Children's home run by My Choice Children’s Homes Limited in Mid Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 1 SC426530 Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private organisation and is registered to provide care for up to four children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/06/2021 Full Good 20/02/2020 Full Good 24/10/2018 Full Good 07/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a range of positive experiences, including attending after-school clubs and participating in weekend football and basketball clubs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to spend time with their family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to access the local community. For example, during the inspection, all the children went to a local Indian restaurant to celebrate a child’s birthday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to understand how to be kind and to stay calm when things do not go to plan. As a result, children are more able to maintain relationships with others, including, when it is appropriate, to make plans to return to their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote education. Children who have not been in education for some time now attend regularly. When necessary, staff travel long distances to enable children to maintain their school placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to children and involve them in day-to-day decisions. For example, the manager has consulted the children on the colour choices for the home and the staff involve the children in menu and activity planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although staff practice demonstrates that staff respect children’s diverse cultural needs, these details are not captured in their care plan.

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

Staff use incentive schemes to celebrate positive behaviour. Staff are good at securing the help of the police and therapeutic practitioners to help children to understand the impact of bullying and how to stay safe.

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

Leaders seek advice from the local authority designated officer when required and manage allegations well.

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

Staff use bedroom door alarms to help to manage risks. This level of monitoring is carefully risk assessed and discussed with children’s social workers.

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

Staff monitor children’s activities online and work well with parents to ensure that children stay safe online.

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

Missing-from-home episodes have reduced. Leaders have listened to children and worked with the local authority to increase the time children can be away from the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 4 The manager has made efforts to make the home feel more homely. However, children’s bedrooms are untidy, with dirty clothes and food left in one bedroom. The home looks tired in places, with damage visible in the kitchen and living room. This is a missed opportunity to provide children with a well-maintained home that they can be proud of.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have good oversight of the progress of the children. Leaders use quality assurance tools such as audits and independent visitor reports effectively. Consequently, leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children know who they can speak to if they are not happy or have a complaint. The manager takes all concerns raised by children seriously and ensures that they receive a quick response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff turnover has been high. The manager is using agency staff to ensure that there are enough staff on duty to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders provide staff with good-quality induction and supervision to help them to do their job well. Managers address poor practice promptly and have high expectations of staff practice. However, leaders have not ensured that staff have received all their necessary training, in particular training in understanding sexually harmful behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders generally notify Ofsted of serious incidents in the home. However, when the registered manager was on annual leave, a notification was not made promptly. Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 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 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)) 22 November

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (2)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans meet each child’s needs, including taking into account the child’s ethnicity. 22 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. This includes when the registered manager is on annual leave. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff have training in harmful sexual behaviours. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13) Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 6

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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: SC426530 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: My Choice Children’s Homes Ltd, Unit 3a, Mill Green Business Estate, Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath RH16 1XQ

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Inspector

Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC426530 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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