Children's Home run by The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd in West Sussex

Inspection report for children's home: SC449155 1 SC449155 Registered provider: The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is part of an independent children’s therapeutic community. It provides therapeutic care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since August 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 8 September 2021

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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: SC449155 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/09/2021 Full Good 29/05/2019 Full Good 30/07/2018 Full Good 14/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC449155 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a cosy, homely, pleasant environment. Children can decorate their bedrooms and are encouraged to personalise their own space with items that are important to them. This gives children a real sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to enjoy a range of physically and emotionally stimulating activities, such as cycling, playing board games, baking and being creative with arts and crafts. Children particularly enjoy movie nights in the ‘jungle room’ which has been carefully designed by the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children describe a caring environment where they can safely explore their emotions. As a result, children and staff have sincere and trusting relationships that continue to blossom. During the inspection, children were seen approaching staff for affection, advice and guidance. One external professional said a child has ‘made significant progress at the home due to the care and emotional support provided by the staff’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought regularly and are valued. Staff listen to children and support them to influence the way that they are cared for. For example, during link- work sessions and child-led meetings, children choose meals and activities and make suggestions about how they can make the home an even nicer place to live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in relation to their attendance and achievement in education. Close links between the home and school, including twice-daily handovers, ensure that children experience consistent and well-informed care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s achievements are celebrated. One child said that their behaviour has improved so much that their link worker was planning to take them out for a special meal. Anniversaries of living in the home are a time to reflect on the past year, and children share memories with people who matter to them. Children proudly showed the inspector the gifts they had received and said that they chose their favourite meal for the occasion.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress is captured through ‘my journey logs’ which are updated every month. These are personal to the child and reflect children’s ages. For example, one child has lots of photos of their memorable moments, and older children have letters sent by staff. The books give children a meaningful record of their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to attend medical appointments and the majority of their health needs are met. However, one child’s plans do not fully describe their medical needs. As a result, there have been missed opportunities to ensure that they are being met. Inspection report for children's home: SC449155 4

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

Children are safeguarded. Staff have a good understanding of the individual vulnerabilities of each child. There are effective strategies in place to help keep children safe and these are clearly set out in the children’s written risk assessments.

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

Children feel safe and secure. They develop open and trusting relationships with adults, and this helps them to talk about difficult matters and to share any worries or concerns. Staff are confident in the processes to follow if they are concerned about a child’s welfare.

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

Leaders and managers have worked with the local authority designated officer and a child’s social worker to agree safeguarding responsibilities for one child who has made several allegations about the adults who look after them. This demonstrates the transparent and thoughtful approach to ensuring that all safeguarding concerns are audited and examined to ensure that processes keep children safe.

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

Children are helped to understand and express how they feel. Any difficulties in relationships between children are quickly identified and managed well through meetings. The staff provide consistent boundaries and support children to talk about their difficulties with each other. This helps children to build relationships and live harmoniously together.

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

Staff encourage positive behaviour through the use of rewards and praise. Children are supported to learn from their behaviour and are given time to reflect and restore through the use of consequences that are appropriate and proportionate. Levels of physical interventions are monitored, and staff reflect on incidents to develop strategies to reduce these.

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

Staff are invested in children’s development and work in a manner that is consistent with the home’s therapeutic approach. Children are supported to take appropriate risks and learn independence skills. One child said, ‘I go out with my mobile phone to the shops and just check in to let the adults know I am safe.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is currently no registered manager at the home. A home manager is in day-to- day charge. They are supported by senior leaders. As a result, the absence of a registered manager has not had any negative impact on the quality of care being provided to children. The home manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. The management arrangements in place provide a supportive, collaborative and caring culture for everyone in the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC449155 5 Staff receive good-quality supervision. They recognise supervision as a safe space to discuss concerns, gain support and reflect on their practice to improve outcomes for children. Staff also have opportunity for time with therapists, to help them learn and develop their skills. In one example, a staff member said that talking about a child’s behaviour has helped them to understand the child’s trauma. They have developed different strategies to provide effective support for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a real sense of teamwork and there are strong working relationships between staff. They support each other to remain resilient during difficult times. This provides stability for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Record-keeping and management monitoring of records are strengths of the home. However, the length of documents can overshadow the clear factual information that is required. Language used in some records also stigmatises children, for example, through the use of words such as ‘disturbed’. During the inspection, managers demonstrated a commitment to improving documents to ensure that they fully reflect the therapeutic care being provided to children. Inspection report for children's home: SC449155 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(i)) 30 April 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact and opinion. This is in relation to reports and documents and the use of language that could be perceived as disrespectful to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC449155 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, Arundel Road, Fontwell, Arundel BN18 0SX

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Inspector

Hannah Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC449155 8 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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