Children's Home run by New Futures (Children) Services in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 1 Registered provider: New Futures (Children) Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private company. It provides care for up to two children aged eight to 18 with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s registered manager has been in post since July 2019.

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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: 2519269 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/08/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and one child has moved out into semi-independent accommodation. There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a high standard of care from a dedicated and stable staff team. This consistency of care enables the children to build strong, trusting relationships with the staff. Staff’s approach to care is nurturing. Children say that they enjoy living in the home and feel safe. The inspector observed warm and friendly relationships between the children and staff. This helps the children to make progress and feel a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers carefully consider children’s needs when making decisions about children coming to live in the home. Staff make sure that children have well-planned transitions. This means children have positive experiences of moving into and out of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with their education. Children living in the home are in full-time education and have excellent attendance. Staff work in partnership with education departments and other relevant professionals to ensure that children have appropriate educational opportunities and reach their full potential. When children struggle to attend school, staff ensure a tailored programme is in place and they are creative in finding alternative ways to sustain children’s learning. Through work experience activities, staff supported one child to build a wall in the garage and lay a patio, after he expressed an interest in this area of work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being are not consistently promoted. Staff ensure that children’s statutory health assessments are completed and help them to attend all required medical appointments. In addition, the manager ensures staff are trained to meet children’s specific health needs. However, when there are concerns that a child may be using e-cigarettes, there is no record of this in their health plan and no reduction plan in place. This practice could have implications for children’s health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop hobbies and interests. Staff encourage children to take part in a wide range of activities. These have included a visit to London, joining a local football team and going on a tank driving experience, as well as enjoying a summer holiday. Children are also supported by the team to learn life skills such as cooking, budgeting and decorating. This enables children to have positive childhood experiences and prepare for the next steps towards adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for children is good. Children’s written plans are regularly reviewed. Staff encourage children to attend and be involved in their child in care meetings. Children’s views about their feelings and day-to-day experiences are also frequently Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 4 sought by staff and managers. This means that children positively influence their day-to-day care. However, when children are asked for their views about the care, managers do not always provide feedback. As a result, children are not always able to see that their views are being listened to and acted upon.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children keep in touch with the people who are important to them. Staff ensure that children regularly see their friends and family. Staff welcome children’s families into the home when appropriate. This ensures that children continue to build relationships and attachments with those people who are significant to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is clean, welcoming and homely. The lounge, kitchen and hallways have recently been redecorated. Staff help children to personalise their bedrooms. This helps children to feel comfortable, take pride in their surroundings and develop a sense of belonging.

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

Safeguarding practices in the home are effective. Children have had no significant incidents. No children have been reported missing from the home. Staff understand children’s risks and potential triggers. They use this knowledge to promote children’s safety and well-being.

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

The manager ensures that there are risk assessments in place, with clear strategies for staff to follow. However, the children’s missing-from-care protocols lack detail. This is a weakness, as staff may not have all the information they need to safeguard the children effectively. The manager rectified this at the time of the inspection.

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

The manager completes an annual review of the location of the home. However, he has not ensured that the information he uses is up to date or that he has regularly consulted with local safeguarding partners. This means that staff and children do not have the correct information to enable them to keep safe in the local community.

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

Children live in a safe environment. Staff complete regular health and safety checks. There are regular fire drills to ensure that children know how to exit the building in the event of an emergency.

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

The manager follows safer recruitment practices. As a result, he has confidence that the staff working in the home are safe to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since the home opened in July 2019. He and the staff are passionate about the care they provide to children. They have good relationships with external professionals, whose feedback about the home and the standard of care is positive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 5 The manager’s monitoring systems are effective. Managers use audits, monthly independent visits and development plans to review the quality of care and improve the service. The manager has also met all requirements from the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is appropriately staffed. Staff have a variety of skills, experience and qualifications. There are regular staff meetings to reflect on children’s care and discuss how the team can work effectively together. This ensures children receive consistent, good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular practice-related supervision. This helps staff to feel supported and develops their practice. However, staff have not received annual appraisals. This is a missed opportunity to further strengthen staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained. As well as mandatory training, staff have been provided with child-specific training. This means that staff have the skills and knowledge to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 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 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; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that children’s health plans are updated with all known health risks, including use of e-cigarettes. In addition, the registered manager should ensure prompt action is taken to support children to reduce their use of e-cigarettes. 8 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that when completing a review of the location the most recent crime statistics used and that local safeguarding partners are consulted. 8 December 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 7 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4) (c)) 8 December 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when consulting children on their views about the home’s care, children receive feedback. This ensures children can see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure there are clear missing-from-care plans in place for children. These should specify the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission and how staff should support the child to return to the home. This ensures staff have the information they need to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)

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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: 2519269 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Futures (Children) Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 77 Francis Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 8SP

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2519269 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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