Children's home run by Happy Group (UK) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 1 Registered provider: Happy Group (UK) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered in June 2020 and is privately owned and managed. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since October 2022 and registered with Ofsted in May 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: 20 September 2022

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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: 2589537 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2022 Full Good 18/01/2022 Full Good 05/05/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are attuned to the child’s needs. They have secure and trusting relationships which have supported the child to make progress in all aspects of their life. The positive relationships allow opportunities for staff to pre-empt difficulties and appropriately intervene to stop the child reaching crisis point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive relationships between the child and their family have been supported and encouraged. This supports a sense of identity. Family members are supported to spend time with the child in the home and to engage in activities together in the community. This enables children to build on and strengthen their existing relationships. The family member and child speak positively about the time they spend together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence is promoted in line with the child’s abilities, needs and risks. This has been a fine balance and has allowed the child to test out risks safely with the support of staff. The child has flourished and has developed the confidence and ability to manage some risks, which is something that they would not have been able to do six months ago. Achievements are celebrated and staff are proud of what the child has accomplished. This has instilled a sense of accomplishment and ambition for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is prioritised. The child is attending education that supports their future ambitions. This was achieved by advocacy and planning from the manager. Support to attend college is provided, to ensure that the child can achieve to the best of their ability. This has included staff attending college with the child and regular communication directly with the college. This has been successful so far.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health needs are met. They have also started to address some health needs independently, in line with their age. This includes self-administering some medication and managing the collection of their prescription from the pharmacy. The child’s emotional well-being continues to be supported through regular therapy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have frequent conversations with the child. Sometimes, these are to address issues that have occurred and at other times are initiated by the child. These are complemented by planned and focused conversations to support varying elements of the child’s life and needs. The manager reviews the record of these conversations, which helps to make sure that follow-up conversations take place, if needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and homely. The decor is regularly maintained to ensure a positive environment for children. Photos of the child are on display and provide snapshots of their experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 4

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

Staff have a good understanding of the child’s needs. Opportunities to reflect on incidents have allowed staff to understand what is effective to support the child when they go into crisis. This, alongside the secure relationships between staff and the child, enables effective co-regulation for the child. This has resulted in a reduction in incidents and in the severity of incidents when they do occur.

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

Clear and consistent boundaries have enabled the child to understand the expectations of staff. The predictability of staff responses has helped the child to feel safe in the home. A ‘near-miss log’ has been implemented to enable the manager to evaluate what prevents incidents from escalating. Conversations with the child address some of their experiences that contribute to them reaching crisis point.

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

Physical intervention is used appropriately, to support de-escalation. After any holds are used, the manager always discusses the incident with the staff involved and the child. These conversations are used to evaluate the strategies and develop these as needed.

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

Risk assessments are comprehensive. They show how the strategies used by staff have been successful at reducing risk. They contain clear information about the current risks and what actions staff should take to manage them. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed, and staff have a good working knowledge of the details.

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

When the child goes missing, staff go out and look for them. Staff follow the missing-from-home plans and use their knowledge of the child to expedite these procedures if they feel it is necessary. This ensures that the child’s safety is prioritised. On two occasions, the child’s local authority did not offer an independent return home interview. However, the manager ensured that these took place and appropriately escalated concerns.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in recognising and responding to safeguarding concerns. Staff feel confident in raising concerns and understand whistle-blowing procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She knows the child well and can clearly articulate and advocate for the child’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that safer recruitment procedures are followed for new staff and for agency staff used. There are three vacancies in the staff team, which has resulted in the use of agency staff. The manager has used a consistent group of five agency members of staff since October. This has ensured continuity of care for the child and reduced the impact of using agency staff. Agency staff members have attended training relating to the ethos of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 5 The manager has good oversight of the child’s documents. This enables her to notice when practice falls short or when more can be done to support children. She ensures that appropriate action is taken to address issues when they occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The plan in place for the child identifies their needs comprehensively. The details from the local authority’s care plan and the relevant legal order are incorporated, ensuring that care is aligned accordingly. Children’s documents are well written and easy to understand.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The suitability and location of the home have been reviewed. However, the manager has not sought up-to-date consultation with the local police force. This limits her knowledge of risks so that any specific plans can be put in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued and supported by management. Team meetings are regular and reflective, and the child’s needs are discussed in detail. Meetings have a clear agenda and actions are recorded and reviewed at the next meeting. Staff receive regular supervision. However, this does not always help them to reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a wide range of training to help develop their knowledge and skills. However, the manager has not always maintained good oversight of this, which has led to one staff member’s training not being completed in line with the expectations set out in their induction. This has not impacted on the care provided to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff supervision includes reflection on how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. Reflection may also consider how situations may be managed differently, what is working well and what is not working well for staff and children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)  The registered person should ensure that they have a clear system to help monitor training of staff in the home. This system should ensure that mandatory training, in line with inductions, is completed as per the workforce development plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that when the location risk assessment is reviewed, consultation takes place with local services that have a statutory

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Recommendations

responsibility for safeguarding children in the local area. This includes consulting with the local police force to ensure that the registered person has the relevant details to put into effect strategies to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2589537 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Happy Group (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Walk House, 99 Princess Road East, Leicester, Leicestershire LE1 7LF

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Inspector

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2589537 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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