Children's home run by Happy Group (UK) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 1 Registered provider: Happy Group (UK) 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 owned and managed children’s home. It was registered in June 2020 to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there was only one child living at this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since May 2021 and has been registered with Ofsted since May 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 18 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2022 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has established trusting relationships with staff. These are based on warmth, humour and affection. The quality of the nurturing relationships contributes to helping the child to feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child receives education in the home from an independent tutor. Staff provide boundaries and direction, helping the child to remain focused on their learning during school hours. As a result, the child has made sustained progress with their home learning programme. The tutor said, ‘Staff recognise the warning signs when [name of child] may need additional help.’ The manager also works cohesively with the child’s social worker and the virtual school to plan for the child’s education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consideration goes into planning activities to promote the child’s social integration and the development of life skills. For example, skateboarding lessons at a local park help the child to make new friendships with other children who may have similar interests. Open-water swimming lessons help to reduce the risk of the child being in an unsafe situation near water. These activities help to keep the child busy and engaged while promoting their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff capture the child’s experiences by taking lots of photos. This helps to shape the child’s understanding about their time living at this home and strengthen the memories they have of their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to attend health appointments and has access to the services they need. Staff ensure that the child attends regular sessions with a play therapist. This contributes to meeting the child’s therapeutic needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child regularly talks about their day-to-day needs with staff and is directly involved in planning their daily routine. Important conversations are coupled with role modelling to help the child develop their independence skills, such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of their laundry.

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

The child feels safe living at this home and has trusting relationships with the staff. This is because the level of nurturing care provided by the staff helps the child to have a sense of belonging and safety.

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

Staff follow agreed protocols when missing-from-home incidents occur and have ensured that the child is returned home as quickly as possible. The manager takes a lead role in consulting with the child’s social worker to agree on the strategies needed to reduce the likelihood of incidents reoccurring. Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 4 At times, staff have required assistance from the police when the child’s behaviours have been unmanageable. The manager has provided guidance and direction to the staff to help them manage the escalation of incidents. This led to a review of the child’s plan with more detail and new strategies for staff to follow. As a result, the staff have a better understanding of the child’s vulnerabilities. This prevents further risk of the child being unnecessarily criminalised.

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

Post-incident debriefs and conversations of a restorative nature are not consistently taking place with the child. There have been missed opportunities for staff to help the child work through the restorative process and reach a shared resolution. This does not promote good relationships and may limit the child from developing empathy.

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

A window has not been secured after the child threatened to jump out of it. This could result in further incidents occurring and the child being harmed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager provide strong and focused leadership to the team. They work effectively together to provide staff with high levels of support to sustain a culture of high aspiration for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is nicely decorated and provides the child with a comfortable living space. The child’s bedroom is personalised and there are photos of the child and their family displayed throughout the home. This helps to create a relaxing and homely atmosphere for the child to live in.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are responsive to the child’s needs. They have training and development opportunities that equip them to care for the child. These include regular supervision sessions and debriefs to reflect on their actions. The child also took part in behaviour management and restraint training alongside the staff. This has resulted in the child being fully aware of the actions staff are expected to take when dangerous situations arise. This has also promoted the child’s relationship with staff and provided the child with a further opportunity to share their views and experience of being cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders are proactive at addressing gaps in staffing. Shortfalls in the daily rota have been covered by the management team working shifts. This minimises the impact of staffing changes and promotes a continuity of care for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not notified the regulator about a serious incident, and another notification has been submitted late. This prevents the regulator from having oversight and assurance that the manager’s decisions keep the child safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The care plan is not a child-friendly document and limits the child’s ability to understand how staff should help them to make progress. However, the style and clarity of all other records mean the child has an increased understanding about their time living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 5 The manager’s system for monitoring and evaluating the service is effective. However, there was delay in them submitting their quality of care review to the regulator. This does not enable the regulator to have timely oversight of the quality of care and the outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meeting minutes do not always show that the child’s needs have been central to the staff’s discussions. They do not always show how the agreed actions influence the child’s care plan. This limits the manager and staff’s ability to reflect on their action plan to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of their decisions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the office window has sufficient security to prevent children from climbing out of the window. 20 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 20 November

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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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 (3)(4)(a)) 20 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children have easily accessible information about their care plan that is relevant to their cognitive needs. The plan should help staff to discuss the impact of their care with the children, or any changes they feel they might need to make to it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 18, paragraph 3.31)  The registered person should ensure that when staff members have been involved in an incident with children, they have guidance, support and accountability to use restorative practice to help children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)  The registered person should ensure that team meeting minutes provide sufficient detail about the agenda items discussed to enable the team to use them to evaluate if progress has been made with the agreed actions. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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: 2589537 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Happy Group (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Walk House, 99 Princess Road East, Leicester, Leicestershire LE1 7LF

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Inspectors

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Carol Jagger, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 9 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under

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Inspectors

the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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