Children's home run by Vitality Care Residential Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 1 Registered provider: Vitality Care Residential Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A small private provider owns this home. The home offers residential placements for up to three children who have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted, and they are experienced and suitably qualified.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/06/2021 Full Good 04/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children who lived in the home for several years have moved on from the home in a planned way. Highly committed staff and managers supported the two children well and ensured that they were equipped with appropriate life skills. Excellent communication with children and an adult social worker by managers ensured that when children were ready to move on, they had the relevant support they needed as part of their moving-on care plans.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusted relationships with staff. One child living in the home has developed secure and positive relationships with staff, which is something they had previously struggled with. Staff offer individualised and nurturing care. When children move on from the home, they maintain contact with managers and staff, reflecting the strong relationships children develop with them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education daily. A child who previously struggled with attending school now attends every day. Managers have actively advocated on behalf of children to ensure that they have the right support in place at school, making sure that children are supported to achieve their educational potential. A teacher and the virtual school lead told the inspector that managers have high educational aspirations for children and will challenge them when things for the children are not in place, and they wish all managers of children’s homes advocated for children in the same way.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers ensure that children’s health needs are met well. Managers recognise when children may need external support to help them express their feelings. Subsequently, managers have put in place an independent art psychotherapist who undertakes weekly art therapy with children. This has helped the child who lives in the home to regulate their feelings and emotions better.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s written plans are informed by research and through consultation with a clinical psychologist. Staff have regular discussions with the psychologist to help them understand children’s experiences and offer therapeutic care to them. This helps to ensure that children receive care that is individual to their needs and experiences and helps them settle into the home and make progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have positive time with people who are important to them. This helps children to maintain positive relationships with their parents and siblings.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to share their views. This includes regular meetings with staff and a ‘listen up’ scheme, which children use regularly to make requests. In addition, when children make complaints, which is not very often, the manager responds promptly. Children are listened to and feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 4

p.3

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

Staff and managers provide an effective response to children when they go missing from home. Staff follow jointly agreed missing-from-care protocols by looking for children and ensuring that all relevant information is shared with professionals, such as the police. This enables everyone to work together to locate children and return them safely home. When children return, managers and staff work with children to understand why they go missing from home to try and prevent further incidents from occurring.

p.4

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

Staff and managers have a good understanding of risks associated with child exploitation. For one child, when there were concerns about their high vulnerability to being exploited, staff and managers worked very closely with partner agencies to reduce risks related to this. In addition, staff worked well with the child to help them to learn skills to keep themselves safe when they were out in the community.

p.4

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

Staff promote positive behaviours through rewards. When children struggle to regulate their behaviours and emotions, staff complete restorative work with children to help them build skills, such as empathy. This helps children to reflect on their actions and think about other, more positive ways to manage their feelings. As a result, children are involved in fewer incidents of challenging behaviours.

p.4

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

The manager has completed a thorough and detailed assessment of the location of the home. This is reviewed regularly. The manager liaises with other agencies, such as the police, and updates the assessment with any new information. This ensures that the location risk assessment remains relevant and up to date and keeps staff and children informed about their local area.

p.4

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

Trained and skilled staff only use physical intervention as a last resort to keep children safe. Staff have an excellent understanding of children’s triggers and use de-escalation strategies that are individualised in line with children’s assessments and plans. The staff reflections following an intervention are undertaken by a clinical psychologist, who explores therapeutic-based reflection with staff to help their learning. However, on two occasions when the manager was involved in the physical intervention, they then reviewed the incident themself. This does not provide independent oversight and scrutiny of the incident.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers are inspirational and ambitious for children. They have high expectations of staff and have created a nurturing and positive culture in the home. They are always looking for innovative ways to provide excellent care to children. For example, they use a traffic light system to help a child who is a visual learner to regulate the time they spend on the computer. Managers have also invested in external services to provide staff with expert guidance and training, and they have revised children’s plans to ensure they are research- and trauma-informed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 5 Staff enjoy working in the home and were keen to share their feedback with the inspector. Staff explained that the environment they work in is extremely supportive, they are provided with good learning opportunities and new staff are supported to learn and develop their role.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff have built excellent relations with partner agencies, ensuring that they work well together to offer individualised care and support to children. Professionals such as a teacher, a children’s social worker and the virtual school lead provided their feedback to the inspector, and they described managers as fantastic ambassadors and advocates for children, ensuring they all work together to achieve the best outcomes for children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers value the importance of high-quality training. Staff have completed mandatory training courses as well as training that is specific to children’s needs, such as training in autism spectrum disorder. In addition, staff receive training from a clinical psychologist to help them implement care that is therapeutic and trauma- informed. For example, they have received training in dysregulation strategies, understanding children’s neurological conditions and how children process information differently. This ensures that staff have a high-level skills and knowledge base to provide excellent care and support to children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive reflective supervision sessions. These provide staff with additional opportunities to share how their training and practice have helped children make progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 6

p.5

What does the children’s home need to do to improve?

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’.

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that if the manager is involved in an incident involving the physical intervention of a child, then this incident is reviewed by someone independent. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

p.6

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: 2501566 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Vitality Care Residential Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Central Avenue, Stoke-on-Trent ST2 9AR

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Alison Fitchford-Raji

p.7

Inspector

Shazana Jamal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2501566 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

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 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 .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8