Children's Home run by Genesis CTE Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 1 Registered provider: Genesis CTE Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care for up to five children.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since December 2023 and has not 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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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: 24 January 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: 1277861 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/01/2023 Full Good 12/05/2021 Full Good 26/02/2020 Full Good 21/11/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 3

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improvement to be good

Five children are currently living in the home. Since the previous inspection, three children have moved out of the home and three children have moved in.

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improvement to be good

Progress and outcomes for children are mixed. Two children made very good progress and were well supported to have planned moves from the home. However, one child made some progress before a decision was made to move them back to their home local authority at short notice. This impacted on the ability of staff to give the child a positive and well-planned end to their time at the home. Leaders and managers appropriately escalated concerns regarding care planning and decision-making for this child to the local authority, although this did not alter the outcome.

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improvement to be good

Planning for children moving into the home is of good quality. Before children move in, their needs and risks are considered alongside the needs of the children already living in the home. Children enjoy living in this home and have positive relationships with some staff.

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improvement to be good

The educational outcomes for children vary. One child is not attending education, and staff are not consistently supporting him to take part in constructive or educational activities or maintain a clear day-to-day routine. Another child has not attended school for four months. Communication between the home and education professionals has been good. However, this has not yet been effective in securing an appropriate provision for this child.

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improvement to be good

Staff are more successful at providing support to the other three children to help them progress. For example, prior to moving to the home one child had been out of education for a significant period and there were concerns about them frequently going missing. This child is now attending school full time and has not gone missing since living here.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to stay in touch with family, friends and other important people. Visits are well planned and in line with children’s wishes. A parent who was spoken to felt that the home was very supportive of their visits with their child and that they are happy and settled living here.

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe at this home and said that they feel able to talk to staff about any worries that they have. One instance of a child going missing from home has taken place. This was responded to appropriately by staff, with management oversight and follow-up actions documented. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 4 Staff response to ensuring children keep safe online is not always effective. While strategies such as parental controls and staff monitoring of devices take place, one child has removed these controls and does not allow staff to monitor their device. Staff have been unable to instil more positive boundaries around online and use of devices to ensure this child as safe as can be online. Currently, this child experiences a poor routine, staff have been unable to address their use of devices late into the night.

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improvement to be good

When inappropriate content has been found on children’s phones this has not always been recorded and appropriate procedures followed. Concerns have not been appropriately reported to police and social care to ensure there is a comprehensive plan in place to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Restraint is rare, with one incident taking place. The restraint was used to prevent serious harm. The child was spoken to following this incident and some reflection and learning is recorded.

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improvement to be good

When children self-harm staff generally respond appropriately. When needed, staff provide children with increased monitoring due to concerns about their emotional well-being. This includes regular checks in’s when they are in their bedroom which the child at times can find intrusive.

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improvement to be good

Door alarms are in place in the home, although clear guidance for staff about when and why these should be used is not in place. When door alarms have previously been used for one child this has not been recorded clearly. The responsible individual has advised that guidance on the use of door alarms has since been clarified.

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improvement to be good

Children’s daily records show that there are regular incidents of some children using inappropriate and prejudiced language. Staff do not consistently challenge this and are therefore ineffective in stopping the frequency of this language being used. There have been occasions where some children have found this language upsetting and have removed themselves from the room. The manager has recently been in consultation with social workers and the local police community support officer to begin addressing and attempting to reduce this behaviour.

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good

The home has experienced several significant changes in the past year. The previous registered manager left his post in November 2023. Since then, the home has been supported by two interim managers. The current manager has been in post since December 2023 and has not yet submitted her application to register with Ofsted.

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good

Management oversight of the home has not been consistent or robust. For example, children’s records do not always contain up-to-date information and some key Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 5 documents are missing. As a result, guidance to staff on how best to support children has not always been consistent or clear.

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good

Several long-standing members of staff have also recently left the home. As a result of previous inconsistencies in management and the changes in the home, staff morale has been affected. One social worker also identified that these changes have affected their child’s emotional well-being and feeling of being settled.

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good

Senior managers have acknowledged that on reflection, additional support for staff in managing these changes would have been beneficial. Managers also acknowledge that action could have been taken sooner to address previous concerns about management performance and oversight.

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good

The current manager has worked to establish herself and she has begun to take action to address some of the identified shortfalls. For example, staff report now feeling more supported and records are showing evidence of being updated in the last two months.

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good

Children are aware of how to complain. When complaints are received, these are responded to appropriately, promptly and in line with relevant procedures. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that safeguarding concerns are properly recorded and that prompt action is taken to safeguard children in line with relevant procedures. 11 April 2024

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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

promotes their welfare. 11 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 7 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

In particular, ensure that children’s plans are regularly reviewed, that information on file is complete and up to date and that review leads to improvements in the care received by children.

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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

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that the home has a registered manager through meeting requirements specified in Regulation 28 relating to the fitness of the manager for registration as required by s.11 CSA 2000. 11 April 2024

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; 11 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 8 help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the reasoning for any restrictive practices or monitoring of children is clearly documented in their care and support plans along with consent from relevant parties and clear timescales for review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure that staff are confident talking to children about expectations of appropriate behaviour and that these messages are given to children consistently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: 1277861 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2/3 The Hawthorns, Hawthorn Lane, Staunton, Gloucestershire GL19 3NY

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Inspector

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1277861 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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