Children's Home run by TLC Youth Care Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 1 Registered provider: TLC Youth Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position has been vacant since 4 November 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: 2532139 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/07/2021 Full Good 19/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that is well presented and has a homely feel. The layout of the home allows for children to spend time together or to choose to have time alone. Children’s bedrooms are large and the children are encouraged to make them their own. As a result, children enjoy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s achievements are celebrated in weekly children’s meetings. Positive consequence tokens recognise children’s progress. The staff complete ongoing life story work for the children. This includes children’s diaries and memory books, which the children take with them when they leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are effectively prepared for independence. When it is age appropriate, children are supported to plan meals, shop and cook for themselves. Staff have been creative in developing a ’50 things tool’. This is a series of achievable life skills for older children. As a result, children are helped to leave care positively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s individual care plans are thorough. They are reviewed and updated regularly by managers. Plans focus on the child’s needs, and are informed by historical experiences as well as current situations. They detail the progress children are making in key areas of their lives. This guides staff on how children should be helped to achieve their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to have time with family members. Staff take the children to see their families and will supervise in the community or family homes if required. This is a regular part of the child’s week and helps them to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of supporting children’s education. Children have been helped to gain college qualifications in line with their career choices. Staff and managers have been proactive in arranging schooling for a child who has been out of formal education. This helps children to be aspirational for their future.

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

Risk assessments are clear, detailed and reviewed regularly. Staff understand the triggers to behaviours and how to respond. There is a good second risk assessment written directly to the child. This helps children to understand the way in which staff care for them.

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

Incident reports are thorough. They explore what happened before, during and after the incident. These have a good level of management oversight and include a debrief with staff. Staff ensure that the child’s social worker is involved. Children are Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 4 offered support after incidents. As a result, children understand the staff’s actions and talk about how they feel.

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

On occasion, children have self-harmed. Staff have responded to this well and appropriate advice has been sought from health professionals where required. There is evidence of ongoing work with children to understand what caused them to harm themselves. As a result, children are supported by nurturing staff.

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

Children do not go missing from the home and are not involved in substance misuse. Staff work closely with children to make being in the home a positive experience. Children are supported to have time away from the home in appropriate ways. This means that children are not exposed to the risks involved with being missing from care.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour well. When needed, physical intervention is used appropriately by trained staff. The focus of staff is on de-escalating incidents. Consequently, physical intervention is rarely used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff at the home are supported well by senior staff. They receive regular supervision. This provides opportunities for staff to talk about the children and their personal development. Staff say that they love working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong leadership team at the home, despite the manager being new to her position. The responsible individual is knowledgeable, experienced and visits the home often. The manager of the home feels well supported and is quickly understanding the day-to-day management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Home and workforce development plans are thorough and focus on changes that matter most to children. The manager was able to discuss changes she would like to make moving forward. She is ambitious for the home and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers monitoring and quality assurance of the home is excellent. The manager monthly audits are completed and reviewed by the responsible individual. An additional quarterly audit is completed by the responsible individual. Learning from audits is effectively used to track children’s progress and inform care planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When a child has, what could be seen as, offensive symbols on their bedroom walls relating to potential extremism, leaders do not always evidence that they have had meaningful conversations with the child to explore this further. Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child expresses a wish that is not in their best interests or respectful to others, that they balance the wishes of the child against what they judge to be in the best interests of the child. The registered person should reach a reasonable view about the best way forward in the interests of all. The reasons for reaching any decision will need to be carefully explained to and understood by the child or children concerned. This specifically relates to the need for the home to explore with a child their use of offensive symbols on their bedroom wall and potentially extremist views. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 22, paragraph 4.9)

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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: 2532139 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Harrier Park, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN4 0QG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Duncan MacKenzie

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Inspectors

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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