Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. It provides care for up to five children who may be experiencing social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced manager who is registered with Ofsted.

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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

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: 1256061 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/06/2021 Full Good 18/11/2019 Full Outstanding 17/12/2018 Full Outstanding 13/02/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 3

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improvement to be good

Despite the progress made by children, the home is judged to require improvement to be good because of shortfalls identified within the help and protection judgement. Children’s education experiences have not always been good. The manager is a good advocate for children, in securing the right education provision. The manager and staff have worked hard to help children overcome barriers to learning. However, when children refuse school, there has not been a consistent message to support them to understand the importance of education. Children and staff have excellent relationships. Interactions are good humoured and respectful. Staff speak warmly about children’s strengths and achievements. Children trust staff and seek interaction and reassurance from them. The home provides a calm, settled environment in which children are happy and relaxed. Most children have made good progress. They develop physically, emotionally and

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improvement to be good

socially. Staff support children to broaden their life experiences by encouraging their participation in community activities. The children are supported to repair and maintain relationships with those important to them to promote their identity and preserve these important relationships. Staff encourage and support children to maintain healthy lifestyles. For example, one child has been supported to stop smoking since moving to the home. Older children are helped to develop their independence skills. One child now has his provisional driving licence in preparation for starting driving lessons. The same child has just started a part-time job while he is studying at college. Another child has just started an independence programme in preparation for semi-independent living and is completing budgeting, meal preparation and laundry tasks. The environment is well maintained and furnished to a good standard. Children are

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improvement to be good

supported to personalise their rooms. There are photos of children on display, which capture their memories and achievements. This homely feeling means that children feel valued and increases a sense of belonging. Children are very complimentary about the home. One child said that she loves the home, and that staff are kind and supportive. The nurturing relationships between the staff and children are a key strength of the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not always followed children’s risk assessments, which has the potential to put children at risk. One child has a mobile phone. To reduce the risks associated with the phone, staff implement regular phone checks. However, checks had not been completed for the specified period. Another child should have regular checks when spending time in the community. These had not been completed in Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 4 accordance with the child’s assessment. This had not been identified by the manager. Staff have failed to administer one child’s medication (a prescribed vitamin) on two occasions. Missing entries were identified within the medication recording system. This appears to have been caused through frequent changes in the type of medication for the child. Following this shortfall being identified, the manager will be undertaking a competency assessment with each staff member to prevent

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improvement to be good

similar errors in the future. Children now have a good relationship with one another. The manager and staff have learned lessons in relation to the matching of children living in the home and their subsequent relationships. However, managers had not identified that a matching assessment did not identify all known risks for children and how these should be managed. As a result, the assessment did not reflect agreed risk- management strategies. The manager made changes to the plan during the inspection, following this being identified. Staff work closely with the police to ensure that missing-from-care protocols are closely followed when children go missing from care. Should children go missing from care, staff actively look for them and encourage their safe return home. This coordinated response means that children are more likely to be located quickly. However, independent return home interviews do not always take place in a timely

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improvement to be good

manner. This means that vital information from the child may be missed, preventing opportunities to learn why children go missing and reduce associated risks. Complaints are thoroughly investigated. There has been one complaint made by a professional in relation to staff conduct. Leaders have robustly investigated this in line with the home’s policies and procedures. The manager has been able to rebuild positive relationships with professionals involved and reflect on this with staff to identify any learning. The manager and staff work with external professional agencies. External professionals reported that communication is good. When information about children needs to be shared, this is well coordinated. One police officer said, ‘The staff have been exemplary, and I consider this to be a flagship home and [it] should be held in high esteem.’ Another professional said, ‘They are brilliant! the manager is very responsive.’

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good

Shortfalls in managerial monitoring have meant that potentially serious issues have not been identified quickly. Managers have not ensured robust oversight. They have not been thorough enough in reviewing plans and assessments, or in ensuring that all known risks are identified and plans put in place to manage these risks. Senior leaders have acknowledged shortfalls. They have plans to monitor the home carefully as it continues to develop. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 5 The manager, with the support of the deputy manager, has led the home through a difficult period. Both the manager and deputy manager are passionate and motivated and real advocates for children. They have high expectations and strive to ensure that children are supported to make progress in all areas of their lives. Nine children have moved into the home since the last inspection and six children have moved on. Not all these placements have had planned endings. They have

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good

ended because of an increase in risk-taking behaviour and managers and staff being unable to keep children safe. The manager and senior managers have learned valuable lessons about ensuring that they only take children they can manage safely. The manager ensures increased scrutiny of referral documents. Following the appointment of the new manager, all referrals to the home have been planned. Managers ensure that staff have access to a wide variety of training and development opportunities. This means that staff have regular updates to their knowledge and skills. More informally, the manager uses team meetings and learning circles to provide opportunities for staff to develop as a team and upskill themselves in areas of their work with the children. There is a focus on staff retention and well-being. This has improved in the last year, with the home now having a stable team. Staff turnover is low, and staff feel

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good

well supported. Staff describe the management team as approachable and supportive. Supervision and appraisals are completed regularly, and they are used to develop and improve staff practice. Consequently, the manager has created a comfortable home that children enjoy living in and staff enjoy coming to work in. Developments are taking place to get this home firmly on an improvement trajectory. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(x))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children who face barriers to education are encouraged to attend school and that the importance of attending education is promoted. 13 February 2023

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if 13 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 7 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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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)(i)(v)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that risk-management plans reflect the needs of children, including guidance on how staff should respond to risks, and reflect the risks that children could pose to one another.

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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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers embedding monitoring systems in the home to improve the quality of care provided. 13 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that— 13 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 8 medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that medication is administered in line with the prescriber’s instructions. It also relates to the manager ensuring that medication records are maintained to reflect the medication administered to or refused by children.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides the opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. The home should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: 1256061 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House Valiant Office Suites, Swift Valley, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Linda Mason, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1256061 10 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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