Children's Home run by Formations Care Services Limited in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 1 Registered provider: Formations Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It was registered in June 2022 to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in this home and they have lived there since it opened. The children have been made to feel welcome by the management and staff team. The staff provide lots of useful information about the home, which informs the children about the level of care they can expect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living in the home benefit from a clean, well-furnished and comfortable environment that helps them to flourish. While the children prefer not to live in a children’s home, the staff encourage them to make it their home. The children have settled into their daily routines, and their relationships with the staff are continuing to strengthen. The photos of the children and staff displayed around the home depict a positive family dynamic.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have taken the time to get to know the children, and they act as positive role models. The staff recognise the children’s similarities and differences. They understand the importance of promoting each child’s identity, cultural heritage and religious needs. This allows the children to feel confident and proud of who they are and remain curious to learn about differences in society.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop a sense of belonging and value is tied to the process of making a complaint. Staff consult with the children regularly, through ad-hoc, one-to-one sessions and group chats, which are a prominent feature of the children’s daily care. Children benefit from having independent advocates who they can share their thoughts and feelings with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to eat a healthy and balanced diet and manage their health. The children have access to a range of primary and specialist health care professionals, who also offer specialist advice and guidance. Regular discussions have taken place with the children about emotional health, relationships and sexual health matters. Children benefit from these interventions, which help them to manage their emotions and improve their lifestyles. For one child, the care, support and guidance from the staff, in partnership with other professionals, is helping them to make life-changing plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported the children to resume their education. This is steadily helping them to achieve and aspire towards their employment goals. Staff work effectively with education providers to ensure that any barriers to the children’s educational progress are addressed without delay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote and facilitate the time that the children spend with their family and friends. This ensures that the children can maintain relationships and a familiar network for moving on to the next stages of their lives. Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 4 Children enjoy spending time with their family and friends in the community. They have visited the cinema and had pamper nights and trips out to places of interest. One child travelled to Wembley with a staff member to watch the England women’s football. The photos of the children’s activities with the staff, family and friends provide pleasant memories for the children of their time in the home. Parents and professionals comment positively about the staff team’s care of the children, with some rating the quality of care highly.

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

The staff are committed to protecting the safety and welfare of the children. The staff have completed safeguarding training that provides them with the knowledge that they need to detect and report concerns appropriately.

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

Managers and the staff team have a good knowledge of the children, which helps them to identify risk and protect children from harm. The staff are guided by the comprehensive risk assessments and behaviour support plans that are kept up to date. This promotes consistency among the staff team.

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

The children are supported to take age-appropriate risks and learn how to keep themselves safe in the home and in the community. The staff use their positive relationships with the children to discuss a range of topics, such as staying safe online. The direct-work sessions between the staff and children are worthwhile. Staff care for the children in a therapeutically informed manner. This enables them to provide support to children in a way that resolves issues before they escalate. The children respond well to the incentives and rewards that they receive, which are in recognition of their achievements.

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

Managers and staff work effectively with other agencies, including social workers, colleges, health professionals and the police. Significant concerns regarding one child have prompted multi-agency collaborations. The information-sharing between the provider and professionals has enabled them to promote the child’s safety and welfare.

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

Children have not gone missing from home, although managers and staff know what to do if this happens. The children’s exploitation risks have reduced significantly since moving into the home. They are no longer known to be subject to sexual exploitation. Despite the reduced risks, the staff maintain regular contact with the children when they are out of the home. This includes calling the children’s mobile phones and carrying out visual checks to ensure that the children are safe.

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

The staff recruitment documents do not consistently show how decisions are made to appoint staff. This does not indicate that leaders and managers have satisfied themselves fully about staff suitability issues. Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 5

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good

Leaders and managers promote a supportive and nurturing team culture that places children at the centre of the team’s practice. Although the home was only registered in June 2022, the team’s resilience continues to develop under the guidance of the supportive manager and responsible individual.

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good

The staff team is overcoming challenges in relation to one child’s outcomes. However, leaders and managers have not carried out a formal debrief with the staff team, which would allow them to reflect on the events, receive assurances and consider what they would do differently.

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good

The staff spoke positively about the support that they receive from the management team and their peers. Training is well featured, and keeps the staff team’s learning and development updated. Team meetings and supervision sessions reflect discussions about the children and the running of the home. Some of the supervision notes contain duplicate information, making it unclear if the information has changed.

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good

Leaders and managers have developed monitoring systems so that reviews take place once a month and three times a year. This allows gaps to be identified and improvements to be made. However, the registered manager has not submitted the six-monthly management monitoring review to Ofsted, which was due in December 2022. Not all the reports following the visits from the independent person have been sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. The revised statement of purpose has not been sent to Ofsted within the timescale. These delays prevent Ofsted from understanding how the children are being cared for and how the home is operating.

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good

Minor shortfalls in some of the children’s records have not been identified and corrected. These include, providing the full information on a room search and accurately recording the child’s ethnic origin. Further shortfalls involve securing a central record of the checks on the children when they are out in the community, as well as providing further context to understand a body map.

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good

A significant incident was reported to Ofsted late. Leaders and managers have addressed the matter to prevent it from happening in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that a formal debrief is carried out with the staff team to reflect on the recent events and that the gaps in the records and duplicate supervision documents are addressed. 28 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 28 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 28 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. 28 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 7 The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the provider must ensure that the independent person submits the reports to Ofsted after each visit to the home in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (4)(a)) 28 February 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. This refers specifically to the registered person ensuring that interview notes of applicants consistently show how decisions to appoint them are made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that they understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This specifically relates to improving the systems by maintaining a dedicated record to monitor the children when they are in the community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 8

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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: 2668482 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Formations Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 St. Pauls Road, Shipley BD18 3EP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Victoria Crabtree-Phillips

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Inspectors

Jacqueline Malcolm, Social Care Inspector Shirin Khan Mahmandi, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2668482 10 inspects 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. 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

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Inspectors

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 .

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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

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