Children's Home run by TLC Youth Care Ltd in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 1 Registered provider: TLC Youth Care Ltd 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 is registered to provide care for up to four 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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2022 Full Good 22/02/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 3

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outstanding

Children enjoy living at this home. A warm and homely atmosphere has been created. Children say they like the staff, and all know who they can talk to for help and support. Staff and managers speak positively about the children and have high ambitions for every child. As a result, all children are thriving socially, emotionally and physically.

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outstanding

Care planning for children is excellent. There are clear and detailed plans that are reviewed regularly. Children are involved with creating and commenting on their plans. There is a child-friendly summary of the plan. A daily living plan gives specific guidance to staff on a child’s routines and key information. Plans include how children view themselves as unique individuals. This ensures that each child receives care that meets their specific needs.

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outstanding

Children’s wishes and feelings are clearly at the centre of everything that happens at the home. Staff use creative ways to understand every child’s needs. This includes holding individual and group support sessions. Staff use information from these sessions to help them address important issues for children. The use of worksheets and videos and inviting guest speakers all add an extra layer to securing the children’s participation. Children also receive ‘you said, we did’ feedback forms. These illustrate to the children the action staff have taken in response to their views.

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outstanding

Children make excellent progress educationally. Some children have secured apprenticeships and are proud of their achievements. Managers and staff take a proactive approach in finding appropriate education for children who arrive without school placements. This has included involving senior children’s services leaders to ensure that a child’s educational needs are addressed.

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outstanding

Children’s health needs are well met. Healthcare plans record all appointments with health professionals. Specialist support is identified and accessed when required. Children are encouraged to take part in different types of physical activities and to eat a healthy diet.

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outstanding

Children take part in a range of activities and are helped to contribute to the community. There are great examples of children learning from helping others. This includes baking for the elderly, giving flowers and buying food for the local animal shelter.

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outstanding

Staff help each child to create a memory book that reflects their time at the home. There is also a community folder that captures all the things that the children have participated in when engaging with the local community. Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 4

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outstanding

Incidents involving children are responded to extremely well. There are detailed records, with clear incident reports and additional work with children and staff following an incident. This includes direct feedback from the child on how staff could help them earlier and stop an incident escalating. This helps staff to learn how to help and support each child in specific ways.

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outstanding

Children’s risk assessments are clear and detailed. They are written with the child and include a child-friendly version. Children also benefit from regular support sessions where they can openly talk about risks.

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outstanding

The staff have close relationships with professionals from a range of specialist support agencies. External professionals visit the home to deliver relevant talks to the children.

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outstanding

The manager is highly skilled at using research to develop her knowledge of risk and sharing this with the staff. This has been instrumental in helping staff to develop an in-depth understanding of risks and how to keep children safe.

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outstanding

Children have occasionally gone missing from the home. Clear policies and procedures are in place for when this happens. Staff recognise the risks associated with children going missing from care. They respond well at the time and work closely with the child on their return.

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outstanding

Children’s positive handling plans are detailed and help staff to know how to respond appropriately to children’s individual needs. Plans include what skills are needed by carers to meet a child’s needs. Physical intervention is appropriately used and only when necessary to keep a child or others safe. The responsible individual is a trainer in de-escalation and intervention techniques and ensures by their oversight of the home that this is being used effectively.

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outstanding

Children’s complaints and allegations are always taken seriously. There is a thorough response, with the manager working closely with the child and safeguarding professionals. The manager writes directly to the child and meets with them to help them understand the outcome. This ensures that children feel listened to and are kept safe while investigations are carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is tenacious and dedicated. She leads by example and develops her own practice through research and learning. She has high aspirations for children and staff and is inspirational. As a result, every aspect of the home is focused on the needs of the children. Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 5 The manager is supported by an experienced and dedicated responsible individual who provides monthly supervision. The responsible individual knows the children and staff well and visits the home several times a week. This ensures that the manager is supported and guided by a senior manager who knows the strengths of the team and the areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager ensures that staff receive a comprehensive induction programme. This is supported by extensive training. A high percentage of staff have residential childcare qualifications. All staff have an action plan regarding specific areas of work. This is reviewed in supervisions and annual appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff say they can talk to the manager and responsible individual about anything and know they will be listened to. The manager aims to develop all staff to a senior level. This helps staff to feel supported and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has thorough quality assurance processes in place. Her monitoring of the home is excellent. All reports, plans and minutes contain evidence of management oversight. The manager and responsible individual both use direct observation to monitor staff practice. This enables them to know that everything is in place and followed to safeguard children and help them to make progress and achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has omitted to send Ofsted a revised statement of purpose, in line with regulation. This is an administration error and does not have any direct impact on the quality of care for children. Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 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

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to any revised statement of purpose being submitted to HMCI within 28 days. 31 October 2023

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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: 1183173 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Harrier Park, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN4 0QG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Duncan MacKenzie

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Inspector

Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1183173 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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