Children's home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 1 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that the home provides care for children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in September 2022. The current manager of the home has applied for registration with Ofsted.

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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: 2697861 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child currently living in the home is making progress. They have settled into their home, and they are beginning to build trusting relationships with the staff, who support them to reflect on their experiences and feelings. The child has been supported to continue to do the activities they enjoy, as well as develop new hobbies, such as horse riding. Arrangements to meet up with friends outside of the home have been agreed, although the child is not yet taking advantage of these opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child spends time with family members. When difficulties arise, staff identify how arrangements can be altered to promote positive time together. In addition, the child is supported to keep in touch with family members by sending short video clips each day. As a result, the child continues to feel part of their family’s lives, and vice versa.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from professionals and family is positive. A family member said that the child appears happy in the home, and the child’s advocate said that they have seen the child ‘thriving in their new environment’. The family member explained that she feels welcomed when she visits and has recognised that the child is often looking forward to returning to their new home after spending time together in the family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s healthcare and educational needs are being met. Staff have consulted with healthcare professionals when required, and they are continuing to receive medical advice and guidance to inform the child’s care. The manager is proactive in seeking additional support for the child during school hours to prevent barriers to their learning from arising in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Interactions between staff and the child are kind, caring and friendly. There is a relaxed atmosphere in the home, with lots of play and laughing. The environment is warm and homely, with modern furnishings and decoration. The child’s bedroom is personalised and full of soft toys, and further personalisation is planned in line with the child’s wishes. The manager has plans to alter a couple of minor institutional features in the home that are not in keeping with the homely environment being provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide is written to the child and contains some helpful information about staff. However, the guide contains a lot of text and is not particularly welcoming; it does not give a ‘feel’ for the home or what it would be like to live there.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 4 The child feels well looked after by the staff. When the child arrives home from school, the manager and staff are interested in how their day has been. When the child voiced concerns about their peer relationships in school, the manager took immediate action to address this, in conjunction with school professionals.

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

Staff have developed good working relationships with school professionals, which allow appropriate responses to be actioned quickly when concerns arise. However, the child is not always included or informed of the actions taken by professionals in response to their concerns. As a result, the child is not supported to give their input or agree with the steps taken.

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

Staff have developed positive relationships with the child. Staff listen to the child, and they are proud of their achievements. As a result of the relationships between the staff and the child, restraint has not been used, as staff find more positive ways to care for the child.

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

Staff naturally hold meaningful conversations with the child to provide positive messages and guidance about important topics. Meaningful conversations support the child to reflect on their feelings and behaviours. In addition, they also help staff to identify additional areas of need and allow for actions to be identified to further develop the care being offered.

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

The home’s location risk assessment is used to identify the risks in the local area and how they can be mitigated. The manager has used the risk assessment to reduce environmental hazards. For example, the local electricity company has been contacted to improve their safety measures around an electricity pole near to the property. The manager has sought to develop the location risk assessment by including consultation with the local community, although responses have not yet been received.

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

The placing authority has provided the home with a detailed plan containing information about the child’s needs and behaviours. Some of these behaviours have not yet happened since living in the home and have not been included in the home’s support plans. Consequently, staff are not equipped with the full knowledge they require to respond effectively should these behaviours occur.

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

The manager has recruited to fill the vacant positions in the staff team, which will allow for the home to care for another child in the future. Robust safer recruitment checks are in place to help the manager determine whether candidates are suitable to work with children.

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good

At the time of the inspection, the manager had been in post for approximately one month, after taking over from the previous registered manager. The new manager has applied for registration with Ofsted. However, due to their limited time in post, Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 5 the manager has not been able to make sufficient improvements to the care offered by the staff.

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good

When the child moved to the home, a assessment was completed to consider the care that could be provided by the staff. However, not all the child’s needs were identified from the available information. As a result, leaders and managers were unable to ensure that staff had the knowledge and skills needed to care for the child. Moreover, staff training was not used to improve the staff team’s understanding when specific needs were identified.

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good

Care documents do not identify the key needs of the child, as outlined in the care plan from the local authority. When staff from other the provider’s other homes support the care of the child, they are not provided with sufficient opportunity to learn about the child.

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good

Staff complete mandatory training and compliance is high, although some refreshers are due. However, staff do not always apply the knowledge they have acquired through training to their practice. For example, self-closing fire doors are propped open and the child’s bedroom window is locked. Staff did not recognise the increased risk of fire. The manager was unsure why the child’s bedroom window was locked and took steps to address this. The responsible individual identified the need for automatic fire door retainers, which were ordered during the inspection.

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good

Team meetings and staff supervision sessions provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on the needs of the child and how they are being supported. They also allow staff to reflect on their own practice and identify what is going well and what is not going so well. This helps staff and the manager to identify actions to improve the quality of care.

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good

Despite the manager having only been in post for approximately one month, staff describe them as being ‘strong’, ‘caring’ and ‘amazing’. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas of development. The manager has taken some steps to address the shortfalls identified during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 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

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; and

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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)(iii)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all staff who care for children have a clear understanding of their individual risks and how to keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that staff are able to apply their learning from training to identify risk and respond to it effectively. 31 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 7 use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that care plans reflect the needs of the child. The registered person should ensure that staff are provided with a clear understanding of how to support children’s individual needs from the moment they move into the home.

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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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the needs of children are considered, and relevant training opportunities are provided to staff. 31 March 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety, both inside and outside the home, to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. In particular, the registered person should ensure that children are aware of the actions taken to keep them safe following the concerns that they have raised. The registered person should ensure that children are involved in their safety planning Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 8 and feel safe as a result. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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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: 2697861 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Saxon Business Park, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2697861 10 and 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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