Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 1 Registered provider: New Forest Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated children’s home is one of a group of homes and education provisions located in the south of England. It is registered to care for up to four children who have had adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex behaviours. At the time of this inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 2 June 2021.

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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: 7 February 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: 1258343 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2023 Full Good 27/07/2021 Full Good 02/10/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/07/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is judged good overall, as most children are making positive progress in all areas of their lives. There is a stable and nurturing staff team in place who are caring and warm in their approach. The staff team supports children to recover from adverse childhood experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a wide range of activities and positive experiences such as going to the cinema, climbing wall and going on holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular contact with their birth families. The staff have positive working relationships with relevant family members. For example, one family member felt there ‘was no better place’ for their child, and another said staff could not do enough for their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from excellent key-work sessions that are reflective and therapeutically informed. Staff are creative in their approach to supporting children. They can consistently evidence how the home’s therapeutic model, which is embedded in practice, makes a positive difference to children. Staff develop secure and trusting relationships with children. Children said they trust and feel safe with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children in the home are attending education full time and they have both made significant progress. Following a transition period before the summer holidays, the third child is due to start education in September.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children access therapeutic support on a weekly basis. The therapeutic input provides an opportunity for children to reflect on their past life experiences in order to develop a positive sense of identity. This support has ensured that the staff team are more informed, to understand the individual needs of the children. Children said therapy has helped them to articulate their feelings.

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

Staff model a sensitive and nurturing approach to supporting children and this style is embedded throughout their practice. For example, staff use curiosity and reflection with children to help them to consider the triggers for their behaviour. This helps children to develop coping skills and reduces behavioural incidents.

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

Children are able to talk to a number of trusted adults in the home about any concerns they have, and this promotes an environment of safety and security for them. Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 4 Children are supported by staff to take age-appropriate risks and given proportionate levels of independence according to their age and individual care needs.

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

The manager ensures that all staff recruited to work in the home are checked and vetted to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. However, for one staff member, the provider did not seek a reference that would have added further information about their work history and conduct.

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

Staff use well-informed judgements to resolve conflicts and consistently promote positive behaviour. They use a wide range of techniques to support children and de- escalate difficult situations. For example, one child said, ‘He [the registered manager] always gives me time to think and talks to me, rather than using a hold.’

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good

Leaders and managers have recently accepted a child into the home whose needs do not align with the home’s registration conditions. Despite a detailed plan to introduce and admit this child into the home, not all staff were fully trained and experienced to meet their needs. This has had a destabilising effect on other children. For example, there has been significant disruption to sleeping arrangements and night-time routines for children and staff.

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good

The changing household dynamics have also meant that the registered manager has had to spend more time working directly with children. This has meant that some other management tasks have suffered. For example, supervisions are of high quality, but these are not being undertaken at the required frequency and there are missed opportunities to consider safeguarding.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that the physical environment is consistently maintained to a high standard. For example, a persistent unsanitary smell in one communal bathroom has not been addressed. The does not promote a positive home environment for children.

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good

The registered manager has not ensured that the workforce development plan is kept up to date to keep oversight of the staff team’s training, development and general performance. This means that, although most staff have completed mandatory training, not all staff have completed additional training in order to meet the particular needs of one of the children in the home.

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good

There is a consistent staff team, which enables children to build trusting and stable relationships with familiar adults. There has been no use of agency staff during this inspection period.

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good

The registered manager models a therapeutic approach to supporting children and the impact of this is that he is held in very high regard by staff, the children and their family members. Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 5 Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they admit children to the home in line with the home’s registration conditions. 9 October 2023

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must demonstrate that reasonable steps have been taken to gather references from 9 October 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 7 all previous employers when prospective employees have worked with vulnerable children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is clean and well maintained, including all toilets being appropriately sanitized. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff have regular supervision, which includes safeguarding as a mandatory agenda item. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plan is updated regularly to enable them to maintain oversight of staff training and development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 1258343 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton, Hampshire SO45 6AA

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Inspectors

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Inspector Skye Frain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1258343 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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