Children's home run by Helm Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 1 Registered provider: Helm Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private provider. It was registered by Ofsted in October 2023 at the same time as the manager. The home can provide care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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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: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 2

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improvement to be good

Two children have lived at the home since it opened in October 2023. Their experiences of living in the home have been negatively impacted by the lack of consideration given to children’s competing needs and staff’s ability to meet these needs. This has impacted on all elements of the children’s lives.

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improvement to be good

Education has been a challenge for both children. Poor routines and significant distractions within the home have meant that both children have struggled with their education. For one child, this meant they did not engage in their home tuition. It has taken several months for staff to develop the plan to enrol the child at a local school.

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improvement to be good

Activities supporting age-appropriate independence have been promoted. Staff have supported one child to have two guinea pigs that are loved very much by the child. They have their own room in the home, and staff support the child to be able to care for them. This supports the child with independence and forms part of a range of strategies used to manage the child when in crisis.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are understood, and good health is promoted. Staff support children to attend relevant appointments. When specialist support is needed, this is sought to ensure that children can achieve.

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improvement to be good

The homely premises are well decorated, and maintenance issues are addressed in a timely manner. This provides a high-quality living space for children to help them feel valued.

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improvement to be good

The child said they feel cared for by staff.

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improvement to be good

Children’s needs and risks are not always reflected or understood, despite detailed information being shared from external agencies. This resulted in one child moving out very quickly after they moved in. The two children’s needs could not be met by the staff. This led to one child being cared for outside of the home while the placing authority could find them another home. This arrangement led to significant anxieties for both children.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not comprehensive and do not address all the identified issues. There is no reflection of children’s relationships and interactions with others. One risk assessment was unclear around risks relating to the child’s use of technology. It contained contradictory information and did not detail strategies to increase children’s safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 3 External doors are routinely locked in line with one child’s plan. However, staff and managers had no understanding of the impact of this on the other child or any strategies to mitigate the impact.

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improvement to be good

Consequences are not routinely restorative. No manager’s oversight or evaluation of the effectiveness of the consequences were recorded. At times, this has caused a delay in children receiving their personal items back. Staff’s expectations of a child developing a plan did not consider the challenge and difficulty for the child in achieving this. The lack of creativity has prevented the child from making appropriate progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard and try to build meaningful and positive relationships with children. Missing-from-home incidents are rare. When children have been missing from home, the staff have responded appropriately. Staff support children when they experience crisis. However, there have been times when staff have been unable to de-escalate children’s heightened behaviours, resulting in children going into crisis. On these occasions, staff have used physical interventions to keep children safe. Records show that these are proportionate. The manager holds meaningful conversations with children and staff afterwards to consider how strategies to support children can be developed.

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good

Lack of management oversight on documents, such as risk assessments and consequences, means that shortfalls are not identified and rectified. This results in drift for some children.

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good

The statement of purpose does not contain all the information required, and at the time of the inspection, it was not available on the provider’s website. The provider has shared the statement of purpose with Ofsted.

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good

Staff vacancies have resulted in the clinical team working shifts. While this holds some value, this can blur boundaries and take clinical staff away from their role in supporting staff, as outlined in the statement of purpose.

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good

Safer recruitment takes place in line with requirements. Systems for recording this are not always clear in relation to the verification of references.

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good

Team meetings take place regularly. They are well attended, and there is a clear system in place to ensure that staff read the minutes. These meetings are complemented by clinically-led meetings that focus on the children in greater depth and offer a reflective space for staff to consider the care children need. Clinical oversight offers opportunities for staff to offer trauma-informed care. This has yet to be fully embedded across the team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 4 Complaints from neighbours have been addressed appropriately by the manager. However, relationships within the local community could be strengthened, and opportunities for shared learning have been missed.

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good

The home is managed by a qualified and experienced manager. Staff feel supported by leaders and managers at the home. Regular, reflective and child-focused supervision ensures that practice continues to improve. Staff development through training is actively promoted, with a clear focus on improving skills and on staff achieving the required diploma. Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments address all of the risks present for children and give clear strategies on how those risks can be managed.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, ensure that any impact of children’s relationships with each other is clearly recorded, understood and mitigated. 1 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 1 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 6 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;

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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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager’s monitoring systems help to improve the quality of records and provide oversight. This includes when verifying references as part of staff recruitment practice.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that plans for children are developed and actioned in a timely way, and ensure that there is no impact of locked doors on other children.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that there are enough staff working at the home to provide consistent care.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager produces an effective assessment of the child’s needs before they move into the home, and that the manager considers the needs of any other children living in the home already. 1 April 2024

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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— 1 April 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 7 the name of the child;

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Requirement Due date

details of the child's behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the manager evaluates the effectiveness of any consequence used to make any relevant changes to care plans as required.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged and supported to engage in appropriate educational activities to complement a significant reduced timetable of online learning. When children are not in education at all, staff should support children to gain the skills and confidence to return to education when this is appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose clearly details the age range of the children who can live in the home. It should be available on the provider’s website. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported to integrate into their local community. Where there may be issues with local neighbours, children

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Recommendations

and staff should be supported to build positive relationships within the local community to support children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 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: 2750251 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Helm Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 103, Business First, Group First House, 12A Meadway, Padiham, Burnley BB12 7NG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rachel Greenwood

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Inspector

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 10 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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