Children's home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a national charity. It is registered to provide care for up to five children with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since October 2021.

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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 that 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 25 November 2021, Ofsted carried out a monitoring visit. This was due to the registered manager leaving unexpectedly and a number of concerning notifications about the quality of care. Serious and widespread concerns found at the visit led to the suspension of the home’s registration. A compliance notice was also served under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Following this enforcement action, four further monitoring visits were carried out in 2022. While the compliance notice was deemed to be met at the visit in February 2022, Ofsted Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 2 was not satisfied that the home was in a position to reopen and the suspension of registration continued. A condition of registration was subsequently imposed, enabling the home to close for a period. The most recent monitoring visit took place on 1 September 2022, with the aim being to determine the readiness of the home to

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

admit children. The home was deemed to be ready, with sufficient staffing and suitable management arrangements. The condition was therefore lifted. Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2021 Full Good 21/10/2019 Full Outstanding 11/12/2018 Full Outstanding 06/09/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 4

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inadequate

This was the first full inspection of the home since it reopened in September 2022. Since then, a number of children have moved into the home. Two children moved out of the home prior to this inspection, and two further children moved out of the home during the inspection. Due to children having relatively short periods of care in the home, their progress while living at the home was limited.

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inadequate

Children have raised concerns about living at the home. Some of these concerns were raised during the inspection. Their concerns include allegations against staff, which are currently being investigated by the provider and the local authority.

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inadequate

When there have been concerns or incidents involving children, leaders and managers have escalated these concerns to the children’s placing authority. However, there was a lack of consideration about whether the staff team had the skills and experience to meet children’s needs at the point of agreeing to children’s placements. Children’s risks and vulnerabilities had been identified from the outset. However, the staff team were not equipped to meet these needs.

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inadequate

There are significant shortfalls in the way that one child’s medication has been managed. These shortfalls include several discrepancies in the storage, administration and recording of the child’s medication. The newly appointed interim manager had noticed this the day before the inspection and started to make plans to address these shortfalls with staff.

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inadequate

Some children have engaged positively in education. Staff were consistent in trying to promote children’s attendance in education and in encouraging them to complete homework and education-related tasks.

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

Children are not safeguarded effectively. There are significant shortfalls in the safeguarding practice of leaders and managers.

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

Risks identified at the point of admitting children to the home have not been managed proactively. Following disclosures made by children that they had been harmed, action was taken immediately to end children’s placements. However, ending children’s placements abruptly can also be harmful. Additionally, there was a lack of consideration of the shortfalls in staff practice and how these contributed to the harm having occurred. Consequently, concerns were not referred to the local authority designated officer as they should have been.

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

Staff failed to take effective action when they received information from the police that one child was at serious risk of harm in the community. They failed to pass this Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 5 information on to managers so that arrangements could be made to make this child safer.

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

The registered provider has not ensured that all serious incidents are notified to the regulator. There have been some delays in notifications, and other notifications have not been passed on at all. This inhibits the regulator’s ability to hold accurate information about the home and to evaluate the provider’s response to serious incidents.

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

Some of the consequences used to address children’s behaviour are not proportionate or appropriate. For example, children have had pocket money taken away as a consequence of going into another child’s bedroom at night. Furthermore, there are shortfalls in the recording and oversight of some consequences, including the manager’s view of whether their use is appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home does not have a registered manager. The new manager, appointed before the home reopened, was not at work at the time of this inspection. An interim manager is temporarily overseeing the home in the new manager’s absence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Systems to identify shortfalls in the day-to-day management and oversight of the home have not been effective. Senior leaders have recently highlighted some shortfalls. Although they are investigating these issues and have produced an action plan, this has so far been ineffective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Records held in the home are often of poor quality. For example, medication records and daily logs. Another example of poor recording was evident in the staff rota. Additional agency staff worked in the home for a short period but were not included on the rosters, therefore there is no record of who has worked in the home, as is required by regulation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are shortfalls in the staff training records. It is unclear whether all staff have received mandatory training or that they have the required skills for their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings take place regularly. Professionals from external agencies, such as local police officers, are invited to the home to meet with staff and explain their roles and how they can support the home. Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

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)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)) 2 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults. 2 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)) 2 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

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; 2 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 8 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(c)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c)) 2 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation. (Regulation 19 (2)(f)) 2 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

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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e)) 2 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; 2 April 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 9 ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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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: 1256058 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Swift Valley, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1256058 11 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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