Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 1 Registered provider: Hampshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the Social Care Common Inspection Framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to four children aged between 10 and 17. At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s statement of purpose states that it offers residential care with therapeutic emphasis and multi-agency involvement, to help children recover from experiences that have rendered them vulnerable and disrupted from their primary relationships.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023. The registered manager was not present for the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2023 Full Good 28/03/2022 Interim Not judged 19/10/2021 Full Inadequate 26/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from committed staff who implement clear routines and boundaries, which means the children feel safe and have a sense of belonging. This approach has enabled the children to make positive progress from their individual starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have all their health needs met, and staff ensure that they attend routine health appointments. Staff support the children to adopt healthy and active lifestyles, and children can access a range of communal activities in the home and the local community. One social worker told the inspector, ‘[Name of child] has been supported well by the home, with significant improvements being identified in regard to physical and emotional well-being, daily routine and self-care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Senior leaders ensure that the children access the support they require. This includes advocating for professionals within the children’s local authority to ensure that there is no delay in commissioning specialist help for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children in the home are not currently accessing mainstream education due to their individual circumstances. Managers and staff have responded positively to this by supporting children to benefit from bespoke tutoring and alternative educational opportunities. Both children have clear timetables that set out their daily educational activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress and life experiences are valued by staff. Key events are celebrated, and staff routinely keep a photo memory book for the children, which reflects an ongoing narrative of their lives. Children have also been able to go away on holidays with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s wishes and feelings are respected, and staff listen to and act on them. Children benefit from positive relationships with staff and are supported to participate in day-to-day decisions about their lives. For example, the children can request incentives to work towards, and staff praise children when these are achieved.

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

Risk assessments and support plans are routinely updated. They reflect actions and strategies that work best to support the children. Despite this, there are some recording errors and contradictions that have not been effectively identified. This has not impacted on the children’s welfare, and the correct approaches have been used in their day-to-day care. Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 4 Staff are clear about what they must do when child protection concerns arise. They follow the correct procedures and benefit from visual prompts in staff areas to ensure that the right action is taken. One staff member directly contacted the local authority team manager to request consideration of a safeguarding investigation due to their concerns for a child’s welfare.

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

The staff team recognises the impact of adverse childhood experiences and understands how this may contribute towards the children’s behaviour that staff may find difficult to manage. Staff also benefit from debriefs by managers following difficult incidents, and on occasion, external consultancy is used in accordance with the home’s preferred therapeutic model.

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

Children are positively supported to manage conflict and disagreements. Staff make use of a range of strategies and restorative approaches to resolve difficulties. There is a proportionate use of physical interventions when the children are unable to manage their emotions. The monitoring and review of these incidents are good, and the children’s views are always sought.

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

Staff focus on the children’s strengths. The home’s linked therapeutic consultant told the inspector, ‘Our process draws out young people’s strengths; the team is able to do this really easily.’ Children are supported through formal and informal conversations to reflect on their progress and development. These cover a range of topics, including fairness and equality, family arrangements, education and their welfare.

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good

Most staff speak positively about the practical and emotional support they receive from leaders and managers, although some staff feel that managers could be more sensitive when providing feedback about performance improvement. The staff team, including the registered manager, has not received regular supervision. This has meant that staff have missed important reflection and self-development discussions.

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good

Morale within the staff team is good, and there is a culture of unity and togetherness in the home. Staff have identified communication as an area for improvement, and managers have already implemented changes to the handover and daily recording processes to improve this.

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good

The management team has not ensured that all staff have completed mandatory training in accordance with internal policies, and the training matrix has not been effectively updated. All staff have completed safeguarding training.

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good

Internal monitoring systems have not been effective, and this has meant that children’s records and support plans are not always accurate. The registered provider is in the process of implementing a new electronic recording system to support staff practice and consistency in their approach. Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 5 Leaders and managers have not notified Ofsted of all significant incidents to the regulator in accordance with the requirement. In one instance, despite a police report being made, the management rationale for not completing a notification was unsuitable.

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good

While consequences are routinely considered for their effectiveness, staff are not demonstrating that they are consistently thinking about how consequences can support children’s progress and development. Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 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

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff complete all necessary core training in line with its internal policies and statement of purpose. 5 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; and

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that all serious incidents are reported to the regulator. 5 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all staff, including the registered manager, must receive regular supervision in line with the home’s policy. 5 December 2023 Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that managers and the staff team use internal monitoring systems to review the effectiveness of actions taken following incidents and use lessons learned to consider how improvements can be made in the home to support good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that children’s records are clear, accurate and transparent. They should also consider the appropriateness of multiple staff contributing to these records to promote consistency in the recording approach. Staff should use child-centred, non-judgemental language to describe children’s behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home 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: 1254782 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor, Elizabeth II Court North, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG

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Inspector

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1254782 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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