Children's Home run by TLC Youth Care Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 1 Registered provider: TLC Youth Care 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 and provides care for up to four children, who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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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: 13 February 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

none Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/11/2022 Full Good 05/07/2021 Full Good 19/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home. The overall experiences of children living in the home are good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel valued and have good relationships with staff. The well-being of children is at the centre of how staff work with them, and staff invest in building relationships with children. One child said, “I get on with everyone [the staff], they’re all good to me”. Professionals have said they are pleased with the quality of care provided by the staff and managers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good transitions in and out of the home. One child who was moving out of the home during the inspection enjoyed a celebration that staff had arranged. Staff also gave them a memory book and helped the child pack their possessions. The manager collaborated with the child’s social worker on a transition plan which helped the child prepare for the move. When children enter the home, consideration is given to them being well suited to the home, including with those already living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s health. Staff and managers monitor health needs, and all children have health plans. Staff support children to attend health appointments and are proactive with identifying and seeking support where is it required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to attend school, college, or an alternative education provision. One child has been supported to start college, and another had a phased reintroduction to an education provision after not being in education for four years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff promote relationships with family. This includes supporting family to visit the home or taking children to spend time with their family. Children also receive support with friendships. This helps to reduce stigma and isolation for children and promotes identity and the building of social relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff organise a range of activities and encourage children to pursue interests and hobbies. For example, one child attends a boxing club, and another attended a performance arts class. These opportunities help to promote children’s identity, confidence, and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are praised for their achievements and receive rewards or incentives which are tailored to individualised targets. Regular children’s meetings also take place which include praise as well as feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers work collaboratively with professionals. One professional said that communication with the manager was “very good”. The manager has worked with Local Authority social workers to effectively care plan for children both in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 4 short and long term. Records show that staff have worked effectively with the youth offending service to help one child comply with probation requirements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is welcoming, spacious, and well furnished. There are personalised photos and other items displayed in shared spaces. Children’s rooms are large, and children are allowed to personalise their rooms. The garden and other external parts of the property are well maintained. Most of the home internally is well decorated and maintained, however there was some damage to the walls in two children’s rooms, and some areas could be improved by redecorating.

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

Children feel safe and supported. Staff build trusting relationships with children. Staff are committed to working with children to reduce risk of harm. Staff are aware of safeguarding procedures and encouraged to raise any potential concerns immediately.

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

Staff have not had to use any form of physical intervention with children since the last inspection. Although staff are trained on restraint techniques, the managers have led a culture to behaviour which focuses on de-escalation to avoid any restraint.

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

A robust assessment of the home and the local area is in place which identifies and mitigates risks. Staff understand risks associated with the internet and communications devices. There are strategies in place which keep children safe.

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

Room searches, when needed, are conducted sensitively and respect children. The rationale for searches is clear and justified, and there are good records of who the search was completed by, what was found, and the next steps.

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

Staff have access to detailed risk assessments and behaviour support plans for children. This helps staff support children’s specific vulnerabilities when they are working with them. However, they are not always updated, and one child’s missing from home risk assessment was not revised following a missing episode. Without up to date and accurate information about children’s risks and behaviours, staff cannot respond effectively to children’s behaviour when incidents occur.

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

Case recordings made by staff are detailed and reflect the child’s everyday life. However, there is inconsistency in the style of writing and the language used. A more consistent approach to case recording and report writing will make documents easier for managers to review records, and for children to read if they want to see their records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since autumn 2023 and registered with Ofsted in January 2024. Staff and children speak highly about the manager and her leadership. Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 5 The manager has shown a commitment to helping children living in the home to achieve their best outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and registered individual have high expectations and aspirations. Since the last inspection, the manager has ensured all requirements have been met. The manager has also implemented additional monitoring and auditing to improve the quality of care provided. Good monitoring of care helps improve the overall effectiveness of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well staffed and has resources to meet the needs of each child. Agency staff are only used in exceptional circumstances, such as during a period of high staff illness.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has instilled a positive team identity among staff. Staff say they feel supported by the manager. Team meetings are well attended and used to reflect and improve practice. Staff and the registered person have regular supervision, which is effective and recorded appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered person ensures all reporting notifications are sent in line with regulations. All safeguarding notification events show that staff and managers have taken necessary actions following incidents, to ensure children are safe and protected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have necessary background checks and references. Staff have good inductions which are overseen by the manager. Training for staff is comprehensive and well mapped out. The manager has identified plans with staff to build further development and progression.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The Statement of Purpose is up to date and summarises all features of the home. The Statement of Purpose identifies a therapeutic approach to care, and the manager is taking steps to embed this in staff practice. However, the model in the Statement of Purpose is not the same that is being used by staff. The manager needs to ensure all staff know the home’s model of care and have suitable training on how to apply it in their work. Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk from harm; the premises used for the purposes of the home are maintained so as to (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff and managers ensuring that risks relating to children going missing are known and that children’s behaviour and missing assessments are regularly updated to reflect new risk information. 30/06/2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is decorated and maintained to a consistently good standard throughout. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. In particular, where the registered person is embedding a therapeutic approach to care, this should be known to all staff and should be specified in the Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4).  The registered person should ensure staff understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be

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Recommendations

recorded in a way that will be helpful for the child. In particular, records written Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 7 by staff should have consistency in the language used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, 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: 2532139 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: TLC Youth Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 19 Harrier Park, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN4 0QG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Duncan MacKenzie

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Inspectors

Mandy Start, Social Care Inspector Daniel Rankin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2532139 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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