Children's Home run by 2nd Nurture Limited in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: SC413223 1 SC413223 Registered provider: 2nd Nurture Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home that provides care for one child. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children with social and emotional difficulties.

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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: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/08/2019 Full Good 31/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 3

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improvement to be good

The child living here has remained settled here since the previous inspection. The home provides her with a sense of stability and belonging while plans are explored for her future. She has developed close and trusting relationships with the staff who have been working in the home since she moved in. New staff work hard to develop positive relationships with her.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage the child to engage in a range of activities in the home. However, the child is reluctant to engage and chooses to spend her free time with friends and family in the community. Staff support her to do this and remain available at all times to transport her or respond to her requests for items she may need when not in the home. Staff say that this maintains communication with the child when she is spending time away from the home.

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improvement to be good

The child is supported to spend time with her family and friends both in the home and the community. Siblings and friends are welcome to spend time and sleep over in the home. Staff respect the strong relationships the child has with her family and develop positive relationships with those who are important to her.

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improvement to be good

Staff listen to the child and respond to her wishes. Staff treat the child with respect and are child centred in their approach. However, support is lacking in addressing the child’s reluctance to engage with professionals involved in her care. Consequently, the child is not receiving the level of support she requires.

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improvement to be good

Staff have responded to the child’s requests to change education placements. Staff maintain communication with education professionals in respect of attendance. However, the child’s attendance at school is low. Plans to address low school attendance are not robust and staff do not understand the barriers to learning for the child.

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improvement to be good

Health needs remain unmet for the child. Identified specialist help has not been made available to the child. Furthermore, it has been identified that further assessments are required, and there have been significant delays in action being taken by professionals. This has not been challenged by staff to ensure that any unassessed needs are identified, and support is put in place.

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improvement to be good

The child is able to raise any concerns with staff through monthly children’s meetings. However, she has not had regular or recent contact with the independent visitor who visits the home monthly. Visits are often undertaken when the child is not in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 4

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improvement to be good

Staff understand some of the risks to the child’s However, risk management records do not provide sufficient information regarding the child’s individual risks. Records lack detail of specific risks and do not include robust strategies for staff to follow. Furthermore, behaviours displayed by the child that indicate emotional distress are not referenced in her records. As a result, there are no plans in place to support her with this.

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improvement to be good

Missing-from-home incidents have reduced for the child. When incidents do occur, staff manage these well. Protocols for staff to follow are comprehensive. The positive relationships that staff have developed with friends and family have led to staff developing a good understanding of the child’s whereabouts when she is not in the home and allow them to locate her when she does not return to the home as expected. The manager has liaised effectively with social work professionals to review arrangements for the child to spend increased periods of time with family. This has led to a reduction in missing-from-home incidents. However, when the child is reported as missing from home, the child is not consistently provided with the opportunity to speak to someone independent on her return to the home. This has not been challenged by staff and concerns have not been escalated.

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improvement to be good

There have been no incidents of physically holding the child. Staff adopt an incentive-based approach to managing challenging behaviour. The use of sanctions is rare. However, the use of both incentives and sanctions has not been effective in managing challenging behaviour.

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improvement to be good

The positive relationships with staff have enabled the child to develop her skills to manage her emotions more effectively and safely. One social work professional said, ‘Staff work with and encourage the child to stay safe when out in the community.’ There has been an increase in her engagement with staff in conversations and during key-work sessions in respect of positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment practices for new staff in the home are safe. This ensures that staff working in the home are suitable to care for the child.

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good

The manager is passionate about the care provided to the child. She works hard to create a warm and welcoming environment for her. However, there was a strong odour emanating from the child’s bedroom during inspection due to a heavily soiled carpet. This detracts from the comfortable and homely environment the manager strives for. Plans were put in place during the inspection to replace the flooring in the child’s bedroom.

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good

The child is cared for by a small team of staff who provide consistency for her. New staff have the opportunity to undertake shadow shifts to support them to settle in Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 5 their roles. This also provides an opportunity for relationships to be built with the child. Staff say that they feel supported in their roles, and they enjoy working in the home on a lone basis. Staff benefit from regular supervision. However, feedback from staff is that more staff are needed to cover any shortfalls in times of sickness or annual leave.

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good

The manager has developed positive relationships with professionals involved in the care of the child and with the local community. One social work professional said, ‘Communication is good with the staff and manager at the home. They respond well to requests for information and give regular updates.’ The manager has received a certificate from the local police service acknowledging the work that she has done in breaking down barriers and stigmas between children and the police.

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good

The manager has advocated for the child in respect of her wishes to spend more time with her family. She is child centred in her decision-making and promotes plans for the future in line with the child’s wishes. This has resulted in changes being made to the child’s future plans and the initiation of planning for a transition back to the family home. However, there has not been any challenge about the lack of action and delay in addressing the child’s unmet health and education needs.

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good

Internal quality of care reports are descriptive in respect of the progress of the child. The manager challenges feedback from external monitoring when it is deemed to not be in the best interests of the child. However, the independent visitor does not consistently obtain feedback from the child, staff or professionals independently and reports have not been submitted to Ofsted within the required timescales. Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c)) 26 October 2022

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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 that staff—

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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 any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that plans are in place for children to increase their engagement in education; support is provided to children to access educational opportunities when there are barriers to learning and ensuring that outstanding 26 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 7 assessments and specialist support are identified and undertaken, escalating concerns in the event of delays.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10 (a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that action is taken to ensure that children access specialist support for outstanding physical and emotional health needs. 26 October 2022

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that children’s risk management plans include up-to-date and detailed information in relation to specific risks and include strategies to manage these. 26 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires;

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)(7)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that the independent person makes reasonable attempts to see and speak to children and that independent feedback is obtained from professionals. 26 October 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that that the flooring is replaced in the child’s bedroom. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC413223 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: 2nd Nurture Limited

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Inspector

Claire Hobbs, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC413223 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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