Children's Home run by First 4 Care Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 1 SC390293 Registered provider: First 4 Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in March 2009. The registered manager left the home in June 2023. A new manager has been appointed. However, they have not applied to register with 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 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: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/05/2023 Full Inadequate 03/01/2023 Full Good 01/09/2021 Full Outstanding 03/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel settled and comfortable at the home. The children told the inspector that they like living at the home and the staff who care for them. Since the last inspection, no children have moved into or out of the home. The home feels warm and welcoming, like a family home. There are large communal areas which provide ample space and facilities to support children’s care. Photos of most of the children are on display. However, the lounge area requires redecoration and the games room is not as homely as there are some bulky items being stored there, which makes the room feel cluttered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making positive progress at the home. They enjoy activities in the local community. Staff support the children to learn new skills and become more independent. Children are making achievements in their education through completing their exams and increasing the hours they spend in education. Where children experience barriers to their education, staff provide encouragement and support to help them overcome these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good health. Staff support and encourage children to attend their medical appointments to support their physical health. One child receives support for their mental health, and mental health professionals are supporting staff to care for the child. This approach is helping the child to manage their feelings and emotions better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain contact with the people who are important to them. However, when the previous manager left, there was a temporary breakdown in communication. This has now been resolved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children’s achievements well and provide positive incentives and rewards. A small number of negative consequences have been used. However, two of these consequences were punitive and not restorative. Managers acted to address this concern during the inspection. Children’s memory books of their time living at the home are not being maintained. The children’s guide does not contain all the information about the home in a format that is easy for children to understand.

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

Children feel safe at the home. They can talk to staff about any problems or concerns comfortably. Staff understand the individual risks to the children and how to reduce these. Children’s records are comprehensive. Risk assessments and risk management plans contain strategies to reduce the risks to children. Staff have increased their monitoring and vigilance around the use of the internet. However, the risk assessments specific to using the internet do not all contain relevant and accurate information. As a rule, all children are required to hand in their electronic devices at night, which is not based on their individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 4 The number and seriousness of incidents are reducing. Since the last inspection, there have been no incidents of children being missing from home. However, staff understand what they need to do should this occur. Staff take appropriate action if

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

children are upset and try to leave the care of staff. When children are held, this is appropriate to reduce the immediate risk and lasts for the shortest time necessary.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. They understand the signs that indicate safeguarding concerns and are confident in their knowledge of how to raise concerns in the home. Managers ensure that all new members of staff are suitably checked and vetted before they work in the home.

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

Staff hold regular discussions with children to talk about things that have happened. These conversations help to provide children with education and new skills, and they help children to develop their independence appropriately.

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

For one child, their records do not clarify they have delegated authority through appropriate consent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified manager who sets out clear expectations. Although there have been changes in the staff team, the staff feel well supported and listened to by the managers. Staff receive regular training and regular and effective supervision. However, two members of staff have not completed their qualification within the given time frames. Recruitment is ongoing to fill the staff vacancies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders maintain oversight of the running of the home through regular audits and reports. These processes are relatively new, and they are supporting the managers to identify weaknesses and shortfalls so that managers can act. These require embedding further into practice and developing to be fully effective in driving improvements in the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been improvements made since the last inspection. Staff now sign and date all entries made in children’s records. Managers make sure that all serious events are reported to the regulator in accordance with the regulations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The process for checking the suitability of agency staff is not always clear. When agency staff come to work in the home, it is not clear how their identity is verified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When assessing the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the home, there has not been sufficient consultation with all the relevant people. This means that opportunities to identify potential risks to children’s safety could be missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The feedback from professionals about communication with staff is mixed. When there were changes in the management of the home, a concern was reported to the inspector about a breakdown in communication and the impact that this had. Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 5

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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, 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

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

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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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 (2)(b)(iv)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that any restrictions applied to children are based on children’s individual needs and are recorded in their relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make sure that delegated authority is signed by those who hold parental responsibility for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make sure that the decoration of the home is maintained to an acceptable standard. 31 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; 29 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 6 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that children’s risk assessments contain accurate information about the care that children need and strategies in place to reduce the risks to their safety when using the internet.

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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.

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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) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that they are assured that any agency staff used meet the requirements of Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make sure that staff are suitably qualified by the relevant date. 31 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). 31 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 7 When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature. These should help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help the children to record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should produce a children’s guide that helps children to understand the care that they can expect to receive at the home. This should include a description of the facilities of the home and how many other children they may live with at the home. This should be written in a child-friendly format.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

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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: SC390293 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First 4 Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 16 St Wilfrids Road, Bessacarr, Doncaster DN4 6AA

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Inspector

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC390293 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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