Children's home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Monmouthshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 1 SC470290 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated home provides care for up to three children, aged up to 18 years, with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. One child had lived there for 18 months, while the two other children had moved in within the last four months. Two children had moved out of the home during the inspection period.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/08/2019 Full Good 11/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in this home from their starting points. All three children told the inspector that they enjoy living in the home. One child identified a member of staff who they feel most comfortable in talking with, but stated they can talk to anyone.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide consistency and stability for the children. Where there have been vacancies, the staff have covered these between themselves with little reliance on agency workers, with whom the children are unfamiliar. Where the use of agency staff has been unavoidable, leaders and managers have tried to ensure the same worker has covered the shifts to provide some continuity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have strongly advocated for one child where there has been an ongoing concern around their education provision. External professionals have praised the manager for their collaboration on the issue, as well as their understanding of the child and their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children have access to the home’s psychology services, with two of the children receiving therapeutic support weekly. The third child has been offered therapeutic life-story work, but has decided not to pursue this at this time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work well with children’s families. One parent spoke of the progress their child had made in the short time they have lived in the home. This has meant that the time they are able to spend with their child has been of greater quality, and the staff have been available for support where necessary. Another carer told the inspector of the organic way in which one child is able to spend time with their sibling, and that there is a ‘two-way’ relationship between the manager and the carer in which they are equally invested.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector spoke with one child who has since left the home, but remains in regular contact and visits frequently. The child spoke highly of the support they received leading up to their move out of the home and continues to value their ongoing relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector found children to have poor habits around food, with one child often eating alone in their bedroom. While another child’s diet has improved, including their involvement with food preparation, the children’s diets do not include enough fruit and vegetables.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 4 There has been one safeguarding concern within the inspection period, when a child did not enter school after staff had dropped him off. The child remained on school premises but was not seen for two hours. Leaders and managers had not taken prompt action to liaise with the school to improve processes and reduce the possibility of this happening again.

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improvement to be good

Following the last inspection, staff received additional training in understanding criminal and sexual exploitation in order to develop their knowledge about contextual safeguarding matters and enhance their skills at caring for the children who lived in the home at that time. Staff are aware of who to report child protection concerns to within the home and externally. There have not been any incidents requiring referral to the designated officer in this inspection period.

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improvement to be good

All children in the home attend education. Although their attendance has improved since being in this home, the children do not yet have a full timetable. There are plans in place to increase the timetable for one child but similar plans are not yet in place for the other two children. When children refuse to attend education, staff try to encourage them to return. This is not always successful though and leaders and managers are not proactive enough to provide other learning opportunities in the home. The default is to remove the child’s internet privileges as a consequence and possible motivator.

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improvement to be good

There is routine practice of additional snacks and treats being stored in the office, which the children can ask for when those in the kitchen have all gone. This defeats the intended objective of helping children to develop healthy and balanced diets.

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improvement to be good

Children have positive relationships with staff and with each other. Staff use these relationships well and effectively manage to de-escalate incidents that avoid further intervention. As such, there have been no incidents of restraint since March 2021.

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good

The manager and deputy manager amended several documents during the inspection, which poses questions as to the validity of some of the evidence gathered as well as their commitment to working transparently and with integrity during the inspection.

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good

Leaders and managers can take more action to help every child to thrive and build their world. For example, one child has shown an interest in attending a gym, yet was told this was not available to him until he was 16, without further research into this or considering alternative ways to explore this interest.

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good

There are ongoing renovations in the home to improve the home environment. These include newly refurbished en suite bathrooms, and a new kitchen is planned. However, the inspector found one child’s bedroom to be below an acceptable standard. The staff have been cleaning the child’s room twice weekly, but did not Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 5 recognise that the child needs more support at this time. There is a lack of curiosity around the child’s behaviour and exploration of how issues can be addressed.

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good

Some records do not contain enough detail about the children’s routines and how staff are to care for them. Not all records have been updated promptly to record emerging risks, and the manager has not ensured that all staff have access to this information and know how to respond.

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good

Although completed, the manager’s review of the quality of care report was sent to the regulator outside of the expected timescales of 28 days.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision and report feeling supported by the manager. Staff told the inspector that they appreciate the manager’s ‘level-headed’ demeanour and find him approachable and available to them.

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good

Staff training is up to date and there are expectations for staff to continue their professional development with relevant courses provided. Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(c)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans, behaviour management plans and risk assessments are reviewed in order to provide new and temporary staff with clear, concise and current information about how to manage and mitigate risks and meet the children’s current needs. 18 November

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies; 28 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 7 participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s interests are facilitated, providing opportunities for them to develop their existing hobbies and explore new ones.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the report is sent to the regulator in the correct timescales. 25 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, where appropriate, children are involved in choosing and preparing meals, and that opportunities to sit together and eat should be promoted. They should be provided with a varied and balanced diet. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)  The registered person should ensure that children’s bedrooms are appropriately furnished and well maintained. Doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  The registered person should ensure that children of compulsory school age are in full-time education. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plans indicate this is not in their best interests.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14) Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 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: SC470290 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited, Malvern View, Saxon Business Park, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Inspector

Katie Ratcliffe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 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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