Children's Home run by Emerge Care and Therapeutic Solutions Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2678053 1 Registered provider: Emerge Care and Therapeutic Solutions 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 by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a permanent manager in post, who has not yet submitted an application to register.

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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: 13 December 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: 2678053 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2678053 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good experiences living at this home. They are making good progress from their starting points. There are four children living at the home. One child has moved to live with their family, and one has moved on to semi-independence. Children’s moves away from the home are well planned and in line with their wishes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. It is well maintained and has recently been decorated. The home has Christmas decorations up. A child was proud to share that she had decorated the beautiful Christmas tree. The large kitchen is the centre of the home and children all like cooking. Staff encourage children to eat together at the table.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy some activities at the home and go out to places that interest them, such as shops. All children had a holiday over the summer, and one child went abroad, which had been an aspiration for her. One child is a dedicated member of the cadets, and he has attended camps and parades. However, staff are not consistently organised in arranging children’s activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to access health services for routine and emergency care. Managers have worked in partnership with other professionals to provide children with bespoke educational opportunities, in keeping with their needs. For example, one child’s education enables her to study core subjects alongside a sport she is skilled in and passionate about.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s independence. As a result, they are developing skills, such as managing their own laundry. Staff help children to spend time with their families. A parent describes the level of communication with the staff as ‘fantastic’ as they are always kept up to date.

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

Children’s risks and needs are well considered in their plans. These are informed by the therapy team linked to the home. As a result, staff understand the actions needed to provide safe care for children.

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

Staff provide children with guidance and boundaries for their behaviour. There are some behavioural incidents at the home. Staff have physically intervened to manage children’s behaviour, when necessary, but this is now very rarely required.

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

A focus of staff care is around educating children about the consequences of concerning behaviours and encouragement of positive choices. Staff utilise external agencies, such as drug and alcohol services, to support children’s education and understanding. Inspection report for children’s home: 2678053 4 Children’s complaints are heard and responded to. Staff are confident about how to respond in the event of an allegation. There has been one allegation, which was reported and investigated. Feedback was provided to the child and their parent. However, the previous manager has not kept a full record of the discussion with the staff member.

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

The risk of children going missing is well considered in children’s plans. There have been some incidents of children going missing, and staff have followed the required actions to ensure children’s safe and timely return. Children’s missing-from-care incidents have vastly reduced.

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good

The previous registered manager has left the home. The handover he provided to the new manager was poor. The new manager is taking time to become fully established in the role. She is yet to apply to become registered.

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good

The manager is yet to embed monitoring systems as part of the management overview of the home. This is somewhat mitigated by the oversight of the responsible individual and directors. The manager is well supported by the organisation, as there is extensive involvement from the directors. The organisation has appointed a service manager to support the manager in her role and development.

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good

Safer recruitment is generally good and helps to protect children from unsuitable adults. However, the organisation has not taken action to verify the reason why staff’s previous jobs, working with children or vulnerable adults, have ended. There has been a lack of curiosity. This could allow staff to work at the home who may not be suitable to work with children.

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good

There have been some changes of staffing. However, there is now a stable and permanent staff team. Agency staff have not been used at this home. Staff receive training that covers a breadth of topics. Staff receive supervision that is enhanced by recorded discussions, in between formal supervision sessions.

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good

The manager is an effective advocate for children, for example advocating the need for supervised contact to ensure a child is safeguarded. The manager promotes children’s involvement in planning their care. Children’s views are sought using a variety of approaches.

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good

Leaders and managers at the home collectively know the areas for development. The core staff team has supported children to adjust to changes at the home and sustained good care for them. Inspection report for children’s home: 2678053 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 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers embedding monitoring systems to ensure effective management oversight, to make improvements at the home. 23 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). 23 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2678053 6 The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the reasons why staff’s previous positions working with children or vulnerable adults ended.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any allegation of harm or abuse is addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy. This specifically relates to keeping records of investigations, actions and outcomes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.18)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities, inside and outside of the home, and are encouraged to participate in those activities. Activities should be well planned for in terms of time, staffing and transport. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)

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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: 2678053 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Emerge Care and Therapeutic Solutions Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Rockside, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent ST7 4PG

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Inspector

Alison Snell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2678053 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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