Children's home run by Restorative Social Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 1 Registered provider: Restorative Social Care Services 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 the home. It provides care for up to two children who have emotional and social difficulties. The home was opened on 28 February 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 22 February 2022

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2022 Full Good 29/05/2019 Full Good 09/05/2018 Full Outstanding 06/12/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 3

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inadequate

Children’s overall experiences are poor because of shortfalls in help and protection. This compromises children’s safety, welfare and well-being needs.

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inadequate

The manager and staff care about the children who live in the home. They want them to do well. Individualised care is provided depending on the children’s needs. Supporting the children helps with their development and getting ready for the next stage of their lives.

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inadequate

Some children have done very well. They have progressed and are achieving their goals. There is good support for children moving on from the home. Children can go on to supported living arrangements. They are well prepared for the change to live independently. The home continues to give informal support with telephone calls and visits. This gives children clear aspirations for the future.

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inadequate

This positive experience has not been consistent for all children in the home. Another child has experienced some weeks without a clear idea about their future following the home giving notice on their placement. Delays in decision-making have limited the time left for preparing the child to move and deciding what support should be in place. The uncertainty has affected how the child feels, leading to a withdrawal from staff. Vulnerabilities have increased at a crucial time.

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inadequate

One child is going to school every day. There is good support from education, health and care plans, including smaller classes to help with concentration and learning. However, one child is not engaging in school. Encouragement and strategies used by staff have not always helped. School and other multi-agency professionals have also not been successful. This has affected the child’s daily routine. Consequently, the child is falling further behind with their learning.

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inadequate

The home is welcoming. Children have a choice about how to decorate their room. At mealtimes, children and staff sit together to eat in the kitchen, creating a homely, social event. Yet if a child wants a snack, they must ask staff as items are locked away in a staff bedroom. This affects the natural feeling of a family home.

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inadequate

There are a variety of activities in the local area. Children can choose the things they go to, and staff will make the arrangements. A firm favourite currently is laser tag. Going to activities allows the children to spend time developing important friendships.

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inadequate

Children are well supported to see their family and friends. The manager has been instrumental in moving arrangements on when possible. Staff have made efforts to build those relationships. This helps them understand the children’s personal circumstances and people who are important to them. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 4

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

During the inspection, a serious safeguarding concern arose due to staff not having physically seen a child for 21 hours. The lack of professional curiosity for the child’s well-being was of concern. The child has known risks, including going missing, criminal exploitation, and drugs and alcohol misuse. The child is vulnerable, and staff were unaware whether they were fit and well.

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

The children have well-defined risk management plans that include detailed triggers and give staff guidance. This helps staff decide what action to take to de-escalate situations when needed. This adds to the children’s safety, ensuring that the approach of staff is consistent.

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

The manager and staff usually take a multi-agency approach to safeguarding children. However, there has been an earlier occasion where a child was involved in an incident with a professional external to the home. On this occasion, the manager did not make contact with the local authority designated officer (LADO). This would have allowed the LADO the opportunity to decide what action was needed and offer an independent review of the incident. This process increases the protection of children.

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

There is a robust missing-from-home process in place. Staff make efforts to find children as soon as possible and bring them home. This reduces the risk of children experiencing harm when missing. To help with the children’s safety, there is an alarm system installed on the bedroom doors. This should not be a blanket approach for all children unless necessary and should be reviewed to ensure that the practice continues to be needed.

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

The provider has a safer recruitment process in place. There is a commitment to making sure that the staff are suitable to work with the children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is visible and supportive of the staff in the home. However, the incident that occurred during the inspection is concerning from both a staff and management perspective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are plans in place to improve the service and move things forward. These are set out in the manager’s most recent quality of care report. The report does not include the views of the children and parents. It is therefore difficult to understand what the children think of their care, the staff and the home. This is an important part of ensuring that children’s voices are listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team is stable, with one new starter since the last inspection. This gives children opportunities to form attachments and develop important relationships with the people who care for them. Ensuring that they have someone they trust can help children talk to about their views, wishes and feelings. This helps the children feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 5 Staff feel well support by the manager and the provider. Supervision is monthly and there are also opportunities for individual sessions. These are reflective, allowing staff to learn from events that have happened. This means that staff practice can evolve and improve when necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a robust induction process and training programme. This delivers mandatory training to staff to be able to work with the children. There are also other courses available, depending on the needs of the children. For example, staff have had training on autism spectrum disorder. Staff have the skills and knowledge to be able to meet the children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager and the staff team have worked hard to develop good relationships with other professionals. These include social workers and school. This ensures that professionals are working towards agreed goals, which provides consistency for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 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, the 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff must check on the children during the day, seeing them in person to make sure they safe, fit and well. Any safeguarding concerns raised about adults who work with children must be referred to the LADO so they can decide what action they may or may not take. 20 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; 20 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 7 if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all children who leave the home have a robust plan and move on in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a routine in place in the home to promote education and learning. 20 March2023

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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

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b) (5)) 20 March2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 8 The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children. (Regulation 24 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that alarms on the children’s bedroom doors are used for safeguarding purposes and that the registered manager has completed a thorough risk assessment to determine necessity for each individual child. 20 February2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should make sure there is a variety of snacks available in the kitchen and that these items are not locked away. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1252095 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Restorative Social Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Victoria Street, Greetland, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX4 8DF

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Inspector

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1252095 10 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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