Children's home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Monmouthshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 1 SC061878 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to four children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties and/or have additional learning needs. At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2023.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/03/2023 Full Good 09/11/2021 Full Good 03/12/2019 Full Good 20/11/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have been supported to move out of the home since the last inspection. One child moved back to their family home and was helped to spend more and more time with their family before they moved, as per their wishes. Staff worked with external professionals and family members to identify the potential barriers to the move and took steps to mediate their impact. One family member commented that the staff were ‘fantastic’ and worked with them well to achieve what their child wanted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another child moved to a supported living provision. Before moving out of the home, they emailed leaders and managers to thank them for the ‘invaluable’ care and support that they had received from the ‘dedicated team’ that had helped them through some of the ‘toughest times of [their] life’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As children have successfully moved out of home, other children have been supported to move in. Leaders and managers carefully consider the suitability of children to live in the home by assessing their needs and the associated risks, alongside the needs and the associated risks of the children who already live there. Leaders and managers also seek to understand the reasons for the child moving to the home and reflect on the care and support that they have previously received so that lessons can be learned.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to visit the home and meet the staff and children who live there before they move in. This helps children to understand what it might be like for them to live in the home. However, the guide to the home that children are provided with before they move in contains some information that children might find anxiety-provoking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff interactions with children are warm, caring and friendly. Staff are interested in how children’s days have been when they return home from school and offer them praise for their achievements. Children say that they enjoy living in this home and that they feel well looked after, safe and listened to. They say that they get to do fun things and one child fondly recalled day trips with staff. Two children explained that they would rate the home an 8 out of ten, as ‘there is always room for some improvement’, although they could not think of any improvements themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are attending school. When children experience difficulties in the classroom, staff and managers work with external professionals to ensure that the child receives the support that they need to successfully participate in their learning. One child who stopped attending school has been supported back into the classroom environment on a reduced timetable. There are clear plans for the time that the child spends in school to increase over time. When they are not in school, the child is supported to engage in structured learning activities to develop the skills and confidence that will help them to achieve in the classroom setting in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 4 The environment is warm and homely. There are lots of children’s toys and games throughout the house and it is clear that this is a home that children live in and play in. There are photos of children spending time with staff on the walls, and children’s

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

bedrooms have been personalised in line with their interests. One child’s bedroom is undergoing refurbishment and new storage units are waiting to be built. There are some signs of wear and tear throughout the home, with walls, doors and doorframes requiring repairing and repainting.

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

Children’s care plans provide staff with an overview of children’s needs and the strategies that staff need to support them. Alongside these plans, support plans help staff to consider risk and how they can support children to be safer. Staff and managers review the plans regularly to ensure that they are reflective of children’s needs and that staff have a sound understanding of the care that children require.

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

Staff provide children with a good standard of care. Staff know the children well and have built strong and positive relationships with them. When additional needs of children are identified, an assessment of need is completed with the home’s psychology service. This provides the psychology service with the opportunity to give staff guidance about how to meet children’s additional needs and continue to build positive relationships.

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

Restraint is rarely used in this home because. staff use a variety of strategies to avoid the use of restraint. When it is used, it is used for the shortest amount of time possible and proportionate to the risk of harm. The registered manager reviews the use of restraint and helps staff to think about what they could have done differently. As a result, restraint has not been used since August 2023, as staff are finding more positive ways to support children.

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

Staff use a range of resources to help children to understand risk and how to keep themselves safe, both online and offline. Before providing children with advice and guidance, staff do their own research so that they are well informed and knowledgeable about the topic of conversation. Children engage well with staff and worksheet activities are used to assess children’s understanding and identify areas where further support may be beneficial.

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

When concerns about staff are raised by children, leaders and managers respond swiftly to help keep children safe. The concerns are shared with the relevant external professionals and robust actions and outcomes are agreed. When concerns are raised about professionals outside of the home, the registered manager seeks assurances that appropriate actions have been taken by external agencies to ensure that children are protected.

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

Staff complete weekly and monthly fire safety checks on the firefighting and fire prevention equipment in the home. However, when repeated patterns of concern are identified, effective remedial action is not taken. As a result, the concerns are left Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 5 unresolved, and the risk continues to be presented. Appropriate remedial actions to address these concerns were taken during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A dedicated and committed registered manager speaks passionately about the care and progress of the children in the home. The registered manager has taken action to address the requirement that was raised at the last inspection. Furthermore, the registered manager is receptive to feedback and strives for high-quality care and positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, five reparative consequences have been used to help children to develop and understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In all cases, children are supported to reflect on their actions and how they could respond differently in the future. The registered manager evaluates the use of reparative consequences, which have been used appropriately and effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training compliance is generally high, although some members of staff are due to complete follow-up training sessions to refresh their knowledge. Staff training is complemented by the support and guidance that is provided by the home’s psychology service. As a result, staff are well equipped to understand and meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision sessions and team meetings are used to give staff the opportunity to reflect on the needs of the children and the care that they are provided with. Staff are supported to think about the care that they offer and how it meets children’s individual needs. This allows for leaders and managers to signpost staff to relevant resources that they can use to develop their skills and knowledge further. Children are also invited to attend parts of staff team meetings so that they can share their views and wishes and help staff to understand their individual needs and preferences from their point of view.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is experiencing some difficulties with regard to staffing sufficiency, which means that staff are picking up additional overtime. Leaders and managers are working outside of their regular hours, and some agency members of staff are being used. Recruitment to the home is ongoing and leaders and managers have collated the home’s rota with the rotas of the other homes that are operated by the provider. This allows them to share staff more effectively. However, when staff leave their employment, the systems that are used to help leaders and managers to reflect on their reasons for doing so are not effective. As a result, negative trends and patterns that may be influencing staff’s decision to leave their employment are not identified or resolved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment checks are in place for permanent members of staff. However, the monitoring of these checks for agency-employed members of staff have not been effective. As a result, the registered manager cannot demonstrate that the relevant Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 6 checks have been completed for agency-employed staff before they start to work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 7

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they respond swiftly and effectively to resolve concerns that are identified during fire equipment safety checks.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that monitoring systems are in place that allow them to review safer recruitment checks to determine the suitability of staff to work with children. 30 April 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide to the home is age- appropriate and accessible and helps children to understand what it might be like for them to live in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of staff turnover effectively. This should be used to help leaders and managers to identify and address any negative trends. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19) Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 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: SC061878 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC061878 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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Inspector

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