Children's home run by Your Chapter Limited

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 1 Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company runs the home. It provides medium- to long-term care and support to children. The children may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home offers placements for a maximum of four girls aged between 11 and 17 years.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the visit, no children were living at the home. The home has no registered manager, although there is an interim manager in post.

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This monitoring visit

This visit followed two previous monitoring visits that resulted in Ofsted issuing compliance action against the setting. Ofsted has raised concerns about leaders and managers’ accountability, transparency and safeguarding practices. At the time of this visit, the setting was subject to compliance and enforcement action.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual has played a crucial role in engineering a shift in practice in the home. At the time of this visit, the inspector noted better accountability from leaders and managers. This has enabled the responsible individual and the interim manager to oversee a period of reflection and learning.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual and chief executive officer from the organisation have held productive meetings with senior leaders from the police and local authority. This has enabled productive discussions between these professional parties. As a result, the organisation has reassured safeguarding agencies of the steps that it has taken to meet their obligations to children and the children’s respective local authorities.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers have made concerted efforts to set up better working relationships with other safeguarding agencies. This has resulted in the police Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 2 providing access to intelligence sharing forums. It has also instigated the local authority to include the setting in their quality assurance oversight. This bolsters the transparency of the setting, which helps to better protect children from harm.

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This monitoring visit

The interim manager has reviewed all the children’s recording systems alongside her team and adapted children’s records so that they are meaningful to the child and the staff. This has bolstered accountability and enabled better management oversight of critical events.

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This monitoring visit

There is better structure and use of team meetings. The interim manager ensures that the agenda focuses on the needs of the children and on other significant aspects that are associated with the functioning of the home. This has enabled inclusive team contribution towards the children’s care. It has also provided the grounds to build better team cohesion.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual has used her experience to guide the interim manager. This has injected a level of confidence in the home’s leadership. The inspector found that the team feels that it is working towards a common goal, which has united what was a fractured team.

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This monitoring visit

The entire team has embarked on a bespoke training programme that reinforced the principles of the organisation’s therapeutic model of care. This was a positive shared experience for the team. The inspector listened to good examples from the training that would better enable staff to be empathetic and responsive to the children’s circumstances.

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This monitoring visit

The home is well furnished, and children’s bedrooms are fully equipped and decorated to a good standard. However, children’s bedroom doors have weight bearing self-closing systems fitted. Although these meet fire regulations, there are alternative options that are better suited for a home environment.

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This monitoring visit

The setting has addressed the shortfalls that Ofsted outlined in the compliance notice. This has resulted in Ofsted lifting all enforcement action. However, this has not changed the experience for one young person who lived at the home and moved on in crisis because of poor planning. Therefore, the requirement that Ofsted raised to highlight the setting’s poor planning around children moving into and out of the home will remain. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/04/2021 Full Good 21/05/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 4

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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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 15 March 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. However, in doing so, the registered person should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression in the home. The registered person should explore other available options that meet fire regulations for self-closing door mechanisms that are fitted to children’s bedroom doors. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 5 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Your Chapter Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hobart House, 3 Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1249115 7 regulates 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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