Children's Home run by Halls Homes for Young People Ltd in Luton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 1 Registered provider: Halls Homes For Young People Limited

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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 privately owned by a small independent provider. It provides care for up to three children aged between 10 and 18 years who may experience social and emotional difficulties or have mild learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2021

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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: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/04/2023 Full Inadequate 07/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. The children are not making consistently good progress.

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improvement to be good

One child has made little progress since the last inspection. When staff are able to engage the child, there are positive experiences. However, recently, staff have not been able to engage the child. The staff do not provide a routine and the child spends most of the day in their bedroom. This does not support a healthy lifestyle. One professional said that the child’s progress has significantly reduced.

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improvement to be good

Children’s progress in education is variable. One child attends school daily. However, due to the lack of routine, one child is neither learning at home nor from any purposeful activities. Another child is usually with a family member, and it is unclear if they are attending education during this time. These barriers are limiting children’s learning opportunities.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not recording key-work sessions. Two children have recently moved into the home. One child has had one key-work session and the other has not had any. Key-work sessions are not planned. This means that it is unclear whether staff are spending dedicated time with children to discuss targets, progress and any concerns.

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improvement to be good

Children’s care plans do not explore all of their needs. One child is neurodiverse, and another is awaiting a neurodiversity assessment. The traits for each individual child are not explored or explained in care plans. Consequently, staff do not have the instructions on how to help children understand everyday situations and relationships.

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improvement to be good

Areas of the building and garden require attention. The children’s bathrooms have mould in places. The games room is unusable. The front door has a piece of wood missing from the edge. Parts of the flooring downstairs have gaps. An area of garden has become overgrown and has a wheelbarrow lying on its side on the ground. This does not provide children with a comfortable home or useable garden.

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improvement to be good

Children are relaxed at the home and enjoy spending time with staff. Staff speak warmly about children and take time to build positive relationships with them.

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improvement to be good

Staff enable children to attend clubs and activities that they enjoy. One child has recently started to attend a youth centre. This is helping them to make appropriate friendships in a peer group. Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 4

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improvement to be good

Some risks between the children have been identified. These have resulted in a safety plan being devised for all of the children. The staff demonstrate an understanding of the behaviours and some of the associated risks. However, risk assessments do not document all of the current risks. This limits the staff’s ability to mitigate the risks and implement appropriate strategies.

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improvement to be good

One child is consistently away from the home with family, for up to a week at a time. When the child is away, staff call the child and offer to visit them. At these times, the child is not in the direct care of the staff, they do not know exactly where the child is and what they are doing.

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improvement to be good

The staff’s approach to managing children’s behaviour can be punitive. Children do not have behaviour management plans and therefore the staff do not have clear guidance on how to de-escalate children’s behaviour without a negative consequence. When negative consequences are used, children are not always consulted, and staff are not always debriefed. There are occasions where the manager has not evaluated or signed the consequence record, meaning the manager can’t be sure that the consequence used is proportionate.

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improvement to be good

The staff are aware that a child has used substances at the home. Despite this, there was no action taken by the leaders and managers. This has not provided the child with any learning or substance misuse support.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment checks are not thorough enough. One new member of staff has not had a long gap in their employment history explored. This does not provide good assurances that safe adults are working with the children.

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improvement to be good

The fire risk assessment has recently been updated. Children know what to do in an emergency because they have practised fire evacuations. One child requires a personal emergency evacuation plan to provide staff with guidance on how to help the child escape the building in an emergency.

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improvement to be good

All staff spoken to are aware of the action to take if they received an allegation of harm against a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is working towards her level 5 qualification. She is astute and is aware of the weaknesses in the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The management oversight of the home is not always effective. Important documents such as behavioural consequences are not always fully completed. Electronic medication records do not tally with the weekly audit undertaken by the manager. These shortfalls have not been identified or dealt with appropriately. Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 5 The manager has not completed the internal quality of care review and it is overdue. This means that the manager has not evaluated the care provided to the children effectively and they have not collected valuable feedback from stakeholders that can be used to improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not sufficiently challenged the views of a local authority and other agencies about a child who is often out of the home with a family member. Due to this, the missing-from-care procedures and independent return home interviews do not happen. This was addressed by the manager during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervision sessions with the manager encourage staff to be reflective about their practice and the needs of the children. However, these sessions do not happen regularly. Staff who require an appraisal have not received one. Overall, the staff are not provided with enough opportunity to learn and improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings are not used effectively. The meetings that followed two incidents did not discuss the incidents fully. They did not give the staff an opportunity to discuss what had happened as a group and learn how to prevent these types of incidents from happening again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Training in neurodiversity has not taken place. This means that staff are not equipped with the knowledge to work with children and how to best help them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff speak highly of the manager. She is visible and open to new ideas. Staff feel supported by her and can talk to her about any issues they have. Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 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 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 27 May 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—

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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)(f)(h)) 27 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 7 In particular, ensure that there is clear and consistent oversight and monitoring of records and that the manager’s reviews and observations are recorded.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 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; and

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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

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—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 27 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; 27 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 8 use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b)) 27 May 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 9 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 27 May 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 27 May 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home and garden are homely, clean and well maintained throughout. In particular, ensure that there is no mould in the bathrooms, make all rooms accessible and maintain the garden. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that a workforce development plan is in place covering all aspects of staffing in the home as set out in regulation 16, schedule 1. Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 10 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2628612 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Halls Homes For Young People Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 66 Drayton Road, Luton LU4 0PH

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Inspector

Hannah Phillips, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2628612 12 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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