Children's Home run by Moonreach LTD in Kent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 1 SC448997 Registered provider: Moonreach LTD Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to provide care for up to two children aged between eight and 18 years of age with social and emotional difficulties. There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2018. She is also the registered manager of another of the company’s homes nearby.

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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

Date of last inspection: 31 January 2023

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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: SC448997 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2023 Full Good 29/06/2021 Full Good 12/03/2019 Full Good 16/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home are loved and cared for by staff. Children are provided with opportunities and activities that are personalised to them. This has led to improved self-esteem and positive relationships between staff and the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home are making progress with their social and psychological well-being. Staff support the children’s therapeutic needs, assist them to attend therapy, encourage them to talk about how they are feeling and provide them with reassurance and emotional warmth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Childrens views are valued and taken into consideration when making decisions about the home, activities they do and their wishes and feelings. Their views are gathered during key-work sessions, which are completed on a regular basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children with their health needs. Staff prepare children to attend health appointments when they are feeling anxious through preparation in key-work sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see their families, and staff keep in touch with children’s families to provide updates about their children when appropriate to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a clear plan for children when moving in and out of the home and how they can best be supported. Staff consider the individual needs of the children and make suitable changes to plans when needed to ensure that moves into the home are child-led.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are not in education full time are supported by staff, who encourage them to engage with tutors and educational activities. Staff engage well with education professionals and advocate for the children. However, records do not demonstrate that children’s educational needs are consistently considered when children move into the home. For one child, there was a delay in implementing education and no evidence that options were considered in liaison with the local authority before the child moved into the home.

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

Staff provide children with consistent guidance and boundaries and use rewards and consequences to support behaviour management. Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and how to support them to keep them safe. Children make good progress, and there has been a reduction in incidents.

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

Staff manage self-harm incidents confidently. This has led to a reduction in incidents for one child. Children are encouraged to talk to staff about how they feel, and staff respond with kindness and reassurance. Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 4 Relationships between the children are promoted with group activities and guidance from staff to encourage positive relationships with each other. This has resulted in good relationships forming between the children and no incidents of bullying.

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

Staff’s response to children who go missing from the home is good, and incidents are well recorded. Every effort is taken to ensure that children return to the home and are safe. Staff work positively with other professionals, including social workers, to ensure that information and concerns are shared. There has been a reduction in children going missing from the home. However, return home interviews are not consistently requested when a child returns home. The manager has implemented a new system to ensure that these are requested.

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

The home is well presented and maintained. Health and safety checks are consistently completed by the manager and maintenance team in line with their policy.

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

Physical interventions are not used frequently, and the manager monitors and reviews these incidents. However, she does not analyse or identify shortfalls in the records made by staff. For example, there is a lack of detail in the description recorded of the three physical interventions that have taken place since the last inspection. The manager has not commented on or provided feedback to staff to improve their recording practice.

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

Overall, medication is appropriately managed and administered by staff. There has been one incident where the manager highlighted areas of learning that have not been implemented and followed up. This has not had an impact on the children but is a missed opportunity to improve practice further.

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good

The registered manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She has started to implement an action plan with the head of care to make changes to improve practice.

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good

The home is fully staffed with permanent members of staff. This provides consistent care for the children. The children receive predictable care from staff they trust and have built positive relationships with.

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good

Staff have a range of training opportunities to help them meet the children’s individual needs. The manager monitors staff training to identify further training to ensure that all staff are adequately trained.

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good

The manager knows the children’s wishes and feelings and uses these to implement changes. Both children have pets, and one child was able to work towards having a per as part of their reward structure. Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 5 Team meetings are not frequent as detailed in the home's statement of purpose. This results in staff not having messages relayed to them in the desired formal setting or having the opportunity to discuss the children’s needs and progress as a group. A new structure and agenda for team meetings have been implemented but are not yet embedded in practice.

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good

Staff report that they feel supported by the manager, and they find her to be approachable and supportive on a day-to-day basis. However, staff supervision has not been consistent and in keeping with the frequency as stated in the home’s policy.

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good

The recruitment of new staff is overseen by the manager. All checks are completed to ensure that safer recruitment practices are appropriate. However, queries about staff suitability are not consistently recorded in a timely way to demonstrate recruitment decision-making. Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(v)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that restraint records contain the required information. 14 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that supervision is held within the timescales outlined within the statement of purpose and policy. 14 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. This should be evidenced in records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage and administer any medication, ensuring that any errors with this are Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 7 addressed directly with staff and that learning is implemented across the staff team. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure that when commissioning a placement in a children’s home, the placing authority establishes how the home will support the

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Recommendations

child’s educational needs. In accordance with regulation 5, homes must have proactive relationships with appropriate schools and educational support services. This should be considered and actioned upon the child moving in. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 27, paragraph 5.7)  The registered person should lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s statement of purpose, in particular by ensuring that team meetings occur at least monthly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them by documenting decision-making and ensuring that this is completed in a timely manner when completing pre-employment

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Recommendations

checks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC448997 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Dane John Works, Gordon Road, Canterbury CT1 3PP

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Inspector

Faye McCarthy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC448997 9 and inspects 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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