Children's home run by Active Young People Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 1 Registered provider: Active Young People Limited 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 owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities The home offers long-term residential placements for up to six children. It also provides short-break services for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

Six children and one young person were in the home during the inspection. The inspectors spent time with all the children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2021.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2023 Full Outstanding 28/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people have complex needs, requiring a lot of quality care and attention. Once moved into the home, children and young people stay for many years until their next home is available. This allows them to develop excellent relationships with the staff. It also provides them with a sense of belonging. The staff see the children and young people as family. One staff member said, ‘It is a privilege to work here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves in and out of the home are well planned and managed. Plans progress at the pace of children and young people. Staff use social stories to prepare them for the next steps, helping them understand the changes that are to come. This reassures children and young people, helping them to develop links to people who will care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are well cared for. Each child or young person has a smaller dedicated staff team that treats them with dignity and respect. This ensures that they receive consistent care, resulting in children and young people making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An advocate comes to the home to see all the children and young people. At times, there are specific issues for the advocate to think about. For example, one of the young people is due to move on to their next home. The advocate has independently assessed whether the home is suitable. This helps to ensure that important decisions have the oversight of an external professional and are in the best interests of children and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children and young people use methods of non-verbal communication. Staff use their in-depth knowledge and relationships to understand what they are saying. This allows children and young people to make choices, and it helps them have a say in their day-to-day lives. One child who comes for short breaks has made excellent progress with their communication. This achievement was celebrated and has allowed this child to engage more effectively with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children of school age are in education. The staff have a good relationship with the local school, and they work in partnership to ensure routines and care are consistent. Staff have high aspirations for what children can achieve in their development. For example, a target for one child is to use their standing frame more in the morning, helping them to increase the time spent out of their wheelchair. Targets or agreements with the local authority are less clear for children who come for short breaks. This could limit informal learning opportunities for those children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people take part in activities in the community. Staff take time to find out children’s and young people’s interests. One young person likes music and Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 4 show tunes. Staff support them to see singers in the community, ensuring they can enjoy things they are interested in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where possible, children and young people see their families at the home. Staff help to create natural everyday opportunities for families to spend time together. One parent said that staff are responsive to feedback and help them to spend time with their child in the way they want.

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

The staff have a good knowledge and understanding about how to keep children and young people safe. All children and young people are vulnerable with complex health needs, some requiring the use of specialist equipment. The staff receive training and are skilled in using this specialist equipment to meet the needs of the children and young people. Risk assessments and health care plans underpin staff practice. They are clear and give guidance about expectations. This helps ensure that children and young people are cared for safely.

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

Detailed planning happens with day-to-day arrangements in the home. This helps to give children and young people predictability. This extends to the short-breaks service. This ensures that children have the same opportunities whether they live in the home permanently or are coming to stay overnight.

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

When incidents occur, staff respond to ensure that children and young people are safe and get the care they need. The manager scrutinises incidents to ensure practice is safe and lessons are learned for the future. When shortfalls in staff practice are identified, the manager completes an investigation and shares any learning with the staff team. This helps to avoid similar issues happening in the future.

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

Staff know children’s and young people’s usual presentation and show curiosity for any out-of-the-ordinary behaviours. Staff understand this may be children’s and young people’s way of communicating pain or being unwell, and they respond accordingly. This ensures the children and young people receive appropriate and proportionate treatment and support from staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic about what he does, and he cares deeply about the care provided to children and young people. He is supported by a deputy manager who shares this child-focused approach. They have high aspirations for the children and young people, irrespective of their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by leaders, managers, and each other. Staff are a cohesive team, and as a result, they tend to stay at the home for several years. This provides stability for the children and young people, allowing them to get to know the staff well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 5 The manager and staff develop effective working relationships with professionals involved with children and young people. This has been achieved through effective communication, sharing of information and advice. The service is highly regarded by professionals, and they have confidence that managers and staff will do their best for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management oversight of paperwork is variable. The manager does not implement the system for reviewing documents consistently, including changes to the children’s and young people’s risk assessments. There is no oversight from anyone senior if the manager makes updates. This does not reassure the manager that all updates are accurate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff attend important care planning meetings for children and young people. However, the manager does not have a formal escalation policy to address issues where the practice of others falls short of what is required. This means that for one child, the minutes from their review meeting were not received in a timely way. Consequently, important information about the child’s care planning was not immediately shared with the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all documents are recorded in a child-friendly way. Some records contained information that was hard to understand, and some of the language used was not child-focused. Documents are not always written in a way that is accessible to the children and young people and are therefore not meaningful to them or their life story.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all staff are receiving regular supervision, and records of some supervision sessions are brief and do not show the discussions held. This hinders the manager’s oversight of his team’s performance and whether reflective discussions are taking place. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 16 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c)) 16 May 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive regular supervision so that they can reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 7 will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that they agree with the placing authority

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Recommendations

(usually the child’s parents or carers) and, if appropriate, the child’s school, an approach to meeting any relevant education targets while the child is in the short- break setting. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.22)

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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: 2624223 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Active Young People Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Suffolk Way, Sevenoaks TN13 1YL

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Inspectors

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2624223 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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