Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 1 SC066428 Registered provider: ROC Northwest Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home that provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties, physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were five children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2022.

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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: SC066428 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Good 01/02/2022 Full Good 18/11/2019 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusting and secure relationships with staff. Staff know them well and put their well-being as a priority. Staff treat children with dignity and respect. Children experience care that is sensitive to their individual needs and abilities. Staff value and care for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children have access to a wide range of activities to meet their needs. Staff support children’s hobbies and interests, such as swimming, trampolining, shopping and visits to the park. Staff also respect the children’s wishes to spend time in the home with their own home comforts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support family time in line with agreed plans. This makes sure that children can maintain relationships that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children have good attendance at school or college. When children are not enrolled in school, the manager and staff advocate for them. They challenge the placing authorities and virtual schools to promote children’s educational needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to express their views and contribute to their day-to-day care. Staff support them to understand key information through their preferred communication method.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are new to the home, staff make them feel welcome. Children’s placements are well planned. This includes children’s needs being balanced with staff’s skills and training. This child-centred approach ensures that the home is suitable to meet children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences of moving into or out of the home. Staff support children to make their moves from the home as comfortable as possible for them.

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

Detailed risk management plans provide clear guidance on risks to children. Staff regularly review and update the records. This ensures that there are consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand these documents and put them into practice.

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

Staff have clear boundaries about acceptable behaviours. They seek to understand children’s needs. They support children to manage their behaviours and emotions. Staff promote positive behaviour and celebrate children’s achievements.

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

Staff support children to understand risks and dangers. This is done through regular key-work sessions. Staff are proactive in teaching children. They also respond to Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 4 situations when they occur. Children are supported to prepare for adulthood through targeted independence work.

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

When staff hold children to keep them safe, these holds are necessary and proportionate. Staff record interventions, and all relevant professionals are notified. The manager reviews incident records. They identify potential triggers and evaluate the effectiveness of the use of holds. This means the manager can address areas for improvement in staff practice.

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

When children are missing from the home, staff respond in line with protocols. They work in partnership with the police to support a quick and safe return to the home.

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

Leaders and the manager respond to safeguarding concerns in line with procedure. They take necessary action to investigate and address complaints. This ensures that the needs of the children are a priority throughout the process. In addition, staff receive appropriate support and supervision throughout. However, one concern was not notified to Ofsted, and there was a delay in referring to the local authority designated officer, which effects the external monitoring of children’s welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced and qualified manager in post who is supported by a deputy manager. The staff are positive about the managers and describe a supportive environment. Staff describe the managers as readily available to provide advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are systems in place for the effective monitoring and review of the home. These systems ensure that the leaders and managers have oversight, can identify and address any issues and drive for improvement. However, the statement of purpose was not updated or sent to Ofsted with recent changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are proactive in escalating concerns with placing authorities and/or relevant professionals. This ensures that children access the services they need to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent staff team. There is a core team of agency staff who work with permanent staff. This ensures staff consistency for the children. Safe recruitment checks are in place for agency staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have completed mandatory training. However, there are some gaps in training to meet the individual needs of the children, including training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), e-safety and sexualised behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers support staff with regular practice-related supervisions. These are a development opportunity and provide time for staff to reflect on their practice. Staff also have their fitness to perform their role appraised at least once each year. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 5 The team attends regular team meetings. They are an opportunity for staff to come together and share updates and information. They are also a development opportunity for staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 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

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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff have training to meet the children’s individual needs. In particular, they should receive training on ADHD, e-safety training and sexualised behaviour training. 22 March 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should ensure that when the statement of purpose has been reviewed, a copy of this is shared with the regulating body. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5) Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 7

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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: SC066428 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC066428 9 regulates and inspects 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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