Children's Home run by Radical Services Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 1 SC487549 Registered provider: Radical Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is one of several owned and operated by a private company. The home provides care for up to four children.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified. He has been in post since April 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/08/2021 Full Good 04/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 06/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have built trusting and secure relationships with staff. Staff invest time in children. They listen to them, protect them and promote their welfare. Staff are proud of children’s progress and achievements. As a result, children can develop a sense of permanence and belonging. They are also able to name trusted adults that they can speak to if they have any worries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend school or college full time, and most have excellent attendance. When there are concerns around attendance, staff support children to overcome challenges and encourage them back into education. Staff are ambitious for children and their educational development. They recognise, celebrate and reward achievements. The manager ensures that there is effective liaison with schools and colleges, which helps to provide continuity. One teacher commented, ‘[Name of child] is delightful. She has settled down really well. She is thriving and is a star pupil.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, there have been two children move out of the home. One child’s move from the home was unplanned. When the child had moved in, the staff team was not fully equipped to care for the child and was unable to keep the child safe. Senior managers in the organisation completed a reflective review. As a result, the manager now has full autonomy regarding decisions about which children the team have the skills to care for and keep safe. Two children have moved in since and have had positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive therapeutic care and support. The staff are guided and supported by qualified and experienced psychologists. The staff receive training and monthly consultation with the home’s linked psychologist. Children have individual plans that are implemented by the psychologist. These contain strategies and recommendations. Staff ensure that these plans are followed and, as a result, children are being helped to understand their emotions better and are making considerable progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between family and friends are promoted. Children are supported to see their families in line with their plans. Staff recognise that seeing family members can sometimes be difficult for children, so they ensure that children are supported to work through any feelings they may have. One social worker commented, ‘I think the biggest positive is the support and promotion of family time, despite the distance involved.’ Children are also supported to attend local clubs and groups, where they can meet with their friends. As a result, children are developing socially and emotionally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that internal care plans identify children’s individual needs and, where possible, incorporate actions and targets from education and local authority care plans. However, one child’s local authority plan is not in place. Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 4

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

The manager and staff team know the children’s risks and understand them. Together, they identify and appropriately assess new risks. The manager and staff ensure that there are risk management plans in place for each child. However, plans do not provide clear guidance for staff when managing specific risks.

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

Some children have been missing from home. Individual missing-from-care plans help staff understand the action that they need to take to locate children and keep them safe. Incident reports completed are detailed and evidence the steps that staff have taken to locate a missing child. The manager works closely with other professionals to identify alternative strategies and actions to embed into practice. Consequently, missing-from-care incidents have remained significantly low.

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

There have been two occasions when staff have had to guide children to safety. This has been used as a last resort in conjunction with the home’s policies and procedures. Records are detailed and contain the relevant information. Appropriate debriefs and reflective conversations are completed with children, taking into consideration their views, wishes and feelings. The manager ensures that staff are provided with a debrief and an opportunity to reflect..

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

The arrangements for storing and managing medication have recently been reviewed. Following an incident when a child was able to access their medication, the manager completed a detailed review of the incident and identified learning outcomes.

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

Staff complete regular direct work with children to support them to understand how to keep themselves safe, particularly when out in the community and using mobile devices. As a result of the direct work completed, children are able to recognise potential risk. However, the manager had not completed a risk assessment before one child commenced their employment. As a result, all risks associated to the employment had not been fully considered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads by example. He is passionate, inspirational, has ambitions for children and is therapeutic in his approach. As a result, he is influential in changing the lives of the children who live in the home. The manager ensures that the home is properly staffed and resourced to meet the needs of children. This provides stability and continuity of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has developed with support from the manager. It is more experienced, has a greater understanding of the children and has been appropriately trained. Since the last inspection, three staff are now qualified and several are close to completing their qualification. As a result, children are now cared for by experienced and qualified staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 5 When supervisions take place, they are reflective and supportive in nature. The manager takes pride in the support that he provides to staff and their development. However, there have been occasions when supervision sessions with staff have not been completed regularly. As a result, staff have missed out on opportunities to reflect on their practice and the care that they provide to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On most occasions, the manager ensures that notifications of significant events that relate to the welfare and protection of children are made to the regulator in a timely manner. However, there have been occasions when there has been a delay in notifications being submitted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When children display behaviours of concern, the manager ensures that they are recorded. The incident records are detailed and provide a clear picture into the events that have occurred. This allows the manager the opportunity to maintain oversight into each incident. However, not all comments documented are evaluative, and on occasions there is a lack of scrutiny. Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children obtain employment, additional due diligence is completed to ensure the place of work is safe by completing a risk assessment. 17 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 17 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 7 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all incident reports are evaluated with scrutiny, taking into consideration any possible learning outcomes that can be implemented into children’s risk management plans, or to support the development of staff.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they have copies of each child’s most up-to-date and relevant plans, such as children’s pathway plans and review minutes. 17 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to,

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that significant incidents are notified to Ofsted and without delay. 17 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that risk assessments are clear, directive and individualised to each identified risk. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC487549 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Radical Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Kimmy Feeley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC487549 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. 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

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Inspector

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 .

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Inspector

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Inspector

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

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