Children's Home run by The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd in West Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 1 Registered provider: The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of an independent children’s therapeutic community that is accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2023. This is the home’s first inspection since registration.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a spacious, comfortable and well-furnished home that benefits from different spaces, allowing children to be together or separate if they wish. Photos and children’s artwork give the home a personal touch that helps children to have a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like their bedrooms and enjoy personalising them. Consequently, each bedroom reflects an aspect of the child’s personality and their personal interests and hobbies. Children are proud to show their toys, games, and pictures on their walls. For example, one child has their own ‘den’ in the eaves of their bedroom, which they chose to be painted orange and decorated with fairy lights.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children have recently moved into the home and are beginning to build relationships with the adults who care for them. There is a real sense of warmth between staff and children. Staff take time to invest in building positive relationships with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are sought regularly and are valued. Staff listen to children and support them to have a say in the way that they are cared for. For example, through link-work sessions and child-led meetings, children choose meals and activities and have a say in how they want areas of the home to be decorated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children use meeting times to reflect on their feelings using emotion cards. Staff explore the children’s feelings and how they can support them to manage these. Children listen to each other and respond with thought and care for one another.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children either attend education or are in the process of moving to the school linked to the organisation. When children move into the home this is sensitively managed, meaning children feel nurtured and safe. Twice daily handovers ensure that children experience consistent and well-informed care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide variety of activities. These include going to trampoline parks, shopping with their pocket money, playing board games, and enjoying art and crafts. Staff are attentive to children’s needs. For example, one child who needed some physical activity was encouraged by staff to engage in imaginary play jumping around the garden as a bunny on an egg hunt.

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

Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and the home has good partnership working with the local authority designated officers. Safeguarding allegations are recorded and reported in depth, involving relevant agencies. These are reviewed as part of the wider organisation safeguarding team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 3 Staff are trained well to meet the individual needs of the children living in the home. For example, prior to one child moving into the home, staff received training in epilepsy, and they have good links with an epilepsy nurse who provides support for staff and the child. Staff are supportive of children’s past experiences and help them to understand their emotions through picture cards, debriefs and link-work sessions.

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

Staff are trained in positive behaviour management and explore de-escalation techniques before using physical intervention, which is only used as a last resort. After any physical intervention, staff and children are given opportunities to reflect on incidents and learn from them. One professional said, ‘Reports are always detailed and reflective and therapeutic in analysis.’

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

Staff demonstrate good knowledge in key areas of safeguarding, such as online safety risks to children and episodes of children going missing. However, children’s missing-from-home plans are not individualised and do not reflect what staff should do in the event of a child going missing from the home.

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

Leaders and managers make sure that staff are safely recruited. They are aware of their responsibilities to ensure that effective health and safety processes are in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is not in charge of the day-to-day management of the home as they also have a more strategic role within the organisation. The home is managed by two experienced managers, and one has started the process of registering with Ofsted. There are effective monitoring systems in place and the home’s development plan is detailed to reflect improvements to the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a detailed knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Senior managers are visible and supportive. They model good practice and help to ensure that there is a shared therapeutic ethos and that children are cared for consistently, in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals, such as social workers, is very positive regarding communication and partnership working. This demonstrates a culture of openness that keeps children’s needs at the heart of decision-making and ensures that children benefit from meaningful joint-working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are grateful for the thorough induction process, and how the model of care is interwoven through this to enable them to support the children who live at the home. One staff member said, ‘I’m proud and happy to be a part of an incredible organisation who runs as a community not a business.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported through regular supervisions. In addition, they are offered clinical supervisions and meetings to discuss and reflect on practice. However, supervision records do not capture what discussions take place and how incidents Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 4 may impact on staff, for example allegations made by children. This is a missed opportunity for staff to fully reflect on how their work can affect them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records relating to staff supervision capture the safeguarding culture of the home. In particular, the records should evidence the safeguarding issues that are discussed in detail. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  The registered person should specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from home. This should include how staff support the child to return to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)

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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: 2696602 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Amicus Community (Arundel) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Coach House, Arundel Road, Fontwell, Arundel BN18 0SX

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Inspector

Hannah Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2696602 7 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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