Children's Home run by HATCH Group Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 1 Registered provider: HATCH Group Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider registered to care for one child.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The home is being led by an acting manager, who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean, organised and comfortably furnished throughout. This provides the child with a comfortable home environment that they can be proud of. The child’s family photographs are displayed around the home, which further promotes the family feel for the child. There is plenty of space for the child to play, relax, and have privacy. The acting manager ensures that any damage caused to furnishings or fixtures is replaced or repaired promptly to maintain a well-presented home. The child’s bedroom is suitably furnished, with sufficient space for their personal belongings. There are plans to replace drawers that were removed due to them being damaged. There is an enclosed and well- maintained garden, with plans to convert the garage to provide additional space for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child said that they liked the staff and thought that the home was ‘okay’. They said that they would like to change the colour of the walls in the living room, but, overall, liked the home. The home is safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Robust plans are in place to support children when they move to the home. As a result, the child currently living in the home experienced a good and well-planned move and was supported to develop positive relationships with the manager and staff. However, the previous registered manager left the home in an unplanned manner and did not say goodbye to the child. Consequently, leaders took appropriate action to support the child with this loss. The experience had limited impact on the child. She has been able to develop new relationships with staff, and was able to identify staff who she trusts and can talk to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported with their physical and mental health and emotional well-being. Staff are supported by a clinical psychologist, who provides staff with advice and guidance on their approaches to caring for and supporting the child. This actively promotes the child’s emotional and mental health, and helps to develop strong relationships between the child and staff. There is good liaison and relationships with external mental health services. This means that staff can make referrals for further assessments of how best to meet the child’s needs, when required. This means that staff have access to specialist support and help.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is offered age-appropriate activities to develop their interests and socialisation. However, their acceptance and participation remain limited. The child is not yet fully accessing activities or making friendships in the community, and requires continued support from staff to develop their confidence in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in supporting the child to access learning opportunities prior to formal educational arrangements being agreed. The acting manager has worked effectively with key professionals to secure formal education provision. As a result, the child has been able to re-engage with education following a significant time without. The child has Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 3 already received some very good reports regarding their academic ability. This will give the child confidence to learn and achieve in education. This is good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has been supported to see their family and re-establish their significant relationship with a family member. The child had not seen the family member for some time, and they live a long distance from the home. The acting manager works closely with involved external professionals and family to ensure that the arrangements are suitable for the child.

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

Managers and staff know the child’s risks and vulnerabilities well. They work with involved professionals to review and revise risk assessments and safety plans. There are comprehensive and robust risk assessments in place. These actions keep the child safe.

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

Staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard and protect children. As a result, when the child has walked away from the home unauthorised or gone missing, staff have followed the correct procedures. The acting manager and leaders work collaboratively with the involved local authority and other key external safeguarding agencies. There is a thorough risk assessment of the local area. This has been devised with full consideration for the child’s specific risks and vulnerabilities. As a result of these actions, the child is safer.

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

Staff do not use physical intervention to manage and support the child when they are unable to cope with strong emotions. Staff are skilled in using de-escalation and distraction, along with positive reinforcement and rewards, to manage behaviour. This not only enables staff to manage more-difficult situations, but also serves to develop strong bonds between the child and staff.

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

Staff support the child to understand the risk they face through going missing from the home. Individual work with the child has helped them to become more aware and has led to a reduction in missing-from-home events. The child has been successful in managing short periods of unsupervised time in the local community.

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

The child stated that she felt safe and has adults who she trusts and can confide in. The child understands how to complain, and is supported to complain if unhappy with any aspect of her care. The child has a social worker and independent reviewing officer to whom she can raise any grievances or concerns. The child is regularly seen and visited by a range of professionals who are external to the home and, therefore, has many opportunities to raise any worries or concerns that she might have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The has been a strong response by the registered individual to the registered manager leaving the home in an unplanned manner. The responsible individual ensured that an experienced manager from another home in the organisation was drafted into the home Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 4 to provide management oversight and leadership. The acting manager is aware of the importance of registering with Ofsted and has submitted their registration application.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual and acting manager have worked hard and well to support the child and staff with the unexpected organisational changes. The child has given verbal and written feedback about how much she likes the acting manager. The acting manager is visible and available to the child, and this is helping to develop their relationship.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has been very proactive in her approach to ensure that the home is well managed, and is providing strong leadership with the support of the responsible individual. She is providing regular and effective one-to-one supervision to staff, and team meetings and staff training are taking place. This is an improvement as some staff had not always received individual supervision. Staff said that they enjoy working in the home and are well supported by the acting manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has successfully established positive relationships with key external professionals. This helps to ensure that there is continued support for the child and well- informed care planning. This will help to keep the child on track to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager is ambitious for the development of the home and is a strong advocate for the child and the development of staff. Information received from external and involved professionals was good. External professionals report that the child is being cared for well, and is safeguarded and making progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has developed a range of tools to ensure that she has good oversight of the home. She has high expectations of staff and is confident in challenging other agencies if required. The manager reviews the rotas constantly to make sure that staff sufficiency meet the child’s needs and maintain a safe and secure environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager reports that she has a good level of support in place from the responsible individual. There is additional support from the clinical psychologist, who provides consultation to the team. The manager and responsible individual work as a team and provide good leadership and management. Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 5

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s internal whistle-blowing procedures through the induction process. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, April 2015,’ page 53, paragraph 10.9)

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Recommendations

 Children should be supported to understand how to build friendships with other children. They should be able to spend time with their friends in the local community, in their home area, and by having friends visit them at the home, in line with the child’s plans, age and understanding. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, April 2015,’ page 38, paragraph 8.7) Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 6

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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: 2763815 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite A, Best House, Grange Business Park, Leicester, Leicestershire LE8 6EP

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Inspector

Angela Duffus-Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2763815 8 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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