Children's Home run by Treetops Children’s Homes in Derby

Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 1 Registered provider: Treetops Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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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

Date of last inspection: 11 October 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: 2660783 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that feels like a family home. Children can personalise their bedrooms, and these are reflective of their personalities. There are separate spaces where children can complete their schoolwork quietly or play video games. Children were observed to enjoy spending time in the shared spaces with staff and this has helped them to feel settled. The garage space is currently cluttered, and this prevents it being used by children or staff effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are quick at securing school placements for children. Two children have been regularly attending school and one child will be starting school imminently. Staff work closely with educational professionals to ensure that the children’s emotional well-being is understood, and children feel supported in school. Staff make sure that all the children’s educational successes are celebrated. This positive recognition helps children to be more confident in planning for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s needs well. Placement plans have an optimistic outlook, with a focus on how children reach their potential and can be meaningfully prepared for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves in and out of the home are well managed. Time is taken for the staff to get to know each child prior to them moving into the home, and the matching of children is carefully considered. As a result, children have developed good relationships with each other and like living together. One child shared that this is the first home that has supported him to pursue a much-loved hobby. He shared that this helps him to feel calm and gives him the space to think.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children have warm and reciprocal relationships. This helps children to feel able to talk openly about their feelings. One child spoken to shared that, ‘The manager is still there for me, even after incidents. I know other people have said that I’m making progress here and I agree.’

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

All children have risk assessments in place. These are detailed, including the wider context of children’s early childhood experiences. However, staff do not regularly review these assessments to ensure that they stay up to date.

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

Children can name staff who they are confident to approach to talk to about their feelings. For one child, this trust has meant they now choose to spend less time in the community where they are particularly vulnerable.

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

Staff respond effectively when children go missing from the home. Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities well and are proactive in searching the local community and sharing information with the police and the children’s social workers. Staff respond Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 4 sensitively when children self-harm and are quick at seeking the advice of the in- house psychotherapist to inform their response.

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

Children and staff are given the opportunity of a debrief following incidents. The manager uses the outcomes of these debriefs to inform practice.

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

Fire safety does not have enough oversight from managers. For example, it is not clear when the children last took part in a fire drill. This has the potential to leave children at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be

Staff enjoy working at the home and they feel well supported by the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be

Staff receive regular supervisions, which consider both their professional role and their personal well-being. Staff value team meetings and feel that these meetings inform their learning. The manager has an open and friendly communication style, which has nurtured strong working relationships with both the staff team and wider professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be

The manager is beginning to develop systems to monitor and understand a child’s journey at the home. However, the monitoring of children’s progress requires improvement. For example, the manager has omitted to send to Ofsted the home’s latest regulation 45 report or an up-to-date version of the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be

The manager does not ensure that staff receive all their mandatory training. Staff can be working for several months before they receive training in safeguarding children and in the use of physical intervention. This gap in essential knowledge has the potential to put children at risk, especially when staff are responding to incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be

The safe recruitment of staff is still an issue of concern. Gaps in employment history for new staff members have not been appropriately explored by the manager and not all references are received. As a result, the manager cannot be assured that the staff working at the home are suitable to work with children. Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that records of incidents and meetings are clear, detailed and describe events in their entirety. 13 November

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that staff are being recruited safely and engaging in mandatory training in a timely way. 13 November

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and 13 November Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 6 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.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire.

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) 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.

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Requirement Due date

In this regulation, "the fire and rescue authority" means the fire and rescue authority under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004(2) for the area in which the home is located. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2)(a)(b) (3))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that fire drills take place. 13 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality-of-care review") at least once every 6 months. 13 November Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 7 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that there is a suitable monitoring system in place and that reports are completed at least every six months and sent to HMCI within 28 days.

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Recommendation

 The registered person must ensure that the children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. This relates to the garage. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 8

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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: 2660783 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Treetops Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ

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Inspector

Louise Copping, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2660783 10 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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