Children's home run by JMR Healthcare Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 1 Registered provider: JMR Healthcare 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 run and provides care for up to two children. The children may have complex needs, including support for their mental health, learning disabilities, adverse childhood experiences and social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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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: 22 February 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 3

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improvement to be good

One child was living at the home at the time of this inspection. The child has lived at the home for over two years. The child was present during the inspection and chose to communicate with the inspector through WhatsApp.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the child has made progress. This progress has contributed to previous court-imposed restrictions on the child being lifted. This progress is positive and has led to the child having greater freedom and in turn developing better relationships with their family. However, several shortfalls have been identified that mean the child is not consistently benefiting from good-quality care.

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improvement to be good

External professionals report that the progress the child has made has recently stalled. Professionals say that the provider lacks confidence to enable the child to make further advances with their independence. This lessens the potential for the child to develop additional skills to manage their impending move into adulthood. A meeting has taken place between the provider and the placing authority to identify ways this can be improved.

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improvement to be good

Previously, the child made some progress with their educational attendance. However, since leaving school the child is not in any post-16 education, training or employment. The child remains on a waiting list for an alternative education package.

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improvement to be good

The child has good relationships with some staff but struggles to engage with others. Staff who know the child well are helping the child to build relationships with new staff. The child has previously spent time with staff participating in activities, such as swimming, going to the cinema and to funfairs. However, in recent months, the child has stopped participating in activities with staff and is spending more time either in their room or going out to see family. While there are significant positives related to the time the child is spending with their family, staff’s efforts to engage the child in activities when they are not with their family have been ineffective.

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improvement to be good

The child is being helped to develop some independence skills. They can cook, clean and do their own laundry. In addition, staff have helped the child to travel independently on public transport. This helps to give the child some skills for independent living. However, staff have not yet supported the child to develop the skills to manage their money independently.

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improvement to be good

The staff have supported the child to develop and improve their relationships with their family. They are now able to spend time with their family independently, including overnight at weekends. This supports the child’s sense of belonging and helps them to build support networks as they move towards adulthood. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 4

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improvement to be good

The child is safer because of living at this home and has been settled for more than two years. Staff have helped the child to make progress in how they manage their emotions. This has reduced the number of incidents and restraints the child has been involved in. However, several shortfalls mean that the help and protection the child receives are not of a consistently good quality.

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improvement to be good

The number of incidents when staff need to physically intervene to keep the child safe have significantly reduced. However, records of physical interventions are not consistently clear. They do not always give a clear rationale for the need to intervene, and the oversight of leaders and managers is often absent. Staff do not consistently receive debriefs following incidents and the child is not always spoken to afterwards. Consequently, opportunities to identify shortfalls in practice, consider emerging trends or address issues are missed.

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improvement to be good

At times, staff struggle to manage the child’s behaviour. Staff’s responses to this challenge are not always appropriate and management oversight has not identified this. Staff have used consequences that are punitive, disproportionate and have restricted the child’s access to the community. On one occasion, staff imposed a consequence that restricted the child’s contact with their family. Leaders and managers have failed to appropriately reflect on this. As a result, a child has had inappropriate consequences and staff are not being provided with the guidance or coaching to equip them with alternative behaviour support strategies.

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improvement to be good

The child has become safer living at the home. Staff have helped the child to develop their skills to independently access the community more safely. The child has not been missing from care since the last inspection.

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good

The previous registered manager left the home in April 2023 along with several staff members. The former deputy manager now manages the home and registered with Ofsted in October 2023. She is enrolled to attain a relevant level 5 qualification.

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good

Leaders’ and managers’ oversight and monitoring of the home are not always effective. Staff changes and team dynamics have contributed to this. Several opportunities to identify issues have been missed, for example the use of an inappropriate sanction. The registered manager was unaware of the need to update and share the home’s statement of purpose with Ofsted. Therefore, this has not happened. The manager does not have sufficiently clear monitoring systems in place to track the progress the child is making or the actions of staff in the day-to-day running of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 5 Staff receive regular training in line with the home’s policy. All staff are first-aid trained and have either attained a relevant level 3 qualification or are working towards one within the required time frame. Staff’s previous experiences in other settings have supported them to meet the child’s needs well while the child has

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good

been restricted in the home. However, as the child’s needs have changed, and restrictions reduce professionals and staff report staff requiring additional support to fully equip them with the skills to meet this child’s needs effectively.

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good

Since the last inspection, staff have not always received regular supervision. This included a period when there were significant issues with staff dynamics. Leaders and managers at that time did not ensure that staff, including the then deputy manager, received this support in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Reduced supervision lessens the opportunities for staff to reflect on the child’s experiences at the home or to share their views on practice issues at the home. However, since becoming manager in May 2023, the new manager has ensured that staff receive regular supervisions.

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good

The home uses its own detailed care plans to support the child. However, some of the language used in these is institutionalised and the child said that they do not always understand their plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 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

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

any restriction, other than one imposed by a court or in accordance with regulation 22 (contact and access to communications), on—

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Requirement Due date

a child’s contact with parents, relatives or friends. (Regulation 19 (1) (2)(c)(i)) 24 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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; 31 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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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 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)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 15 November

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

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)) 31 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should act as an effective advocate, as a good parent would do, for or on behalf of a child who may be experiencing difficulties with education or training matters. This includes, but is not limited to, attainment, admissions, attendance or behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.12)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children aged 16 to 18 to continue their education or training and support them to develop the skills Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 8 necessary to succeed in the option they choose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.16)  The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities inside and outside of the home (where appropriate) and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes 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: 2663448 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: JMR Healthcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Gables, Old Market Street, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2EN

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Inspector

Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2663448 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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