Children's home run by Arc-HD Services Ltd in Eastleigh

Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 1 SC420410 Registered provider: Arc-HD Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children. The home is operated by a private provider. There were three children living in the home during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2019. At the time of the inspection, the registered manager was on leave and the responsible individual supported the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 30/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/10/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/04/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in a homely and comfortable home. Their bedrooms are personalised according to their choices and individual tastes. Children receive support from a consistent, stable staff team. Staff encourage children to pursue their interests. Children enjoy baking, modelling clay and planting flowers in the garden. Scrapbooks capture children’s memories. Annotated photographs help children remember the context of their memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know children well and children are able to express their views and feelings with them. Children explore their identity and staff help them to understand themselves and their emotions. Staff identify and meet children’s health needs, with access to regular appointments. Children participate in education and have ambition for the future. Children develop their self-care and life skills. This includes cooking, with support from staff, which helps to prepare them for their future lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to live together but for the most part they live separately alongside each other. Sufficient staffing is in place to achieve this without children’s individual needs being compromised. A combination of events has disrupted some relationships between the children. Staff are alert to these issues and plans are in place to address them. There has been one complaint from a child, which received a swift response with clear action taken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Time with family is prioritised. As a result, children maintain important relationships and friendships. Family members feel that their children are safe in the home and that staff keep them up to date with how their children are.

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

Children can identify key staff members who they feel they can talk to about concerns or worries. Staff record important conversations and identify any safeguarding concerns. Risk assessments are updated regularly, reflecting incidents that may have occurred. Children who have lived in the home for longer periods are settled. Staff help the children to stay safe, and behaviour is well managed. Because staff know children well, they know how to respond in ways that will make a difference and help calm situations.

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

Staff respond appropriately when a child is missing from the home. Clear chronologies of missing-from-home incidents are maintained. Staff proactively search for the child to enable their swift return to the home. Leaders and managers work collaboratively with the local authority to review safety plans and ensure that actions taken work towards improving children’s safety. Safeguarding concerns for one child are recorded. However, the records are not always completed in full and do not always identify what support the child will receive and how that will be reviewed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 4 Staff recruitment follows safer recruitment processes. The physical environment is well maintained and safety is considered.

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good

An experienced manager leads the home. The manager is in regular communication with children’s schools, social workers and family members to ensure that the children’s needs are met.

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good

Staff feel supported by managers and enjoy caring for the children. Staff have access to regular training and team meetings and receive regular supervision. However, supervision does not provide staff with the opportunity to critically reflect on their roles. Opportunities are missed to provide supportive challenge to address some use of language that places responsibility on children for their actions. Records from team meetings do not always reflect the discussion that has taken place. As a result, staff who are not present cannot review child-centred conversations effectively. Staff training does not include training specific to children’s needs. Because training is not reviewed in supervision, it is not clear how managers understand its effectiveness.

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good

Management oversight and tracking of children’s care does not review effectively the impact of actions taken with regards to one child. Records of consequences lack critical oversight by managers to understand their effectiveness and enable wider learning. Managers do not consider the suitability of children continuing to live together on an ongoing basis, meaning opportunities to identify challenges between children are missed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 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, 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

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 that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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

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)(b)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that training and supervision are used to support staff to develop their role in caring for children. The registered person should also ensure that team meetings are used effectively to support a cohesive team approach towards children’s care. The registered person should also ensure that there are effective systems in place to review the 23 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 6 ongoing relationships between children and how these are supported in the home. The registered person should also ensure that tracking and monitoring are undertaken to understand the effectiveness of measures used in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records of consequences contain a full review of the effectiveness in order to contribute towards the wider understanding of their helpfulness for children. 23 September

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that language used about children ‘putting themselves at risk’ is supportively challenged, with staff offered the opportunity to critically reflect and put into action training which helps them to better understand the risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: SC420410 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Arc HD Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Arc HD Services, Wessex House, Upper Market Street, Eastleigh SO50 9FD

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Inspectors

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Kendra Bell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC420410 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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