Children's Home run by ARGF Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 1 Registered provider: ARGF LIMITED Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties. There were two children living at the home at the point of inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position has been vacant since June 2022. There is an acting manager leading the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 3

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff have worked hard to implement changes within the home since the last inspection. However, issues relating to staff recruitment have continued. This has impacted on the overall effectiveness of the home and reduced the staff’s ability to complete all key tasks related to improving the outcomes for children.

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improvement to be good

One of the children has now started to return to school, albeit on a part-time basis. The other child does not yet have a suitable education provision. The staff support them to complete education work sheets every morning. Staff advocate for both children to try to increase the education provision. However, progress is slow. When the children are not in school, there are limited educational activities provided. Consequently, children either go out with their friends or remain in their room. This limits the children’s learning and may impact on their overall education attainment and future careers.

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improvement to be good

The children live in a comfortable home. There are plans in place to refurbish the kitchen and utility room. The children’s bedrooms are decorated according to their own tastes. There have been occasions when the children have caused damage to the home. The manager has ensured that swift action is taken to repair any damage. This helps to maintain a safe and comfortable home environment for the children.

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improvement to be good

Individual key-work sessions are planned for children on a monthly basis. The topics covered relate to important issues for each child. However, staff are not taking time to work with the children to complete these sessions on a consistent basis. For example, when there has been an incident and a session is needed to support the child, these are not consistently undertaken. As a result, children do not have the opportunity to reflect on their behaviour or raise their awareness of the impact of their behaviour on others. Furthermore, children are not being provided with care and support to develop their own emotional resilience and coping strategies.

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improvement to be good

The children are in good health. Medical appointments are made with primary healthcare services to ensure that the children remain healthy. Staff recognise the children’s anxiety linked to them attending healthcare appointments. They encourage the children and can be creative in their approach to getting the children to attend these. This has not proven very successful because, very often, the children do not attend the appointments that have been made. This could compromise their health. Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 4

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improvement to be good

The staff have completed detailed behaviour management plans for each child. The plans are reviewed and amended regularly. However, staff are not reading the updated plans. Consequently, they are not equipped with the most-up-to-date knowledge of the children’s needs, and this renders the children more vulnerable.

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improvement to be good

Staff are proactive when there are incidents. They follow the right protocols and work to ensure that children are safeguarded. Staff notify external agencies about incidents, and one professional has stated that they ‘feel really happy about communication’.

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improvement to be good

When incidents occur, children are not debriefed. Staff do not take the time to explore the child’s view of what happened or seek to understand the behaviour of the child. This leaves the children with no opportunity to voice any worries or be given help to manage strong emotions and feelings. Furthermore, children and staff do not learn from the incident. This means that approaches to behaviour management are not changing flexibly with the children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not educated children about the dangers of social media and internet use. For one child, there is a clear plan regarding the time that they spend online. The plan has been communicated to staff. However, some staff do not comply with the plan. They provide the child with the tablet when they ask for it and do not monitor the use. The manager is exploring an online programme to assist the staff to have oversight of the children’s online activity. But while this is being sourced, the children continue to be vulnerable online. This requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

A child went missing from care and staff were unaware of this. The child was involved in criminal activity while missing, which places them at risk. The manager has started to explore extra safety measures to ensure that there is no repeat of this incident. These are yet to be implemented and, as a result, the child could still leave without staff being aware.

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good

The manager is committed to the children in her care. She is very responsive to the needs of the children and staff. One member of staff spoke highly of the manager and said that they were ‘amazing’.

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good

When team meetings take place, they are seen as being a positive forum for the team, and current and relevant issues are discussed. It is also used as an opportunity by the manager to reinforce updates to relevant plans. This means that the team receive the same message about their approach to caring for the children.

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good

The recruitment of staff remains a challenge. The manager has been proactive in recruiting new staff, but they have not yet started. Also, some vacant posts remain Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 5 unfilled. All shifts are covered, and bank staff are used rather than agency staff. The manager also does shifts as she wants to ensure that the children have consistent carers. However, when the manager is on shift, this detracts from her being able to undertake her management tasks and ensure full oversight of the home. Furthermore, the extra shifts have impacted on staff’s resilience, and morale is low.

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good

It has been a difficult time for the staff. Relationships between staff have not developed to the point where they are all working together for the benefit of the children. The manager finds it hard to schedule time to undertake team building exercises due to the limited number of team members. As team dynamics are not overly positive, this impacts on the quality of care that the staff provide to the children.

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good

Supervision notes are well recorded. There is not yet an established rota for staff to have monthly supervisions. Staff are not being provided with time to discuss their professional development and reflect on their practice. Any changes needed regarding staff practice are taking too long to be addressed, and this means that children receive mixed messages from the staff who care for them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that children are encouraged and supported to undertake purposeful, assessed education activities during the school day, while they are awaiting a school placement. 14 August 2023

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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. 14 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that records of incidents are clear, detailed, show that the child has been debriefed, and demonstrate management oversight, reflection and learning.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to supervision of staff taking place once a month in line with the home’s policy. 14 August 2023

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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: 2639538 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: ARGF Limited, Grosvenor House, Office 1, 5th Floor, George Street, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 1QB

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2639538 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 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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