Children's Home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 1 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 1249196 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/07/2022 Full Good 20/07/2021 Full Good 28/05/2019 Full Good 04/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in this home. Children are supported to develop the strategies they need to help keep themselves safe and make safer choices. Consequently, there has been a reduction in concerning behaviours. When children are reluctant to attend health appointments, staff provide positive support and guidance, which has encouraged children to make healthier choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When difficulties have been encountered with regard to school attendance, staff have advocated for children and worked with professionals to overcome the barriers. This has resulted in one child changing schools so their needs can be more effectively met. When children are not in full-time education, they are encouraged to take part in educational activities. Leaders and managers have requested formal plans to increase school attendance, taking into account children’s individual needs, as they understand the impact of formal learning on positive educational outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with a range of positive experiences. Children are supported to see their families, spend time in the community with their friends and do the things they enjoy. Children regularly attend local youth clubs and sporting groups.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with helpful monthly summaries of their care. These include an outline of what has gone well for the child, the progress they have made towards their agreed aims and how their views and wishes have been listened to. In addition, the summaries provide an overview of the important conversations children have had with staff. This reminds children of the conversations they have had, and they can request their records if they wish to review the positive advice and guidance they have received.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that they like living in their home. They feel as though staff listen to them and they can seek support when it is needed. The interactions between children and staff were caring and friendly. Staff were interested in children’s opinions and experiences, which helps children to feel valued and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from a family member was positive. They said that the care provided to children was good and that staff have developed positive relationships with their child and are helping them to make progress. External professionals provided similar feedback and highlighted how well staff advocate for children, prioritise education, work alongside families and support services and help children to keep themselves safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is suitably furnished. Children’s bedrooms are personalised as children have been encouraged to choose the colour of their walls, display posters and hang fairy lights. However, some rooms in the home appear tired and unkempt. For example, there are dents in the fridge, the blind in the bathroom is worn and frayed and there are carvings on the back of the study door. The home does benefit from Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 4 large gardens with a range of play equipment, including football goals, basketball hoops, a pop-up swimming pool and a trampoline. Gym equipment is also available to children in an outbuilding.

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

When an increased risk of fire was identified, leaders and managers responded promptly to address concerns. An emergency evacuation drill was completed, and staff spoke about fire safety with the child involved. Additional support has also been requested from the fire authority.

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

Restraint has not been used in this home since the last inspection as staff are finding more positive ways to support children. On one occasion, staff did appropriately intervene to separate children to prevent them from causing harm to each other. When there are concerns about relationships, inside or outside of the home, staff encourage children to think about how they can resolve conflict safely and make safer choices. However, on some occasions, the extent of professional curiosity and the quality of advice and guidance provided by staff are limited. The areas of improvement and the need for further support for children were not identified by leaders and managers.

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

Incident reports of behaviours that have challenged staff provide an overview of what happened, how staff supported children and the rationale for the decisions that were made. Debriefs with staff evaluate how staff responded to the children and seek to identify what could be done differently in the future.

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

When safeguarding concerns are identified, staff take effective action to keep children safe. When a child is missing from the home, staff follow the agreed protocols, including searching the local area, attempting to contact the child, reporting the child as missing and contacting the child’s family and friends to gather intelligence to help locate them. Return home interviews are offered to children, although they often decline to engage, and so minimal learning is achieved. Despite this, children have been provided with safer alternatives to going missing from home, which has resulted in a recent decrease in missing-from-home episodes.

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

On one occasion, when a historic disclosure was made by a child living in the home, leaders and managers correctly notified the child’s placing authority. They did not however, refer the concern further as they should have, and accepted the advice of the placing authority that this was not necessary. This was corrected during the inspection.

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

Leaders and managers have introduced some helpful guidance for staff with regard to safeguarding practice. Safeguarding bulletins are particularly helpful in identifying the themes and patterns from the concerns that have been raised, and they support staff to reflect on the support they provide. Moreover, safeguarding bulletins allow managers to share up-to-date guidance with staff to inform their future practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 5

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good

The home has been without a registered manager since 9 February 2023. The previous registered manager has stepped into a deputy manager role, and current managerial responsibility is not well defined or understood. As a result, oversight and monitoring have suffered, which has hindered improvements in the quality of care. A head of care has recently been appointed, although this does not negate the need for the swift appointment of a registered manager.

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good

Leaders and managers have responded appropriately when it was identified that staff were struggling to meet the needs of one child. Suitable arrangements were made to keep children safe while alternative homes were explored. Leaders and managers have reflected on the move-in process, particularly when considering how staff will meet the needs of all the children in the home and support positive relationships.

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good

Leaders and managers have found it difficult to ensure adequate staffing in the home, particularly when caring for three children. Leaders and managers made arrangements for staff from affiliated homes to support the team, which helped to ensure that suitably experienced and known staff were looking after children. The home has also used some agency members of staff, although managers implemented a plan to reduce their use, which has been effective. Leaders and managers do not plan to move another child into the home until a registered manager and full staff team are in place.

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good

Team meetings are well attended. Pertinent topics are discussed, and the team is supported to promote positive relationships between the children in the home. Training compliance is high and is tailored to help staff meet the individual needs of children. Team meetings complement staff training as these forums are also used to share guidance to develop staff practice.

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good

Staff supervision sessions are held regularly. However, although an overview of the children is provided, this is often limited to an update of information. Staff supervision sessions are not used effectively to support staff to reflect on the needs of children or the support being provided. As a result, opportunities to reflect on the relationships in the home and how additional support for children may be required are missed.

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good

Safer recruitment procedures are in place. However, there has been insufficient oversight and monitoring by leaders and managers. As a result, areas for further exploration have not been identified. These queries were resolved during the inspection.

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good

Some of the home’s records are disorganised, which makes effective oversight and monitoring by leaders and managers difficult to achieve. This is exacerbated by the home having no registered manager in post. Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 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

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

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that safeguarding records are organised in a way that facilitates effective oversight and monitoring. In addition, the registered person should ensure that child protection policies are followed and concerns are reported to the relevant professionals in a timely manner. 7 August 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and 7 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that effective monitoring and oversight allow for improvements to be made to the quality of the environment, care plans, key- work sessions and recruitment processes. Moreover, the registered person should ensure that the guidance and advice provided to children are evaluated to allow for further areas of exploration and development to be identified.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is an organisation or a partnership. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that effective and clear managerial arrangements are in place while a registered manager is being recruited. 24 July 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision sessions allow staff to reflect on the needs of the children, the care being provided and how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)

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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: 1249196 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1249196 9 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 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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