.

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good

The manager has developed improved relationships with key safeguarding agencies. She regularly attends meetings about children. Involved professionals report that communication is good and incidents are reported quickly. The manager and leaders recognise the importance of obtaining important information from professionals when reviewing referrals for new admissions to the home. This helps to ensure robust matching with other children and against staff skills. Children’s risk assessments now contain the most relevant information.

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good

Staff receive good support from the manager. Staff attend regular team meetings and have individual supervision. However, the quality of supervision is variable and lacks reflection. Consequently, opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice or to Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 5 be challenged appropriately may be lost. Staff say that they feel supported and enjoy their jobs. One staff member said, ‘She is the best manager I’ve ever had. She always makes time for the children and the staff team, even when she’s really busy.’

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good

The manager has worked hard to repair the relationships with the local community. She has been successful in achieving this. For example, they are fundraising for charity and organising coffee mornings. This will help the home become even more established in the local community. Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that risk assessments reflect the needs and identified risks of the children and include guidance for staff. Additionally, this relates to the placement matching of children in the home. 1 September 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 7 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 promotes their welfare.

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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

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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers embedding monitoring systems aimed at improving the quality of care provided. 1 September 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and 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 Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 8

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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: 1255743 9

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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: Matthew Earnshaw

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1255743 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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