Children's Home run by Invested Childcare Ltd in Middlesbrough

Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 1 Registered provider: Invested Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed buy a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have experienced social, emotional and mental health difficulties. There are currently three children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in January 2023.

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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

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care that is individual to their needs. The manager and staff work closely with professionals who are involved in assessment, planning and reviewing the children’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy new experiences and activities of their choice. They are engaged in life at the home. Children follow structure and routines to enjoy the incentives as part of their individual rewards, such as pop concerts, holidays and visits to theme parks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience consistent support from the adults in their life, who themselves share good practice and relationships. Professionals and parents feel that their children are safe and stable and that they are kept up to date on the children’s day- to-day care. Professionals and parents are regularly welcomed into the home for meetings and family time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaged in one-to-one therapy and group work. Clinical professionals are confident in starting this with the children due to the quality of the home’s ‘safe space and relationships’, which allows children to offload.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain their health appointments regardless of their individual barriers to attendance. The manager has agreements in place with health providers that recognise the children’s anxiety and window of tolerance, allowing the children to attend on the day if necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have sat their GCSE exams and achieved results that have enabled them to gain college placements. The manager and staff have supported the children back into education and arranged private tuition. This increases the children’s chance of success.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaged and motivated to participate and share their views in regular children’s meetings. Inventive schemes are used, such as traffic light systems, QR codes and meeting minutes. This ensures that the children feel included and supported to contribute to the running of the home and their own life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to and have their wishes acted on. Requests such as gaming stations, furniture and personalisation are earned as part of incentives. This gives the children a sense of achievement and responsibility in their own space.

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

Children say they feel safe and enjoy living in the home. The manager and staff understand the children’s experiences, and this knowledge is used to inform the children’s plans. Staff know the children and implement the children’s plans to keep Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 3 them safe. Staff understand the children’s missing-from-care protocols. These documents reflect the risk of harm to themselves and others and create clear guides for the staff to follow to support the children’s individual needs.

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

Staff know the children, their friends and the locations that the children frequent. The staff use this information to ensure that the children are returned as safe and as quickly as possible. Staff remain consistent in their approach and ensure that the children feel safe and able to return without fear of consequence to staff who they have positive relationships with.

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

Children are supported to overcome complex barriers and share their emotions. The manager and staff work closely with the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and their own internal clinical team to develop communication tools. These enable the children to communicate, help to reduce the risks for the children and help to increase their positive experience of life at the home.

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

Children share their views and feelings following incidents when physical intervention is needed to keep themselves or others safe. Staff carry out debriefs, and life-space interviews and discussions with the manager enable the children to have time to reflect.

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

Collaborative work with the police reduces the likelihood of harm. The children’s plans are updated to reflect any increased risk or new behaviours. Children benefit from post-incident learning that is shared immediately with the team.

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

Following a missing-from-home incident, children receive return home interviews from an independent person. However, not all interviews have taken place within the necessary time frame, and the manager has not escalated this. Furthermore, on one occasion, an accident log was not completed following an incident of self-harm that occurred when the child was missing from the home.

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

The manager does not consistently follow the home’s safeguarding procedures. Following an allegation of harm, a child did not receive the appropriate response to safeguard them and the adults involved. While the manager did involve the appropriate services, on one occasion, this was done after he concluded his own investigation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager creates an atmosphere that is welcoming for all. Children and adults say that they enjoy living, working or visiting the home. Parents say that their children are happy and speak positively about what they describe as a ‘homely environment’ and not just a place for their children to live.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are complimentary about the home. They say that the staff are proactive, know the children and seek to ensure good communication for the betterment of children. The staff are happy and smiling, which impacts not only the children, but those who visit. Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 4 The children’s needs are well met. Staff receive training to meet the needs of the children. The provider’s mandatory training is completed by new members of staff within two weeks of them starting. Additional training is then sourced in relation to the individual needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the manager, deputy manager and the senior leaders. The staff receive supervision sessions that are reflective, focus on the things that keep the children safe and support the development of the person and the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s moves into the home are well managed. The children’s trauma and experiences are considered when other children move into the home. Any new children who move into the home receive clinical input that informs the provider’s impact risk assessments and plans for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Therapeutic services and CAMHS work closely with the manager and staff to meet the children’s needs. The manager and staff keep these relationships effective by facilitating meetings and reflection sessions in which professionals attend and share good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The therapist discusses the children and their needs regularly. This enables staff to understand the real-time issues for the children and gives them the space to discuss these issues with trained professionals who know the children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Key-work discussions seek to understand how the children feel. These conversations are child focused and allow the child to understand their own feelings and promote a sense of understanding and control over their own lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and children’s well-being is compromised. Emergency fire appliances are behind locked doors. There is no written procedure or assessment of risk on what staff should do if they are needed in the event of an emergency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment checks for one member of staff are missing details, such as the dates that they worked overseas and the crossovers in employment. This oversight prevents the manager from being assured that this member of staff is suitable. Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home’s policies and procedures are followed when allegations of harm are reported. 11 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

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d)) 11 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that procedures are in place and staff are aware of what to do when fire equipment is accessed via a locked door. 11 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 6

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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: 2695599 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Invested Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Acklam Hall, Hall Gardens, Middlesbrough TS5 7BJ

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Inspector

Lee Riley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2695599 8 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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