Children's home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd in Thanet

Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 1 SC478616 Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties, and who may experience difficulties in forming and sustaining relationships. The home is operated by a private organisation. At the time of inspection, there were four children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted on 29 March 2023. There is currently no responsible individual.

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Information about this children’s home

This inspection was brought forward in order to address specific concerns received by Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/09/2021 Full Good 17/06/2019 Full Good 14/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children appear happy and are cared for by a skilled and caring staff team. Children benefit from a consistent and caring staff team and respond well to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that there are good relationships between children and the individuals who are important to them and advocate for their individual needs well. Parents and social workers talk confidently about the care children receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. Health needs are well understood, and leaders have been quick to alert health professionals to changes in children’s behaviours that could be because of medication changes. As a result, children have their health needs reviewed to ensure that they receive the help they need. However, there is a lack of clarity about how medication changes are communicated to staff. This means there is the potential for medication errors to occur.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have individualised education plans in place. Leaders are quick to challenge education professionals when children have not had a school placement or if a school placement is in jeopardy. This ensures that plans are put in place and that the right school is identified for children. The level of advocacy is always with children’s best interests at the core.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Childrens views and wishes are well understood by staff. Regular house meetings, supplemented by weekly one-to-one sessions, enable children to be listened to and have their voices heard. This has resulted in changes both in the home and education plans and also provides space for children to reflect on areas they may find challenging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children talk with great affection about the experiences they have. They have access to day trips, theme parks, drama clubs, summer sports clubs, bowling and many more activities. Children actively choose what they want to do and staff and leaders do all they can to make sure this happens.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence skills in line with their age and level of understanding. This ranges from tidying bedrooms, washing up and having support with cooking meals. As children approach the stage of moving on to independence, plans for more focused and direct work are devised and implemented. This helps children to be well equipped to leave the home and move on to living independently.

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

Children’s risks are well understood by staff, who work with the children to help them understand online risks and risks in the local area. This equips children to be Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 4 able to make sensible choices. To ensure that children are as safe as possible, this work is supplemented by external training for the children.

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

Detailed risk assessments and behaviour management strategies are in place for all children. These are reviewed and updated when children present new behaviours.

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

Staff responses to children going missing from home are generally well managed. Staff actively and immediately search the area and decisions of reporting children missing from home are made in collaboration with social workers. Following a child going missing from home, they are encouraged by staff to talk about where they have been. Children are always welcomed back to the home and staff make sure they are safe. However, on two occasions, staff did not report a child missing from home at the agreed time stated in their risk assessment. Although the child returning to the home late is a known behaviour for this child, this is not reflected in their plans, guidance or practice.

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

Staff are consistent in managing children’s behaviour that challenges. Any physical intervention used is always discussed with a child to ensure that they understand why this may have happened and to reflect fully on what happened. This consistent approach has seen a reduction in incidents.

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

Safer recruitment practices are effective. There is a robust interview process, which includes detailed notes. This is followed up by extensive reference checking, which ensures that leaders are confident of who is working in the home. On one occasion, records indicated that a member of staff had begun their employment before all checks had been made. However, this was a recording error. This was rectified during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced registered manager who is supported by an experienced deputy manager. They are united in their aspirations for the home and are clear about how they hope to continue to improve in the future. There has been a significant focus since the last inspection on changing the culture of the home and increasing the nurture and primary care the children receive. Staff and children have responded well to this. Children and staff collectively talk about how approachable leaders are and how the manager’s open-door policy has allowed them to feel comfortable to raise any issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is currently operating without a responsible individual. While this post is currently being advertised, there are no interim arrangements for a responsible individual. This means there is no registered person supervising or overseeing the home. However there is an area manager who has responsibility for supporting the registered manager and ensuring that children are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and the registered manager recognise the progress that children make through ongoing monitoring. This is reflected in a detailed Regulation 45 report. However, this monitoring has not identified occasional lack of accurate record- Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 5 keeping, for instance incorrect children’s names in records and the use of institutionalised language in some documents. For example, terms such as ‘heightened’ and ‘dysregulated’ have been used in reports and these do not clearly describe children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which allows them to be able to explore any thoughts or concerns that they may have. There is a good review of previous actions and this allows staff, the registered manager and leaders to continue to monitor progress that staff make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A comprehensive training plan supports staff to be fully skilled in their role. However, while core mandatory training is completed by all staff, three members of staff have not completed the required level 3 qualification within the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Complaints are responded to effectively. The registered manager and leaders ensure that children feel heard and understood, and when changes have been needed these have been actioned. Children talk positively about this and trust managers to take appropriate action. Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 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;

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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)(a)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff follow children’s relevant plans if children go missing from home. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

An organisation may only carry on a home if—

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Requirement Due date

the organisation has notified HMCI of the name, address and position in the organisation of the responsible individual. (Regulation 26 (4)(ii)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which 30 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 7 the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b)(d) (4)(a)(b))

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Recommendation

 The responsible 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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC478616 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 73 And 74 Maple Leaf Business Park, Manston, Ramsgate CT12 5GD

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC478616 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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