Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1256059 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited 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 company that is owned by a national charity. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who experience emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The post for a registered manager has been vacant since January 2022. There is an interim manager in post and her application for registration is in progress.

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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: 26 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 children’s home: 1256059 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2022 Full Good 19/11/2019 Full Good 04/12/2018 Full Good 21/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1256059 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by staff who understand their needs well. Staff have developed warm and trusting relationships with the children. There is an ethos of mutual respect in the home and staff are consistent and available to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that is maintained to a high standard and is personalised to them. The children have large bedrooms with good-quality furniture and the opportunity to decide how they want their bedrooms to be decorated. Staff have high expectations of the children’s behaviour towards their environment and promote a culture of them looking after their home. As a result, children enjoy living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children in the home are engaged in education and are making progress. Social workers spoke of how staff advocated for the children with educational professionals. The whole staff team encourages children with their education and nurture the children’s interests. For example, one child’s artwork has been entered into a local competition. Children’s achievements are celebrated openly and recognised by all staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are valued as individuals and there are opportunities for their voices to be heard. There are regular children’s meetings that allow them to be involved in the planning of activities, meals and the development of the home. Children spoke fondly of the staff team and warm relationships were observed. One child referred to the manager as being ‘like a second mum’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s care plans are reviewed regularly and offer a good overview of the needs of each child, including their health needs. However, the placing authority have not provided full information about the child, including how the child came to be in care. Consequently, staff do not have the wider context of the child’s life experiences.

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

Risks to children are assessed well. Children’s behaviour and risk management plans are clear and detailed. They address identified and potential risks to each child and the level of risk. How to recognise triggers of risky behaviour are recorded. This helps staff to know how to keep children safe.

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

There has been a difficult period and times when children have been unsettled. This has resulted in assaults on staff and damage to property. Reports of these incidents are variable. Some reports lack detail to help staff to learn and reflect. However, there are good relationships between staff and children, which helps to de-escalate incidents. As a result, physical intervention is rarely used. Inspection report children’s home: 1256059 4 Specialist help is sought for children when required. This includes helping children to access child and adolescent mental health services. This has provided an independent and safe space for children to make progress in addressing difficult situations and past trauma.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. There are good plans in place for if this happens. This includes flowcharts to inform staff’s actions for each child. This helps children to remain safe from the risks linked with being missing from care.

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

Children may be at risk of harm from unsuitable adults because not all visitors have their identification checked on their arrival.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is extremely committed to the children and staff. She is very caring and ambitious for each child. The children all come to her for hugs. Children, staff and social workers all praise the manager, and staff feel very supported. The children feel loved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supervised regularly by the manager, deputy manager and a senior support worker. The sessions are recorded well and demonstrate reflection and support. Discussions include themes such as children’s safety and welfare, as well as staff’s progress and development. Therefore, staff feel guided and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s quality assurance and monitoring of the home are good. Her oversight is evident on all documents and across all areas of work. She is reflective and honest about improvements needed to meet her high aspirations. This has helped to inform workforce and home development plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints about the home have been handled well. Children have learned from the management how their behaviour has affected others. One child wrote letters of apology to a neighbour and the manager after an incident. This has bridged relationships and a neighbour recently gave the children a gift.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager feels supported by the responsible individual. He visits the home often and knows the staff and children well. Supervision sessions are regular, constructive and reflective. This has helped to develop the manager’s skills and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Many members of the staff team have joined the home recently. The manager and responsible individual acknowledge that staff have experienced a difficult time. Staffing levels were increased for a period to help with this. Managers are committed to ongoing discussions regarding the staffing level required. This is to ensure the welfare and safety of children and staff. Inspection report children’s home: 1256059 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all the children have a plan that is informed by local authority plans and that important contextual information that informs the care. 30 November

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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 home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that visitors to the home are only admitted when identified. 20 October 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 1256059 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 children’s home: 1256059 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Inspectors

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1256059 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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