Children's home run by Future In Mind Limited in Bolton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 1 SC431315 Registered provider: Future in Mind 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 two children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2023. The manager also manages another registered setting.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/06/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have been welcomed to the home since the last inspection. They have had well-planned transitions and built positive relationships with core staff members. Staff know the children and their needs well. This means children are supported to make progress in different aspects of their lives. One child said, ‘It is good, as I like the staff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented and maintained to a good standard. One child’s bedroom has been adapted to include additional safety restrictions to keep them safe. The children have updated their bedrooms based on their personalities. One child has wallpaper featuring gaming and the other child has glittery wallpaper. This personalised environment helps the children to feel proud of where they live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with health services. They are helped by staff to attend routine appointments when required. The staff team is also guided by an in-house therapist to inform their practice. This ensures that the children’s physical and emotional well-being are monitored and that they improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A variety of activities are chosen by the children. They have enjoyed rock climbing, day trips and trampolining and one child attends Scouts. The other child has been supported to attend a family wedding as bridesmaid. These activities encourage children to have fun and create special memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children are waiting for school places. Staff have been working with education professionals to deliver education at home. A weekly education planner helps children to understand what subjects they will be learning. One child only attended school for a short time because this had not been appropriately planned by the professional network. The child is keen to return. The manager has been a persistent advocate for the children. This has led to the other child being offered a place at a specialist school in line with their additional needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s relationships with their families. They work alongside other professionals to make sure these arrangements remain safe. The risk to one child increased during family time and affected their behaviour. The manager escalated this to the wider professional network. This led to the frequency of family time being reduced. Further support was also put in place so the child could continue seeing their parent safely.

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

There are consistent routines, boundaries and direct work for the children. This, along with therapeutic care by staff, supports children to feel safe and happy. This is underpinned by good risk management plans that provide staff with guidance about how to reduce and manage risks to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 4 The children have a positive relationship with each other. When they do not get along or when one child copies the challenging behaviours of the other, staff recognise and respond to this. Children are helped to understand their actions using restorative approaches and conversations. This has led to fewer incidents involving one child.

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

When children go missing from care, staff make efforts to follow them to try to return them home safely. Children have return home interviews with an independent person to talk about their experiences. A few months ago, closer supervision and restrictions were put in place for one child, in line with their needs. Despite the hard work by staff overall, the child has gone missing from care on a few occasions. On one occasion, staff were not as vigilant as they needed to be. Further to this, staff record-keeping has not always been of consistent quality. The manager has identified these practice issues and has plans in place to improve this. The manager also attends regular multi-agency meetings to share information and learning in order to monitor and reduce missing-from-care episodes.

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

One child struggles with their emotional well-being. This has led to them harming themselves. The child has at times been able to use strategies that they have learned from specialist therapeutic support. They have been able to explore some of the reasons for this behaviour and to be more open with staff about their emotions. Along with room searches and extra staff vigilance, this has led to fewer incidents of the child harming themselves. This child said, ‘ I feel safe here in this home.’

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

Procedures around the storage and administration of medication are thorough. Staff complete daily medication audits and the manager completes weekly audits. The manager also has systems in place to make sure safe practice continues to be followed by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced manager leads the home, supported by a deputy manager. Together, they are aware of the strengths of the service and the areas for development. The manager is child-focused and has high aspirations for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager splits their time between this home and the other setting they also manage. They manage this well and so are able to maintain good oversight of the home and the care of the children. The introduction of a computerised management information system helps the manager to monitor and make improvements to the children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by managers, leaders and their colleagues. They receive regular supervisions and attend team meetings. This has helped to maintain good staff morale and a family atmosphere in the home. Children enjoy this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Poor staff practice that led to one child going missing from care has been investigated and addressed by the manager. However, they did not notify the local Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 5 authority designated officer. It is also not clear if the learning from the shortfalls in practice on this occasion were shared with the wider staff team. The manager acknowledges this and has a plan to address it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A variety of training is undertaken by staff, including specialist courses based on children’s individual needs. This helps staff to deliver care based on the home’s therapeutic approach to parenting for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should seek to involve the local authority and other relevant persons whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. They are also required by regulation 40 to notify placing authorities, Ofsted and other relevant persons about serious events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.4)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (regulation 36 (schedule 3(14)). This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child’s parents. Evaluation of incidents of children going

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Recommendations

missing should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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: SC431315 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Future In Mind Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Future In Mind, 65 Market Street, Hednesford, Cannock, Staffordshire WS12 1AD

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Carina McLean-Armstrong

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Inspector

Nurul Kabir, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC431315 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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