Jump Start Centre Limited

Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 1 Jump Start Centre Limited Jump Start Centre Limited Park House, 50 Maldon Road, Witham CM8 1HN Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this adoption support agency

This is a privately owned company. The agency and the manager registered with Ofsted in November 2021.

p.1

Information about this adoption support agency

This is the agency’s first inspection. There are currently seven practitioners who provide therapeutic services to 76 adopted children or adults and their families.

p.1

Information about this adoption support agency

The agency provides adoption support services for adopted children and their families in the east of England region. The agency works with children and adults to help strengthen adoptive families post adoption. The agency provides multidisciplinary therapeutic assessments and specialist support.

p.1

good

How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The adoption support agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 2

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

This agency provides bespoke packages of care which make a real difference to children and families. The support provided by the agency builds stronger families and prevents family breakdowns. Families say that the agency is one which has held them every step of the way.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The therapists help children and families to develop a greater understanding of attachment and trauma and how these continue to affect them. The therapists help them to develop strategies to cope with difficult situations and become more resilient as a family unit. Children, families and professionals describe the therapeutic support provided as ‘life changing’.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Therapists successfully build trusting relationships with children and families through sensory-based therapies. The transparent and child-focused approach to working with children and families ensures a working partnership. As a result, children and families trust therapists. Children look forward to therapy and rate the therapeutic service as ‘10 out of 10’.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Children enjoy the creative therapeutic activities, such as games in the gym, sand play, artwork and nature walks. Therapists work in partnership with families to achieve agreed goals. The therapy evolves and is provided in accordance with the child’s and family’s needs.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The introduction of a children’s champion has ensured that the child’s voice is included in all agency activity from the point of referral. The children can see that the agency makes changes because of their feedback.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The agency provides detailed and insightful assessments. Parents say that they are impressed with how quickly therapists gauge the support needed. Children’s support needs are communicated in the assessment reports provided to parents and commissioning professionals. One parent said, ‘It was the first time that we as a family felt we had really been actually seen.’ The quality of the assessment reports makes the therapeutic objectives clear. Good-quality reports have enabled families to access other specialist support services which would otherwise not have been available.

p.2

good

Children and families are helped to understand their personal histories and the effects of their traumatic experiences. Trusting relationships help the children to explore their backgrounds safe in the knowledge that they are emotionally supported. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 3 The therapists prioritise the safety of children and families and understand their risk factors. They help children and families to develop strategies to reduce risks, such as self-harm. Safeguarding concerns are reported to the appropriate agencies. The agency has recently introduced a low-level concerns policy. This policy guides therapists about when to share well-being concerns. This approach supports children’s ongoing safety and, in some cases, has secured additional family support.

p.2

good

The therapists help parents to understand that children’s behaviours are a means of communication. They guide parents in how to prevent and manage difficult behavioural situations. The therapists help the children to identify vocabulary to communicate their distress and develop coping strategies. This support reduces behavioural incidents and other difficulties. Consequently, parents and children feel safe, secure and happy. One child said that the support they received has helped them ‘want to live’.

p.3

good

The systems in place to ensure the suitability of staff require further work. There is a lack of attention to detail and some recruitment checks are not fully implemented. The recruitment records for one therapist did not identify a gap in employment. The manager lacked understanding of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) update service. Consequently, a current DBS check was unavailable in two of the recruitment files sampled. There is no information to suggest that either person presented a concern. However, the agency has failed to obtain enough information to ensure an informed judgement of employment suitability.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an experienced practitioner who has high expectations of the staff team. This has ensured consistent and high-quality therapeutic adoption support. The manager is visible and approachable. Managers lead by example and are described by staff and families as ‘inspirational’.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are well supported and say that they love working for the agency. The therapy staff benefit from case management and clinical supervision. A reflective culture of learning is embedded throughout the agency. A reflective non-judgmental approach is shared by the staff team. This, combined with the non-hierarchical approach to management, supports an open culture.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff benefit from good training. The therapists benefit from a range of relevant core training within the first six months of their employment. The agency is committed to the ongoing professional development of staff. Therapists have been able to undertake a wide range of specialist training to support their practice. There are close links with the University of Essex and national leads in the models of sensory integration and sensory attachment. These links enable practitioners to remain up to date with the latest research and developments in the field.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints are rare. When these are received, they are thoroughly investigated and well managed. The manager uses learning from complaints to make improvements. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 4 The agency is valued by children and families, who say that they are sad when their therapeutic sessions end. The agency works well with partner professionals, who describe this as ‘the agency of choice’.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children, families, managers, commissioners and individual therapists share positive views about the impact the agency has on adoptive families. The manager has effective monitoring systems in place for most agency activities, which gives them a strong understanding of the quality of the service. However, there is lack of attention to detail, such as the shortfalls identified in staff recruitment files. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 5

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person/s must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

p.5

Requirement Due date

employ a person to work for the purposes of the agency unless that person is fit to work for the purposes of the agency.

p.5

Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1), a person is not fit to work for the purposes of an agency unless—

p.5

Requirement Due date

he is physically and mentally fit for the work he is to perform; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to him in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2. (Regulation 19 (1)(a) (2)(c)(d)) 21 November 2022

p.5

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, young people and adults, using the social care common inspection framework.

p.5

Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the adoption support agency, how it meets the core functions as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 6

p.5

Adoption support agency details

Registered provider: Jump Start Centre Limited

p.6

Adoption support agency details

Registered provider address: 50 Maldon Road, Witham, Essex CM8 1HN

p.6

Adoption support agency details

Email address: info@jumpstartcentre.co.uk

p.6

Inspector

Joanna Heller, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for adoption support agency: Jump Start Centre Limited 7 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.

p.6

Inspector

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 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 .

p.7

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7