Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has a new manager who was appointed in July 2022. The manager is not yet registered with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first full inspection of the home since it was registered in March 2021. The home went through a period of not admitting children. A monitoring visit was undertaken in September 2022 when the home was ready to start admitting children, to ensure that there were sufficient staff and a good environment for children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a lovely environment for children. One child currently lives at the home. The child said, ‘I really like it here, I am safe.’ The environment gives a sense of warmth and belonging. The manager and staff have started to build a very positive relationship with the child. The child said, ‘The staff make me laugh; I sing, dance, and I can talk to someone if I need to.’ This helps the child to develop a sense of stability and permanence.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have a passion to develop a therapeutic environment to support children who have experienced early-life trauma. There is a dedicated therapeutic intervention programme, which benefits from the input of a psychologist. The programme focuses on developing a child-centred approach and encapsulating a variety of multi-model approaches to help build on children’s strengths.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to participate in activities, particularly arts and creativity; indeed, the home is registered as an Arts Award centre. The child currently living in the home is working towards a bronze award and, on completion, funding has been secured for her to progress to a silver award. This is very good achievement.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence. The current child regularly volunteers at a local charity shop, and said, ‘I absolutely love it there.’ This gives the child a sense of achievement, builds self-esteem and develops self-confidence.

p.3

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

The manager and staff understand the risks posed to and by children. Individual risk assessments are thorough. They provide staff with strategies to minimise risk. This supports staff in taking action to keep children safe. However, despite clear direction in missing-from-care protocols, there has been an occasion when staff have not reported the child missing in line with the protocol. This did not ensure the child’s safety.

p.3

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

The staff promote positive behaviour from children. They consistently praise children and, at challenging times, use effective de-escalation techniques, which are specific to the needs of the child. There has been a decrease in incidents and no requirement for the use of physical intervention. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 4 A restorative approach is used in relation to behaviour management, supporting the child to learn, rather than being penalised. Conversations and key-work sessions are used to motivate and support the child to develop effective self-management techniques. This leads to behaviour being rewarded in a way that is meaningful and worthwhile for the child.

p.3

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

The manager has developed a location risk assessment. However, this assessment does not consider data about criminal activity in the local area. There is a lack of evidence of consultation with relevant people outside the home. This is a missed opportunity to reduce risk and to fully review the home’s location.

p.4

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

The manager does not routinely assess environmental risks. For example, there is no health and safety risk assessment in place, and individual assessments are out of date. This does not ensure that the manager has oversight of current hazards.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has been without a registered manager since May 2021. An appointment had been made but ultimately this was unsuccessful. However, a manager is now in place and has submitted her application to register with Ofsted. The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She speaks about the home with passion and demonstrates a genuine commitment to providing the best possible care to children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff members are inexperienced. However, the manager has implemented an effective and robust induction plan for new staff. Staff receive a range of training. This increases their knowledge and awareness of the issues relevant to the children. Part of the induction process includes enrolment on suitable qualification pathways to enhance staff’s overall development. Managers provide an on-call system, and this helps staff to provide consistency and stability.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers regularly monitor the quality of care provided. They are well supported in this by the responsible individual and have a thorough overview of the quality of care. The manager is visible and approachable. Staff said that they are well supported in their day-to-day care practice. However, there are gaps in the recording of supervision records. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that professional development is identified and documented.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s moves into the home are handled in a caring manner. Transitions are planned to support the needs of the child. However, placement planning meetings are not always convened within the required timeframes. This has the potential to leave staff with a lack of information and lead to ineffective practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers show commitment to the safety of children. Thorough recruitment processes are in place to ensure that children are cared for by safe adults. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 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, 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that environmental risks are adequately assessed and kept up to date. 10 January 2023

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.5

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that staff receive regular, meaningful supervision that is recorded. 10 January 2023

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should consult, and consider the views of, each relevant person, and identify any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should specify the procedures to be followed and 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 on return to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28) Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 6  The registered person should ensure that there is effective planning and there are strong working relationships between the staff of the home and the placing authority, to ensure the success of placements. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

p.5

Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2)

p.6

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: 2613483 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

p.7

Inspector

Linda Mason, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2613483 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.

p.7

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8