Children's Home run by Rising Star Homes Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 1 Registered provider: Rising Star Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for one child with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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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

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: 2664086 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/03/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 3

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improvement to be good

At the point of this inspection, one child was living at the home and had done so for several months. One child has left the home since the last inspection. While the child has made some progress from their starting points since moving to the home, some aspects of their care require improvement to be good. Additionally, some areas of safeguarding and the leadership and management of the home are in need of improvement.

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improvement to be good

The staff and manager are committed to the child living at the home. The managers have carefully reflected on the challenges staff have faced in meeting the child’s needs. They have taken steps to commission a psychotherapist to support staff. The staff value the support from the psychotherapist to develop their implementation of the preferred model of care. They report that they can see the impact this has in helping them build relationships with the child and develop a better understanding of the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

The child has complex needs and is highly vulnerable. The child is socially isolated and heavily reliant on staff. The child is living a long way from home and has decided not to see their family members. The staff are working with the child to look at ways to reduce social isolation. For example, they use activity planners to look at nice and exciting things to do so the child has something to look forward to. However, this is not yet effective. The child’s social worker commented that staff need to help the child make healthier choices about food and activities by providing more structure.

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improvement to be good

The child has been supported and helped to have their health needs met. Staff know the child’s difficulties with personal space and the challenges for the child in attending health appointments. They prepare and support the child to engage safely with health consultations. The child routinely declines prescribed medication. The manager has not yet ensured the child’s medication and health needs have been reviewed by medical professionals.

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improvement to be good

Staff have supported the child to access education. The child wanted to move from virtual to face-to-face tutoring. The manager listened to the child, and this was implemented. Staff have created a sensory learning space for the child to work with their tutor. However, the staff do not support the child to engage in educational activities when the child has a reduced timetable. The child is spending a lot of time on electronic devices during the day and has little structure.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a plan for exploring relevant topics with the child during their individual sessions with the child. The sessions are not yet taking place as planned. Staff are not consistently demonstrating how they are helping the child. Staff have a review Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 4 document in place. However, staff are not using this to evaluate the impact of work undertaken or identify what follow-up work the child needs.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not escalated their concerns in a timely manner to the relevant local authority about delays with decision-making over the child’s care planning. This is particularly in relation to staffing ratios to enable the child to leave the home more often. This limits the child’s opportunities for spending time outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

The child has risk assessments and behaviour support plans that outline the child’s vulnerabilities and approaches for staff to use to provide help. Any identified patterns and trends following incidents are shared in meetings with the local authority and psychotherapist. Since moving into the home, the child has experienced variations in relation to incidents. However, the number of incidents is now reducing.

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improvement to be good

Staff rarely resort to physical intervention to manage behaviour. When this is required, interventions are brief and proportionate. There was an occasion when members of the public were hurt by a child’s behaviour. The staff involved were unable to physically intervene because they were not adequately trained. They were not comfortable holding a child on their own in the absence of the correct training. Additionally, new staff have not been provided with clear guidance in the child’s plans about positive behaviour management.

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improvement to be good

Management oversight of significant incidents lacks the required rigour. There is a lack of clarity about how staff debriefs take place, as some incident reports refer to supervision records. However, the manager had not had supervision since their involvement in one incident several weeks ago. The manager was unsure if some debriefs had been recorded. This impacts the ability to monitor information and identify patterns and trends to improve the care of the child.

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improvement to be good

The staff understand and know how to use the whistle-blowing procedures to raise concerns about staff care practice or the management of the home.

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improvement to be good

The child says they feel safe everywhere in the home. They have staff they can talk to if they are worried or concerned.

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improvement to be good

There is a lack of clarity about effective collaborative working on implementing the advice from the psychotherapist and child’s social worker clinician to ensure safe and effective care practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 5

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good

Staff value the support from the manager and responsible individual. Staff like and appreciate how the manager consults with them and takes their views into account. Staff receive regular supervision, which helps them reflect on their care practice and raise any concerns they may have. However, the manager has not received supervision in line with the frequency stated in the home’s statement of purpose. This limits the manager’s professional development opportunities and restricts how the responsible individual holds the manager to account.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff have received the training to support and care for the child. For example, the child is subject to a court order that restricts their liberty. Although the provider stipulates that training in relation to this is mandatory, staff have not received this training in the timescales required or since the child’s arrival at the home several months ago.

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good

The manager does not ensure a sufficiently coordinated approach to ensuring the child’s needs are understood to help the child make good progress. While regular multi-agency meetings take place, the manager has not escalated their concerns when there have been delays in receiving assessments and education plans from the local authority. Neither have they expressed their concerns when they are worried professionals are not spending time with the child.

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good

Staff discuss meals and activities with the child in regular meetings. The children’s guide and complaints process are not in a format that reflects the child’s level of understanding. The manager confirmed the deputy manager completed the child’s response to an Ofsted survey. The responses did not reflect the child’s language or level of understanding. The manager has not ensured the child’s learning needs are fully considered.

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good

The manager has not sufficiently ensured the robustness and scrutiny of the independent visitor assessments to ensure these promote the safety and well-being of children in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 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

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

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that, when the needs of children are not met by others, they effectively escalate their concerns to the local authority. 10 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that —

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Requirement Due date

t he health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being;

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 10 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. ( Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring children’s health and medication is reviewed by the relevant health professionals.

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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;

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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; 10 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 8 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2) (c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring the registered manager receives supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose and that they receive debriefs about their own involvement in significant incidents.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure oversight of the needs and care of children through robust quality assurance and monitoring systems.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring staff have up-to-date training relevant to the child’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(2))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the required skills and guidance in place to administer measures of restraint if required. 10 May 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should appoint the independent person and is ultimately responsible for making sure the independent person can provide a rigorous and impartial judgement of the quality of care of that home’s care. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.6) Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 9

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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: 2664086 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rising Star Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 9 Realgar Court, Sittingbourne, ME10 5JZ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Hazvinei Manyonga

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Inspector

Helen Gronhaug, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2664086 11 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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