Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 1 Registered provider: ROC Northwest Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns and manages this children’s home. The home provides care for up to five children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 11 November 2021

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/11/2021 Full Good 10/03/2020 Full Good 19/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 3

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls identified in how well children are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers mean that children’s overall experience and progress are not consistently good.

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improvement to be good

Staff form good relationships with children. However, the children’s experiences of living in the home are mixed. Several experienced staff have left the home since the last inspection. Leaders and managers understand that this affects children and are trying to create stability in the staff team to help children to build positive relationships with the new staff.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to be healthy. Children receive advice about enjoying a healthy lifestyle and are encouraged to attend medical appointments. The children eat a wide range of nutritious meals and maintain an active lifestyle.

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improvement to be good

Children’s education is promoted well by the staff team. When barriers to learning occur, staff work closely with education professionals to ensure that children are supported to participate in alternative education plans. This ensures that children achieve positive educational outcomes and develop aspirations for their future.

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improvement to be good

Staff prioritise seeking children’s views about the home. Regular meetings take place where children talk about activities, menus and other day-to-day matters. Some of the children have chosen to have an advocate to help and support them. This gives a message that their voice is valued. This helps children to develop a sense of self-worth.

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improvement to be good

Children take part in a range of activities, including going on holidays with members of staff. These activities provide children with enjoyable experiences and help them to develop their social skills. This is good for their confidence. When children are new to the home, these activities help them to develop a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with their families in person and virtually, in line with their care plans. As a result, children are sustaining and developing relationships with those who are important to them. This helps to build children’s sense of identity and self-esteem.

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in safeguarding practices. Staff are inconsistent in their approach when helping children who are struggling to manage their behavioural and emotional responses. Staff do not always follow the strategies in place to support the children in these circumstances. For example, children have been given mixed Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 4 messages about bedtime routines and seeing their friends. This results in an escalation of children’s anxieties.

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improvement to be good

Restraints have been used in response to children’s behaviour. Since the last inspection, there have been 35 incidents of physical intervention. There are some instances where incidents could have been prevented. For example, staff failed to respond promptly to a child’s needs while conducting a handover session. The staff’s lack of judgement resulted in an escalation of the child’s behaviour. This failure does not ensure that children are always safeguarded effectively.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in protecting children from harm. Despite managers completing lessons learned reviews, staff errors continue, and these put children at risk of harm. This does not give assurances that the lessons learned reviews are effective.

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improvement to be good

Children are looked after by staff who have been assessed as safe. Safer recruitment processes are effective. Leaders and managers complete all necessary employment checks and verification processes for new staff. This helps to protect children from possible abuse.

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improvement to be good

Children begin to learn how to keep themselves safe and benefit from focused work with staff. This covers a wide range of topics, including online safety and road safety.

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good

The manager is suitably qualified and is supported by a deputy manager. The staff are committed to providing positive outcomes for children.

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good

Internal monitoring of the home is not always effective. The manager had not identified all of the weaknesses found at this inspection. For example, the manager was not aware whether or not the home had ligature cutters. As a result, the manager does not have a robust understanding of the service. This means that the children in the home are not yet being consistently well cared for.

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good

Guidance provided by the manager is not always clear. For example, there was no clear strategy for staff to manage a reduction in the number of staff working with the children on each shift. The lack of a contingency plan resulted in an incident which could potentially put a child at risk. In addition, the systems in place to check staff knowledge and skills are not always effective. This means that the ethos of the service is not yet fully embedded. Consequently, staff do not always provide consistent care.

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good

Staff say that they receive good support from their colleagues and managers. They benefit from regular training, team meetings and supervision. Supervision is reflective and provides staff with opportunities to improve their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 5 The manager works closely with social workers and other professionals. The positive relationships between services mean that their communication is effective. This helps to ensure that children receive the support they need promptly. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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)(a)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the actions of staff do not place children at risk of harm. 23 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; and 23 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(e)(h))

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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: 1277380 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: ROC Northwest Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1277380 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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