Children's Home run by Budwood Limited in Dorset

Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 1 Registered provider: Budwood 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 by a private organisation. It provides care for up to two children who may have needs associated with emotional and behavioural difficulties and in addition may have experienced loss, trauma and abuse.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager is new to the role and is not registered with Ofsted.

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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: 31 October 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: 2620261 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2022 Full Good 27/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 3

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improvement to be good

Children living in the home are very settled and they are making good progress in many aspects of their lives. Children benefit from caring relationships with a core group of staff who understand the children’s needs and complex emotional vulnerability well. However, the shortfalls identified in how well children are helped and protected have impacted on the overall experience judgement.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to develop trust in those caring for them. Staff help children to feel safe and secure and to belong. Staff actively encourage the children to explore and understand their identity and their experiences. Children are supported to see important family members, to develop their independence skills and to pursue their own interests. They are encouraged and helped to express their emotions, wishes and feelings in positive ways.

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improvement to be good

The two children living in the home are at quite different stages in their lives. This is reflected in their relationships with each other which, at times, can be strained. Sufficient staffing enables the children to live separately and alongside each other without any compromises being made to the quality of care they receive.

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improvement to be good

The children’s physical and emotional health needs are met by staff and through a range of suitable support services. Incidents of high concern in relation to one child’s emotional well-being have reduced. This positively reflects the quality and impact of the care and support provided to children. However, while progress is being made, there are a small number of occasions during the night when staff are not able to respond to the child’s needs at the earliest opportunity. There is no recent management evaluation that addresses this aspect.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported and encouraged in their education and learning by staff. When children do not have full-time education arrangements, staff make good use of online education resources to help children with their learning.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from regular individual activities and hobbies that help to build their self-confidence and self-esteem. They love looking after their own pets. Children enjoy celebrations, events and experiences that are highly memorable, but these are not brought together in a form that they can keep. Children do not have their own record of these special childhood moments and of the time they have lived in the home.

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improvement to be good

Professional feedback is overwhelmingly positive on the progress the children are making and the quality of the care they receive.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 4 Children’s behaviour support needs are clearly identified and understood by staff. Comprehensive support plans provide clear guidance to staff to help calm feelings and difficult situations in the home at an early stage. Following significant events, staff help children to sensitively explore their reactions, feelings and views. Staff are also supported to reflect on events. However, staff debriefs are not always timely, some are limited in detail and the reason for any delay is not clearly recorded.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing or are late home, staff take a proportionate and appropriate response to safeguard them. Progress has been made in reducing the number of times one child goes missing by using positive incentives. While missing- from-home processes are mostly robust, staff are not provided with clear guidance on what to do in the event they are unable to leave the home to look for a child.

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improvement to be good

Most safeguarding incidents are responded to effectively by staff and decisive and suitable action is taken by managers to safeguard children. However, during the inspection, it was identified that managers had not responded robustly or swiftly to a potential safeguarding concern that had been raised relating to staff practice. This concern was identified in records and potentially leaves one child vulnerable. This was immediately acknowledged by the responsible individual and suitable action taken.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments provide relevant information on the risks to children. They include mitigating actions for staff to take to help reduce risks to the children, in the home and in the community. However, not all assessments are being followed by staff, or accurately reflect staff practice, despite being regularly reviewed and updated by the manager. The lone-worker risk assessment for one child is not being followed by all staff or managers. Senior managers are aware that staff practice does not follow the risk assessment, due to staffing changes. The assessment has recently been reviewed but does not accurately reflect the changes made by managers to staff practice. Managers have not accurately updated the assessment or rigorously reviewed the assessment and mitigating actions with staff or other relevant professionals, to be assured that the current practice adequately safeguards the child or that lone-worker practice is safe. This is a significant shortfall and potentially

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improvement to be good

leaves the child and staff in a very vulnerable situation.

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good

The home feels like a family home. It is very well furnished and children’s bedrooms are personalised. All staff speak of the children with care and warmth. Staff are immensely proud of the progress that the children are making and of their achievements.

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good

A new manager has recently joined the home and is beginning to form positive relationships with the children and staff. The change of manager is significant for both the children and staff and the impact has been managed as well as possible by senior leaders and managers. Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 5 There is a clear management monitoring system in place and the manager oversees and regularly reviews key documents relating to the children’s care and the running of the home. However, in several key areas, including some incident records, staff debriefs, staff supervisions and team meetings, the recording of management oversight and reflection is limited in detail, and it is not evaluative. While staff receive regular supervision, it does not demonstrate how it helps them in their care of the children.

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good

Reflective practice sessions for staff are a strength and provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on their roles, to identify good practice and practice they want to improve further. However, the records of these sessions do not show how learning and actions are tracked or reviewed to measure their impact for children.

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good

Staff enjoy working in the home and they welcome the new manager’s open approach and support. The staff team is stable and staff absences are managed well, to provide continuity of care to children. Newly recruited staff are made to feel very welcome. They receive a thorough induction to the home. Safe recruitment processes are in place and all staff benefit from a comprehensive training programme and they work to gain relevant qualifications.

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good

Senior leaders and managers are open and receptive to learning. They have taken immediate action to address the significant shortfalls in practice that were identified during the inspection. They acknowledge that the rigour of management oversight in key areas of practice has fallen below their expectations. Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that risk is managed effectively; that risk assessments are robustly monitored, reviewed and updated to reflect any changes in staff practice and include what action staff are to take in the event they cannot follow the actions set out in a risk assessment. In addition, the registered person should ensure that all concerns relating to staff practice are robustly acted on in line with the homes policies. 30 November 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

promotes their welfare. 30 November 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 7 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

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.

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they review incidents on a regular basis to identify themes and patterns for children and use this information to inform the care of the child. The registered person should ensure that management oversight within case records is recorded clearly and is detailed and evaluative. The registered person should also ensure that staff debriefs are timely and record any reason for delay. The registered person should ensure that supervision is used effectively to support staff to develop their role in caring for children. The registered person should ensure that reflective team meetings are used effectively to review changes in staff practice in caring for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 8

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff keep, and encourage children to keep, appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2620261 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 12 West Links, Tollgate, Southampton, Hampshire SO53 3TG

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Inspector

Kendra Bell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2620261 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 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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