Children's Home run by Supporting Hands Care Services Ltd in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 1 Registered provider: Supporting Hands Care Services 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 and managed by a private company. It provides care and support for one young person who may have social and/or emotional difficulties. The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in April 2021.

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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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the full inspection on 15 and 16 August 2022, the home was judged inadequate. A monitoring visit was conducted on 21 September 2022 and at that inspection, the provider had fulfilled all the compliance action. An assurance inspection was conducted on 15 March 2023. That inspection did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/08/2022 Full Inadequate 10/05/2022 Full Inadequate 28/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 16/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has lived at this home for almost two years. Since the last inspection, they have experienced consistent care that focuses on their current needs and future success. Staff spoken to show that they are fully invested in improving the young person’s opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person currently accesses learning online at home, and they are making some progress. Staff support the young person to use research and learn new things. The young person has started to develop personal ambition and a clear idea of their next educational steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the young person and have a good understanding of their experiences and how these experiences affect them. The young person feels settled and has positive relationships with staff who know them well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the young person to develop their interests and hobbies. Staff show a great deal of pride in the young person. This is helping the young person to be confident in their own abilities and feel accomplished.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are attuned to the young person’s cultural needs. For example, they ensure that the young person has access to appropriate hair care products. The staff have also helped the young person learn about their cultural identity by researching their parents’ country of origin and purchasing traditional dress for the young person to wear at a celebration.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment replicates that of a family home. The young person’s belongings, including guitars, books and partially completed jigsaws, can be found throughout the home. The home is generally well maintained. However, the hallway, which is where you enter the home, lacks attention. There is mismatched wallpaper and patches of missing paint. This detracts from the overall homely feel.

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

The young person’s risks have been reduced. The individualised risk assessments and the missing from home protocol reflect all their current needs and risks. However, the risk assessments are confusing and contradict each other. For example, one risk assessment states the young person can have time away from the home unsupervised, and the other states there should be two staff with them. In addition, there is a lack of clarity in the staff’s understanding of how much time they should leave between contacting the young person when they are on unsupervised time. Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 4 Physical interventions are rare. The number of serious incidents is decreasing. When they do occur, the staff record them well. Incidents are often well managed. During one incident staff took photos of a child’s room for evidence and this escalated the situation leading to the young person having to be held. The manager identified this

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

poor practice, and then followed it up through team meetings and refresher training.

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

Staff apply the court directed restrictions and keep the young person safe. They use their knowledge and understanding of the young person, their current presentation, and influencing factors such as peer relationships to ensure that decision-making ‘in the moment’ is well informed.

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

The young person is routinely consulted on what works for them, and this is informing how staff respond to them. Staff are also supported to better understand their own responses through support from a psychologist. This is leading to care that is reflexive.

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

Staff use their relationships with the young person to positively influence them. They understand the young person’s need for autonomy over their own life and are striking a good balance between allowing freedom and ensuring safety. High levels of collaboration between staff and the young person are supporting the young person to understand how to be safe and take appropriate risks. This has strengthened the trust within this relationship.

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

Safer recruitment processes are in place. Where a staff member has lived or worked abroad, the manager takes reasonable steps to ensure that additional international checks take place. She is reassured that staff working in the home are suitable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed a good understanding of the home, its strengths and areas that require further development. She has taken on board issues from previous inspections. There are now systems in place that support the manager to have good oversight of all aspects of the home. This includes monthly audits and the manager’s evaluation and oversight of all key documents. The information the manager has recorded in her quality of care review is consistent with the findings of this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reviews all the individual work that staff complete with the young person. She then uses the evaluation to identify emerging risks and opportunities to expand the young person’s learning. There is a clear drive by the manager to continue to support staff to improve practice and the safety of the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff hold the young person at the centre of everything they do and do not lose sight of their needs. The manager has appropriately challenged the other professionals when their actions have been insufficient.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed a learning culture within the home. Supervision is regular and provides an opportunity for staff to talk about both personal and Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 5 practice issues. Team meetings are regular and allow staff to talk about the young person. In addition, staff are supported through monthly meetings with a psychologist. This gives staff additional opportunity to reflect on the young person, their progress and their own responses. Staff are feeling more confident in their own practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Fire drills to help children and staff know what to do in case of a fire take place every three months. However, when new staff come to work in the home, additional drills are not planned. This means a member of staff could wait almost three months to practise a fire drill.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Many of the staff have worked at the home since it opened. New staff are made to feel welcome and quickly become part of the team. Good communication between staff members is reflected in their written records. For example, the level of detail provided in shift handovers. The cohesive staff team is providing the young person with stability. Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 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 young person is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the young person’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the young person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the young person’s risk assessments include all the necessary information and provide clear instruction for staff to follow. 31 July 2023

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff that are new to the home take part in a fire drill. 31 July 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home has a family-style environment. In particular, ensure that the decor in the hallway is refreshed to address the issue of mismatched wallpaper and paintwork. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 7

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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: 2598804 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supporting Hands Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ovenden House, Ovenden Road, Halifax HX3 5QG

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Inspector

Rachel Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2598804 9 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 child care 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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