Children's Home run by 5ab Care Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2703722 1 Registered provider: 5ab Care Limited 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 and provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 2

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improvement to be good

Two children live in the home. One child has moved on since the home was registered in January 2023. The manager did not properly plan for this child’s move out of the home, and the children were not prepared for this change. This means that some of the children’s emotional needs have not been sufficiently met.

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improvement to be good

The progress children make in education is variable. For one child, progress has been made, and they have started a college course. However, since the home has opened, the other two children’s experience of education has been limited. The registered manager submitted a complaint to the local authority about the lack of support for one child’s education. However, there was a significant delay in this being actioned. This does not ensure that all children’s educational needs are met.

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improvement to be good

The home is welcoming and reflects a nurturing family environment. There are children’s personal items, books and games present throughout the home. However, the children’s bedrooms had not been cleaned, and signs of damage to door frames do not promote a homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Children’s relationships have been varied. One child felt that they had been manipulated by the child who had moved on from the home. These interactions had been observed by staff, but no recognition that this behaviour was potentially bullying had been considered by staff or the manager.

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improvement to be good

Children’s support plans do not contain up-to-date information to enable staff to meet children’s needs. In one plan, there was no guidance for staff to enable them to safely minimise the risk of exploitation in the community.

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improvement to be good

Fire safety is not consistently promoted in the home, despite known concerns about a child smoking in their bedroom. None of the four bedroom doors self-closed. This oversight means that children and staff were left at potential risk should a fire occur in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they have positive relationships with the staff and the manager. Staff ensure that children spend time with the people who are important to them. This includes transporting children to spend time with family members.

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improvement to be good

Staff take appropriate action to support children who misuse substances. Staff have attempted to educate children and increase their awareness of drug misuse and exploitation. However, records do not always reflect the work completed to support children’s learning and development. Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 3 Staff support children who may be at risk of exploitation and educate them on the risks. Managers and staff work with other agencies to understand the risks that children may experience and develop effective strategies to minimise them.

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improvement to be good

The use of restraint by staff to support incidents of crisis has been minimal. Staff support children during incidents in a calm manner, to which they generally respond well. One child said, ‘I know that the staff will always be there for me, no matter what time of the day it is.’ However, some documents do not provide a clear account of the intervention. This is a recording issue and has not impacted on practice.

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improvement to be good

Children’s missing-from-home plans are followed by staff and reviewed by the manager. However, when the provider changed their recording system, one missing record that was transferred to the new format lost some content. The manager failed to review both records. As a consequence, a child’s complaint about a member of staff was not acknowledged or investigated. This is a missed opportunity to listen and respond to children’s complaints.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand consequences and restorative approaches. However, recordings of consequences are inconsistent. Records do not clearly show why children have received consequences and if this measure was effective. This practice means that staff are not clear about what consequences are effective when supporting children.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment checks completed by the manager are effective and recorded clearly. As a result, children are cared for by safe adults who have been vetted appropriately.

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good

The registered manager is qualified, experienced and clearly passionate about the children living in the home.

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good

The manager has a good understanding of the children’s needs and speaks confidently about their future plans. One child told the inspector, ‘I wouldn’t be where I am today without [name of registered manager]. If it wasn’t for them, I would never have got onto my college course.’

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good

Staff receive good-quality, regular supervision sessions that focus on children’s lives. This protected time allows staff to reflect on the support children are provided with. Team meetings are similarly child-focused and show practice-informed discussions after significant incidents have occurred. These aid the staff team’s ability to support children with their individual needs.

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good

The manager has monitoring systems in place, which show good oversight of staff training needs and children’s progress. These help the manager to identify shortfalls in staff knowledge. However, not all shortfalls identified at this inspection had previously been identified. The manager accepted the shortfalls identified and was responsive during the inspection process, ensuring that maintenance work was completed to ensure all fire doors closed. Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 4 Systems for notifying Ofsted of serious incidents are usually effective. However, on two occasions, serious incidents were not notified to Ofsted. As a result, Ofsted’s capacity to monitor safeguarding arrangements is reduced. Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 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, 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

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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2) (a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to children’s risk assessments not reflecting their actual risk and the lack of recording of incidents that occurred between children. 7 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2) (b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to all bedroom doors not self-closing. 7 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the child; 7 December 2023 Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 6 details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3) (a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) This specifically refers to the lack of recording of the consequences implemented, the recording of two consequences on one record and the ineffective management oversight of consequences.

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4) (e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to two significant incidents involving children in the home not being notified to Ofsted. 7 December 2023 Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive and provides clean bedroom spaces, even when children do not want to help tidy their personal space. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to take up issues or make a complaint with support, and repeat concerns should be treated as a complaint by the registered manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should ensure that staff recognise and address different types of abuse, such as social manipulation as potentially bullying, in day-to-day relationships in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)  The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each

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Recommendations

child’s transition is planned and to help each child prepare for leaving both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)  The registered person should ensure that records kept electronically include information detailed in Regulation 36. Specifically, they should ensure that records are signed and dated by the author. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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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 children’s home: 2703722 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Jones Hunt Ltd, 71 Knowl Piece, Wilbury Way, Hitchin SG4 0TY

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Inspector

Mark Dickinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2703722 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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