Children's home run by Compass Children‟s Homes Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to eight children who have experienced trauma and family breakdown. This is one of several children’s homes operated by this private company.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a school on site, which is run by the organisation. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 10 September 2021.

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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: 1 December 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/12/2022 Full Good 17/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 3

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improvement to be good

There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection. Another child had successfully moved on to semi-independent living. There has been a lot of change recently, because the management team has given notice on the current three children. Since the inspection, two of these children have already moved out, and the third child’s social worker is looking for a new placement.

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improvement to be good

The number of unplanned endings for children who have to move suddenly are high. This suggests that the staff team is not equipped to manage the dynamics of children living together. These moves cause children increased uncertainty and trauma.

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improvement to be good

Some of the interior doors are locked, particularly the laundry room door. Therefore, children are unable to freely access all areas of their home.

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improvement to be good

The ground floor of the house is nicely decorated and homely. However, the upstairs landing needs some decoration to ensure that it provides a pleasant and homely atmosphere.

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improvement to be good

All children are in education. A social worker and the headteacher of the virtual school said that there have been improvements in children’s engagement. One child who was attending virtual lessons now attends in person. Another child has secured a place on a college course.

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improvement to be good

Children acquire a variety of vocational qualifications that help them to build their knowledge in a range of areas. One child has achieved qualifications in independent living skills, such as shopping, budgeting, cooking, road safety and making a bed. This child has successfully moved on to semi-independent living. Having the opportunity to build knowledge and skills in this area enables children to acquire the life skills they will need for independent living.

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improvement to be good

Children take part in activities that they enjoy. One child has been attending Army Cadets for two years. This child is interested in joining the armed forces, and staff support and encourage him with this interest. Two children regularly attend the gym. Supporting hobbies and interests helps children to build their sense of self and emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff create memory books for children. These contain photos and personalised letters to look back on. Creating these opportunities for children to remember and recall helps them to build a narrative about their lives and have important keepsakes for the future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 4

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improvement to be good

Measures to adequately safeguard children are not always in place. When the manager was given important information about a child, they failed to share this with the team or record it in the child’s plans. Therefore, staff did not have the relevant information to keep all the children in their care safe.

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improvement to be good

A child who was on one-to-one supervision went missing from the home on several occasions, often with other children. Senior managers have investigated these incidents. They found that guidance was not clear enough, and staff did not fully understand their roles at that time.

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improvement to be good

Police said that there was previously a lack of communication from the home. However, this is improving. There has also been a reduction in children going missing from the home over the last two months. This shows that children feel more settled.

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improvement to be good

There have been occasions when physical restraint has been necessary. Staff have the skills and training to do this, and their interventions have been brief and effective. Children are always given the chance to talk about the restraint, and managers have good oversight of the intervention. However, the incident records do not clearly detail which children staff are referring to. It is important that staff record clearly so that records for children are easy to identify in the future.

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improvement to be good

Staff do a variety of key-work sessions with each child. These help children to think about their behaviour, and how best to develop moving forward. Topics covered include mental health, decision-making, future careers, relationships and families. Having an open forum where children can talk about their feelings helps them to grow and develop.

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improvement to be good

Staff use consequences in a variety of ways to help children learn from their behaviour. They use positive consequences and praise to recognise positive choices children make, and restorative consequences to help children to think about negative choices. This is helping children to learn from their behaviour.

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good

The manager is registered with Ofsted. However, he is not currently working at the home. This follows practice concerns that are being investigated. The responsible individual is overseeing the day-to-day running of the home with two other part-time managers.

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good

A lack of management oversight has meant that important pieces of information have not always been shared with staff. Staff do not always have the guidance necessary to support them in their roles. This has led to a lack of consistency in caring for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 5 The statement of purpose does not reflect the practice at the home. For example, the statement of purpose includes plans that relate to joining a therapeutic community in 2023. This is no longer going to happen. This is misleading and means that children, families, staff and stakeholders do not have a clear understanding of the home’s intentions and practice.

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good

Staff have not received regular supervision sessions or annual appraisals. A detailed improvement plan is being actioned. New systems are being put in place for supervision sessions and the current management team is undertaking staff appraisals.

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good

Staff have a good training offer, and all mandatory training is up to date. Staff have supplementary training to help them meet children’s needs, and this is frequently reviewed.

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good

Leaders and managers understand the emotional impact of the work staff do, and that it has been a challenging period for the team. At a recent team meeting, the staff team was thanked for its efforts and given a token to show the company’s appreciation. Looking after staff well-being helps staff to care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 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

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)) 1 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)) 4 September 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— 4 September 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 7 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the statement of purpose should be accurate, and staff should receive regular supervision and annual appraisals.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing, homely and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children living there. In particular, redecorate the upstairs hallway. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, children can access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home and any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home for safety reasons should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, it is important to be able to identify children in records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 8

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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: 2591431 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Compass Community Ltd, 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspectors

Mary Costello, Social Care Inspector Trudy Potter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2591431 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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