Children's Home run by Young Foundations Limited in Redcar and Cleveland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 1 Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care for up to five children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022 and is suitably qualified.

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 November 2022

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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: 2629902 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/11/2022 Full Good 29/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have open and honest relationships with staff. One child spoke of their positive experiences of living in the home over a long period of time. The relationships between children and staff help children to feel secure and able to talk openly about any worries they have.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and help them to embrace their individuality. Staff are proud of the positive progress that children make. Children’s wishes and feelings are embedded in day-to-day decisions about their care. Some children keep pets. This teaches children responsibility to care for their pets and how to protect them and keep them safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have worked hard to support children to access education. The manager sourced additional support for one child while they were completing their exams. Staff are proud of the children’s progress and ensure that all children celebrate their educational successes and end-of-year parties. Staff advocate on behalf of children who do not access education. Staff ensure that children are afforded appropriate learning that meets their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support most children to attend medical appointments and lead healthy lifestyles. Staff work to ensure that children attend any outstanding health assessments or appointments. Staff support children with their emotional health and work closely with the provider’s clinical psychologist to support children to have appropriate therapeutic care. One family member said that their child ‘has made real progress because of the care offered by staff and is very settled living in the home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are offered the opportunity to take part in a range of activities and hobbies, including structured activities and days out. These opportunities promote children’s self-esteem, help them to make friends, and develop their confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend quality time with their families. One social worker spoke of the commitment of staff in ensuring that children who live far away from their family continue to have regular family time. However, one parent said that staff are not good at sharing updated information with them in line with their child’s care plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and encourage children to engage in their care routines. However, staff do not always ensure that all children participate in daily activities in the home. Some children spend prolonged periods of time in their bedrooms. This limits children’s access to healthy daily care routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is comfortable and welcoming. Some areas of the home, particularly the bathrooms, require refurbishment. This detracts from what is otherwise a homely environment for children to live in. Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 4

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

Children are kept safe by staff who understand and respond to each child’s individual needs. Staff are supported by a clinical psychologist to help them have a greater understanding of the children’s needs.

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

Staff support the children to help them to understand their emotions. Staff work alongside the children to develop individual strategies that support them during challenging times or when they are upset. One social worker spoke of the positive changes that they had observed in a child since living in the home and a reduction in unwanted behaviours.

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

Staff and managers are proactive in raising safeguarding concerns with social workers and other external professionals. Staff work collaboratively with agencies to explore contextual risks for children and ensure that appropriate actions are in place. This helps to reduce risks and make children feel safe.

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

Physical interventions are used minimally, are proportionate, and always used as a last resort. Following one physical intervention, concerns were raised by a child. The child’s views were obtained by staff, and external professionals were consulted. However, there was a lack of evidence demonstrating independent management oversight of the incident.

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

Staff follow the missing-from-home procedures when a child is reported as missing. Staff follow children, carry out welfare checks when appropriate, and speak with children when they return to the home in an attempt to prevent a reoccurrence.

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

Children have individual risk assessments that provide staff with clear guidance on how to best support each child while in the home and in the community. However, one child’s assessment of risk requires updating. Inaccurate risk assessments do not provide staff with all the information that they need to respond appropriately to children.

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

Staff undertake room searches sensitively and remove items that could be harmful to children, when appropriate. The outside areas of the home have items and hazards that could cause harm to children. Action is required to ensure that children are protected from avoidable exposure to danger.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. The registered manager was not available during the inspection and the inspection was led by the home’s deputy manager. Professionals spoke positively about the registered and deputy managers’ commitment to promoting children’s welfare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 5 Staff escalate concerns to the relevant authorities and respond to any emerging risks. The registered manager has positive links with stakeholders and is proactive in arranging risk management meetings. The home’s locality risk assessment gives due consideration to concerns regarding local risks, including child criminal exploitation. This helps staff to understand risks and keep children safer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of training, including mandatory and additional training. Staff carry out training that is specific to safeguarding children. This supports staff to understand the children’s needs and supports them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are systems in place for staff to discuss the work they carry out with children. However, staff are not consistently provided with opportunities to reflect on their practice, either in individual supervision sessions or team meetings. This limits staff’s ability to identify areas for improvement or for specific issues around practice to be addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced numerous changes of staff and have several vacancies. Staff from other homes currently fill any gaps and are supported to work alongside permanent staff. The registered manager is recruiting to fill vacancies. However, temporary changes to the number of waking night staff have resulted in children having limited access to some areas of the home between certain times. Staffing issues should not affect children’s ability to access any part of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff acknowledged that they have experienced a challenging time due to staff changes. However, they spoke positively about the support that is provided by the registered and deputy managers, as well as their fellow peers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons 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 persons 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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons must ensure that arrangements are in place to offer independent oversight of specific incidents in order to mitigate safeguarding risks. 31 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)) 31 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 7 In particular, the registered persons should ensure that staff access regular and consistent, reflective supervision and team meetings.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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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 and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(b)(iv)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons should ensure that children have suitable access to all areas of their home. 31 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons should evidence active working to ensure that appropriate education provisions are in place for all children. 31 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which— 31 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 8 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons should ensure that all children’s risk assessments, records and care plans are updated.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they seek to develop effective working relationships with those who are significant to the children and promote communication with significant others in line with the child’s needs and plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)

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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: 2629902 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Alexander House, Highfield Park, Llandrynog, Denbighshire, Wales LL16 4LU

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Inspector

Gina Lightfoot, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2629902 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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