Children's Home run by Future In Mind Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 1 SC063653 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

A private provider operates this home. It provides care for up to two children who have experienced childhood instability, resulting in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in March 2020 and holds a level 5 qualification.

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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

Date of last inspection: 1 February 2023

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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: SC063653 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2023 Full Good 11/05/2021 Full Good 10/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home. One child who had lived in the home for a significant period has moved out. Another child had lived in the home for a short time before moving to a foster placement. When children move in and out of the home, transitions are well planned and carefully managed. Leaders make home visits and take the time to build relationships with children before they move into the home. This approach provided reassurance to children and helped them to settle quickly into their new environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. Photos and personalised items enable children to develop a sense of belonging. A new games room has been built in the garden to provide additional space where children can spend time alone or together. Children’s bedrooms are also personalised to their tastes. Children have a sense of ownership because their home reflects their personalities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak positively about the home. One child who has moved to independent living since the last inspection provided feedback about her experiences for a recent staff meeting. She produced a video of herself talking about her experiences of living at the home. She said she always felt safe and always had someone to talk to and thanked the staff for helping her build her confidence to live independently. When she moved out of the home, staff celebrated her progress and have continued to provide support. These lasting relationships are important to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child now living at the home receives care from a consistent staff team who know him well. There are warm interactions between staff and the child. These relationships provide the child with stability and security and contribute to the child making significant progress from his starting point. Staff celebrate the child’s achievements, which enhances his self-esteem and is helping him to grow in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child engages with therapeutic support and has made exceptional progress as a result. He has made so much progress that he is now being supported to move to a foster home. The therapuetic approach is embedded in practice. This has enabled him to develop a safe and secure base from which he can begin to process his trauma and develop positive coping strategies for his future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is fully engaged in full-time education and is making excellent academic progress. The child’s school raised some concerns around the welfare of the child and communication from the home’s staff. The manager addressed this proactively in partnership with the child’s social worker. This has helped to improve communication between the school and staff and has contributed to greater partnership working in the best interests of the child. Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 4 Staff support children to spend time with and reconnect with people who are important to them. The child has spent more time with members of his family and the staff build positive relationships with them. One family member said, ‘They are just wonderful and are always there to support.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a range of opportunities for children to express their views, wishes and feelings. Generally, the child is helped to understand how his views, wishes and feelings are considered. However, on one occasion, staff missed an opportunity to use their professional curiosity to explore the child’s views when there was a change in his feedback about staff support. The manager has acknowledged this and a plan is in place to explore his views further.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s records do not yet consistently use non-stigmatising language that reflects the therapeutic ethos of the home. For example, institutional language such as ‘contact’ is used instead of ‘family time’. This is not helpful for the child and reinforces unnecessary stigma for children who are living away from home.

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

The child benefits from living in an environment that mirrors a family home. The staff model and teach the child the values of kindness and respect. In addition, they adopt a therapeutic and restorative approach to managing the child’s behaviours and work closely with the home’s therapist. When children struggle to follow the rules of the home or their individual care plans, staff use reasonable consequences that are balanced and proportionate.

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

There are few incidents of restraint. When restraint is used, this is to prevent children from harming themselves or others. Incidents are reviewed by managers to ensure that any restraint used is proportionate and safe.

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

Leaders respond efficiently and effectively when children make allegations against staff. They ensure that action is taken to protect children. Managers ensure that follow-up actions are completed and that advice from external professionals is sought to aid further learning and development. These actions reassure children and promote their safety and well-being.

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

Well-planned one-to-one sessions with children cover important and emerging topics. These include exploring with children how to stay safe when using the internet and understanding healthy relationships and risks in the community. Staff are creative with the resources they use and work hard to understand the best ways to help children learn. This enhances the children’s knowledge of personal safety.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. Incidents of going missing are managed well. Staff follow the missing-from-home procedures and work in partnership with safeguarding agencies. This helps to ensure children return home quickly and safely. On one occasion, staff did not follow risk management plans, which resulted in the whereabouts of the child and an agency staff member not being known for a Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 5 number of hours. A robust response from the manager has enabled staff to learn from this incident and prevent a further occurrence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and committed manager. She maintains a positive approach that supports improved morale in the staff team. She has introduced and welcomed new ideas that support the development of therapeutic practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an excellent understanding of the children she cares for her. She is child-focused and wants the best for the children in her care. She is a strong advocate for children and contributes significantly to children being able to make progress from their starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place on a regular basis. They are well attended by staff and give them the opportunity to contribute to the development of practice. The staff and manager receive regular supervision that is reflective and enables them to identify their learning and development needs, in line with the needs of the children. This means that the children receive good-quality care which is tailored to their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides staff with relevant training and creative learning opportunities that help them to be effective in their roles. Staff are continuously developing their skills and knowledge. As a result, children are cared for by staff who are skilled in meeting their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring systems are detailed and effective. Managers understand the home’s strengths and areas for development and generate actions to develop the quality of care for children. The home’s six-monthly quality of care review assesses the home well and captures the views, wishes and feelings of children to inform improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring systems used do not always provide effective oversight of the home. For example, some reports written by the home’s independent visitor include information that is repeated from the previous month. In addition, when a safeguarding concern arose, the independent visitor did not promptly share this with the provider. While the provider took appropriate action, they did not challenge the delay in sharing safeguarding information. Leaders have recognised the shortfalls and have begun to explore ways of improving external oversight of the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 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 registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that reports provided by the independent visitor are of good quality and robust, and that any safeguarding concerns are shared without delay. 1 April 2024

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Recommendation

 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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC063653 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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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC063653 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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