Children's Home run by Future In Mind Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 1 SC063653 Registered provider: Future In Mind Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates this home. It provides care and accommodation for up to two children who have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2020 and holds a level 5 qualification.

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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 good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/05/2021 Full Good 10/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/11/2018 Full Good 10/01/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there were two children living in this home. Children with complex needs have made progress from their starting points. One child who has been living at the home for five years is now ready to move to independent living. Another child, new to the home, has made progress in school and is talking about his emotions more.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to prioritise children’s education. This has helped children make good educational progress. One child who was not attending school has completed exams and is now engaged in further education. Another child, who had not been in school for 12 months, is now attending school full time. The registered manager has worked hard to ensure that children get the support they need. In addition, staff work closely with teachers to ensure that any emerging issues are promptly addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support with their physical and emotional health. A joined-up approach between the therapist and staff enables them to deliver care that is underpinned by the home’s therapeutic ethos. The therapist works closely with staff to help them understand children’s complex backgrounds and needs. This approach helps staff to provide an individualised response to children and help them make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of social and community-based activities. This has included trips to theme parks and local recreation grounds, and going swimming. The registered manager and staff understand the importance of giving children valuable and memorable experiences. Last summer, staff took one of the children on holiday abroad, where the child went scuba diving. Such activities and experiences help to boost children’s confidence and self-esteem, while having fun and building positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to stay in touch with people who are important to them. However, one child’s contact with his sibling has been stopped because the children’s experiences during family time have not been positive. Although the child’s wishes and feelings have been explored, not enough action has been taken to work with the child’s placing authority to address the barriers to family time. As a result, plans to support the child to spend time with his sibling are unclear, and are not in line with his care plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home is clean, welcoming and well furnished. In places, the home is personalised and reflects children’s personalities. However, one child’s bedroom was unhygienic, largely due to staff not supporting the child well enough to care for her rabbit and clean out its crate. In addition, other areas of the home look tired and there was a large dent in the kitchen table. These factors take away from the otherwise homely and pleasant environment. Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 4

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

Staff complete risk assessments to help them understand children’s presenting risks. Staff know the children well and understand their behaviours and how to respond to them. This means that concerns are managed well and action is taken to protect children.

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

The number of incidents of children going missing from the home is low. Staff are quick to respond and follow agreed procedures, including searching for children in the community. This helps to ensure that children are found and they are supported to return home safely.

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

Children benefit from consistent boundaries and expectations. This good practice promotes positive behaviour. As a result, the number of incidents when staff are required to physically intervene with one child has reduced significantly. One child has been involved in developing an individualised reward system. This enables him to invest in the reward system, which supports his progress.

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

A wide range of educational work is carried out with children to help them understand risk. For example, staff educate children about online safety, risk in the community and sexual health. In addition, children are provided with opportunities to reflect and learn when things go wrong. This helps to build resilience and understanding as they develop and become more independent.

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

When children make allegations, these are generally managed well. However, on one occasion, the manager did not follow the home’s safeguarding procedures when a child made an allegation against a member of staff on a Friday evening. The manager did not contact the emergency duty team and instead decided that the staff member would continue to work with child. Although there were some mitigating factors, the decision was made before exploring this sufficiently with other professionals. The matter was addressed quickly the following week.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed by a committed and experienced registered manager. The manager and staff know the children well and have high aspirations for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported through supervision sessions and team meetings. This provides staff with regular opportunities, both as individuals and as a team, to reflect on and develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a range of training that reflects the complex needs of the children they care for. However, the manager does not always respond quickly to new training needs, and some staff have not received mandatory training within appropriate timescales. Outstanding training has been scheduled to ensure that staff in the home are equipped with the skills they need to care for children and continue to meet their needs well. Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 5 Managers and staff promote a culture of acceptance and appreciation of people’s differences. They find creative ways to educate children about inclusion. For example, staff supported children to create their own Braille writing to help them understand how people who are blind can read through touch. The culture of acceptance has also enabled children to feel comfortable to explore their identity and talk about their identity with staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are comprehensive and reflect their everyday lives. Children’s care plans are written from the child’s perspective, which gives them more meaning and brings them to life. However, there have been delays in a review for one child’s education, health and care plan, which means changes needed have not been made. As a result, the staff might not have the most up-to-date information about the child’s educational needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager sometimes advocates well for children. For example, when one child did not receive adequate care and support from her social worker, the manager raised a formal complaint with the local authority. However, more recently, there have been missed opportunities to challenge placing authorities in relation to children’s care planning. This has created anxiety for one child, who was uncertain about when she would be moving from the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 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 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; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that improvements are made to the home environment, repairs are carried out promptly and children are not exposed to unhygienic bedroom environments. 16 March 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure any allegation of harm or abuse is addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.17)  The registered person should ensure that where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home, the home challenges them to meet the child’s needs (see regulations 5(c)). Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8) Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 7  The registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home and to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each

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Recommendations

child to achieve their potential. This specifically relates to ensuring staff have access to training in a timely way and receive training that is specific to children’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 1.5)

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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: SC063653 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Future In Mind Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Future in Mind, 65 Market Street, Hednesford, Cannock, Staffordshire WS12 1AD

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 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 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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