Children's Home run by First 4 Care Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 1 SC390293 Registered provider: First 4 Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned and run children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children aged between six and 18 years old. Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 17 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 1 September 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/09/2021 Full Outstanding 03/12/2019 Full Good 13/03/2019 Full Good 07/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming. The interior is tastefully furnished and children’s bedrooms have been decorated following consultation with them. This has helped children to settle quickly into their new surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made measurable progress relative to their needs, vulnerabilities and starting points. Children have developed trusting relationships with staff and can identify a ‘go to’ person who they can talk to if needed. This helps children to share their feelings and have a voice in their day-to-day care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Progress has been made in ensuring that all the children are engaging in some form of education and learning. The manager, deputy manager and the staff tailor resources to meet each individual child’s learning needs. There is often daily consultation with education leads and the virtual school service to ensure continuity in learning when children come to live at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with individualised care and are supported in all aspects of their lives. They are encouraged to participate in a range of activities that they enjoy. Children have been out and about with staff to the cinema, bowling, obstacle golf and trips to the theatre. Much thought is given by staff to provide children with positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good advocates for the children. Staff regularly engage and consult with the children through key-working sessions and weekly meetings. Staff support and facilitate family time with parents and other family members when safe to do so. For some children this has rekindled family ties and important attachments are being re- established.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Specialist support and multi-agency working is promoted. Professionals spoken to speak positively about the level of communication and shared understanding that takes place with the home. This promotes effective decision making and collaborative working practices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Warm and trusting relationships develop over time with the children and they are more able to share any worries or concerns they may have. Much emphasis is placed on children developing skills to manage their feelings and behaviour more appropriately.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team are motivated, they are confident in their knowledge of the children. The staff have been through a difficult and unsettled period recently but over the last few months have felt more supported by the manager and deputy manager. This has improved morale and staff report a healthier and safer environment for children to grow and develop. Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 4

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

The staff are mindful and attuned to the risks for each child. Staff speak passionately about the children in their care and only want the best for them. The use of physical interventions to manage behaviour is non-existent. In the majority of circumstances de-escalation techniques are successful in diffusing situations.

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

The team use restorative approaches to behaviour management. The access to therapeutic support for both staff and children via the in-house therapist is a real asset. This means that staff are more trauma informed and able to recognise when children are feeling anxious or troubled and act accordingly to support them.

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

There are close working relationships with professionals including, social workers the police, school and the youth justice service. Good communication between agencies helps to minimise risks to children. There is a real sense that the children’s individual needs are prioritised through a shared understanding.

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

The manager and staff are quick to respond to any new or emerging risks towards the children. This may include securing additional staffing or having early discussions around the home being suitable and safe. These timely conversations with placing authorities promotes early intervention and helps to keep all children safe.

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

Equally there is evidence that children have made progress relative to their starting points. All the children spoken to during the inspection say that they feel safe in the home. Staff make every effort to protect the children from harm and help them to develop their own sense of safety.

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

Children engage with staff in discussions in children’s meetings and key-work sessions in areas such as online safety, exploitation, bullying and racism. This helps the children to understand how their behaviour impacts on others and enables them to make more informed choices.

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

There has only been one occasion when a child has gone missing from the home. Each child has a missing from care risk assessment and the home adopts the ‘Philomena protocol’. However, there is limited detail that informs staff on the actions they need to take. This means that should a child go missing staff may not act to ensure their immediate safety.

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good

The manager has recently been successful in becoming registered with Ofsted. She is being supported by a committed and dedicated deputy manager. The manager is working hard to embed new initiatives into practice that supports children’s safety and promotes better outcomes. Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 5 The manager and the deputy manager have a good understanding of the home, the staff and the children. The registered manager leads a mixed staff team with some more long-standing staff and others who are more recently appointed. The manager and deputy are providing the right level of support, encouragement, training and supervision for the staff.

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good

Whenever possible, children move into and out of the home sensitively and carefully in a planned way. Much work has been achieved in changing the culture of the home and in making it a homely and safe environment.

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good

Consultation with the children and ascertaining their views and opinions is promoted and facilitated through a variety of processes. The manager and deputy are a visual presence in the home and children are responded to and acted upon appropriately when they raise any issues or concerns.

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good

Thorough recruitment practices are in place to ensure that individuals are appropriately vetted and safe to work with children.

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good

Risk assessments remain cumbersome and difficult to navigate. Risks to children are included in their risk assessments when they are not relevant. This can be misleading to staff and detrimental to children.

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good

Most of the staff team are in the process of completing their National Vocational Qualification level 3 diploma. However, some staff have exceeded the timescale for completion in accordance with regulations. The manager does not have an effective system in place to monitor staff progress in this area. This does not ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to undertake their roles effectively. Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons 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. 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 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the children’s risk assessments and missing-from-home protocols are relevant to each child and provide staff with up-to-date information and clear action for staff to follow. 31 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

The relevant date is— 31 March 2023 Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 7 in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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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 children’s home: SC390293 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 16 St. Wilfrids Road, Bessacarr, Doncaster DN4 6AA

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Inspector

Cath Sikakana, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC390293 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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