Children's Home run by Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 1 Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to four children with emotional and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager position has been vacant since 22 November 2022.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the last inspection, Ofsted issued two compliance notices, in relation to regulation 12, protection of children, and regulation 13, leadership and management. Ofsted also issued a notice to restrict accommodation. These were reviewed at a monitoring visit on 10 May 2023 and lifted. The monitoring visit report is published separately. Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/04/2023 Full Inadequate 19/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/09/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Managers have made improvements since the last full inspection. Most of the statutory requirements made at the full inspection have now been met.

p.3

improvement to be good

Relationships between staff and children have improved and there is a calmer atmosphere at the home. This inspection found that the home is on an improvement trajectory, but there remain areas that require further improvement to be good.

p.3

improvement to be good

Managers and staff have implemented new daily structures and routines. This has led to children taking part in education or training appropriate to their needs. Children have been helped to be consistent in attending college courses and taking exams. This is helping them to make improvements in this crucial area of their lives and to become more confident in their abilities.

p.3

improvement to be good

Older children are being supported to develop their skills to live independently. Staff use a specially developed programme to help these children learn and develop the skills they will need going forward. However, this is not used to assess and develop practical skills. Plans do not identify where additional learning or support is needed to develop their independence skills further.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s general health needs are met. Staff access local services when a child needs support with their mental health. However, children smoke and use illegal substances. They are not supported by specialist health agencies to understand the risks associated with this behaviour. This limits the children leading a healthy lifestyle.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s plans clearly identify their individual needs and behaviours which may be more difficult to manage. They help staff to know how to support each child. However, staff do not consistently follow children’s relevant plans. This sometimes leads to more challenging behavioural incidents.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children have one-to-one planned discussions with an allocated member of staff. These are held regularly and recorded in detail, giving children the opportunity to express their views, wishes and feelings. This also ensures that children’s views are heard and responded to by staff.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children’s risk assessments are sufficiently clear and detailed. They identify ways of supporting each child, considering their vulnerabilities and risks. These are cross referenced to a 24-hour support plan. Therefore, staff know how to recognise risk and support each child to be safer. Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 4 Staff do not always consistently manage children’s challenging behaviours. Reports following incidents are not yet sufficiently detailed. As a result, managers are not able to identify specific support, additional training or guidance that staff may require to improve their practice, which will lead to children being safer.

p.3

improvement to be good

At times, children go missing from care. This exposes them to known risks associated with being missing. There are clear procedures in each child’s support plan for staff to follow when this happens. Staff are proactive in contacting children and notifying the appropriate agencies.

p.4

improvement to be good

Managers have not always notified Ofsted following serious incidents. This prevents the regulator from having oversight of incidents and being assured that children are safeguarded.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children said that they have trusted adults they can talk to. They identified staff who they would go to for support. One child raised issues through a complaints system, and these have been resolved by a manager.

p.4

good

Following the last inspection, managers have made changes to practice that have improved the experiences and progress of children. Managers are committed to making further improvements to the quality of care and staff development. They aspire to provide children with good care and support.

p.4

good

Managers have not ensured that staff have individual supervision in accordance with company policy. This means that staff do not have individual time with a manager to discuss and develop their practice. This also fails to provide an opportunity for reflection and critical analysis, which is important for ongoing development.

p.4

good

Managers are not ensuring that staff undertake important training. There is a comprehensive training programme, however, most staff have not completed some of the courses identified as mandatory. This is not followed up and training enforced by managers.

p.4

good

Managers speak of receiving good support from the responsible individual. This also includes providing direct supervision for the deputy manager. However, this has mostly been via phone and video calls rather than with the responsible individual being a regular presence at the home. There have been long periods when the responsible individual has not visited the home. This limits observation and scrutiny of staff and management practice.

p.4

good

There is a staff induction programme. However, when staff complete sections of the induction, these are not signed off by managers. Therefore, managers cannot identify if staff are competent and confident in specific areas of their practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 5 Managers have good-quality assurance processes. Daily, weekly and monthly checks are completed. Managers approve electronic records, such as incident reports. However, managers’ comments or identified actions are not added to the record. This limits the impact of the management oversight. Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 6

p.4

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff being consistently skilled and confident in challenging and dealing with inappropriate and risky behaviour. 30 September

p.6

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 –

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph 1 requires the registered person to –

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff completing the home’s identified mandatory training. 31 August 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 31 August 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 7 undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(a)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to all staff completing an induction programme that is signed off by a manager. Also, that supervision of staff takes place in line with the home’s policy and is led by an appropriately experienced person who has a day-to-day understanding of this home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.7

Requirement Due date

there is any [other] incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to serious incidents which should have been notified to HMCI. 20 July 2023

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff help each child to prepare for their move from the home. This includes supporting the child to prepare to live independently and to develop practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  The registered person should ensure that those with a leadership and management role are visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their leadership and/or management responsibilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7)

p.7

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: 2625585 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barratt House Office G3a, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton NN2 6EZ

p.8

Inspectors

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Alli Tandy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2625585 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9