Children's Home run by Capstone Care Provider Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 1 SC392712 Registered provider: Capstone Care Provider Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living at the home during this inspection.

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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

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: SC392712 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2022 Full Good 30/11/2021 Full Good 04/02/2020 Full Good 20/11/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 3

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improvement to be good

The manager has been away from the home for approximately three months. This has led to instability for children and staff. Additionally, some staff have also been away from the home, which has created further inconsistency in the care provided to children. The lack of a deputy manager has further compounded difficulties. Weaknesses in safeguarding practice mean that children have not had consistently good experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children spend a great deal of time in their bedrooms, and staff do not encourage them to join the main household. This results in children spending most of the day in their bedroom, including mealtimes. This can lead to children not forming bonds with other children and staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not seek children’s views of living in the home or encourage children to spend time with them on a regular basis. However, staff do take children on days out. For example, they have taken them to popular theme parks where children have enjoyed the rollercoasters and other rides. Children enjoy the surprise of presents on their birthdays and celebrating important milestones with staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff have worked with external professional agencies to ensure that children can complete educational exams. This has included staff becoming an invigilator, giving children the opportunity to achieve their GCSEs. Staff support children to attend college open days and apply for jobs.

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improvement to be good

Staff failed to follow a risk assessment. This was in relation to preventing a staff member from caring, on their own, for the children. This left children and the staff member vulnerable. The manager did not ensure that immediate and appropriate action was taken to prevent a reoccurrence.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not demonstrate professional curiosity around children’s behaviour. For example, they did not query why a small resealable plastic bag was under a child’s bed. This could have been a sign of substance misuse.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not maintain children’s bedrooms and bathrooms to an acceptable standard. For example, one child’s ensuite shower room was in a poor condition, with a high level of stains and dirt. Consequently, staff are not supporting children to develop important independent living skills or maintain their rooms to an acceptable standard. Staff do not reflect on the condition of children’s living areas in the daily health and safety checks. The manager was unaware of how bad the conditions are. Once raised, staff acted to clean the shower room, and further maintenance is Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 4 planned.

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improvement to be good

The risk of children becoming involved in exploitation has reduced. Staff constantly review risks to children, and they understand children’s vulnerabilities. The staff have developed good relationships with children. This encourages children to have open discussions with staff about important areas of their lives. However, staff lack professional curiosity and miss opportunities for informative discussions with children. For example, they do not discuss sexual health when the opportunity arises.

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improvement to be good

Staff work effectively with external professional agencies when children’s whereabouts are unknown. The manager maintains effective oversight of incidents and reflects on actions to prevent children from going missing from home or failing to return home on time. However, on one occasion, staff did not go looking for a child in an appropriate timescale. This left the child in a vulnerable position.

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improvement to be good

When children receive injuries or have unknown bruises, staff’s recording is not yet sufficiently detailed. For example, staff do not always describe the injury alongside the required diagrams. This results in the causes of bruises often being unknown or ambiguous. This needs to be clear for any external review that may be required.

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good

Leaders and managers have not been consistent in their oversight of the home. For example, staff’s recording of important information for children lacks the required detail. This results in uncertainty about whether children are attending necessary appointments.

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good

Despite some shortfalls, the manager demonstrates many strengths. Children and staff say that they like the manager, which has helped to develop strong bonds between staff and children. One member of staff stated, ‘They bring joy out of each other.’ The manager has a clear understanding of what ethos they wish to create, and they have a plan of improvements going forwards.

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good

The manager is enthusiastic about the care provided to children and achieving successful outcomes for them. Although staff have high aspirations for children, they do not document the support provided to the children to achieve these.

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good

Staff feel the manager supports them, and they have regular and constructive discussions about their care practice. The manager also has regular practice discussions with his manager. The content of these is not sufficiently recorded. Additionally, the recording is not shared. This can hamper learning and development. Staff have undertaken the required training to undertake their role. Bespoke training could further develop staff confidence in having more sensitive discussions with children.

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good

Should staff have any concerns about delays in services for children, they escalate Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 5 these with the relevant professional agency. Children have the option of an independent advocate should they feel this is required, which ensures that they have professionals to turn to that are external to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(vi)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that the children’s ensuite shower rooms are adequately maintained and that children are actively supported with independent living skills. 5 October 2023

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; 5 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 7 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)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to staff’s risk assessments being adhered to and ensuring the safety of children. This also relates to staff looking for children in an appropriate time frame when their whereabouts outside of the home are unknown.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that there is a robust system in place for consistent oversight of the home. It also relates to ensuring that the registered person uses their finding of this oversight to improve safeguarding and practice within the home. 5 October 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety, both inside and outside the home, to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 8 protected from significant harm. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are regularly consulted on their views about the home’s care to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that the content and/or outcomes of

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Recommendations

supervision sessions are kept, and they should ensure that both the person giving the supervision and the staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  The registered 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. Information about the children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. (‘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: SC392712 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Capstone Care Provider Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Renewal Trust Business Centre, 3 Hawksworth Street, Nottingham NG3 2EG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Trevor Edinborough

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Inspector

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC392712 10 regulates 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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