Children's home run by Helm Care Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 1 Registered provider: Helm Care Services Ltd 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 and offers care for up to four children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023 but no longer works at the home. The responsible individual currently has oversight of the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 27 February 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff spend quality time with the child who currently lives in the home. This helps the child to develop close relationships with staff and have a sense of belonging. The child enjoys their time in the home and socialises with staff regularly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to have their health needs met and help them to develop their independence skills. The child independently cares for their pet guinea pigs and is supported to carry out tasks such as opening a bank account and keeping their personal space clean and tidy. Staff use therapeutic approaches to support the child to maintain their emotional well-being. The child’s independent reviewing officer talked about how the child has made positive progress because of the therapeutic support offered by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is attending education, which is a positive improvement from their starting point. Staff work hard to encourage the child to have consistent care routines, and they use positive incentives to encourage attendance at school. Staff offer the child additional creative learning opportunities when away from education, such as learning about good and safe care of animals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys activities with staff in the community and in the home. The home provides positive living space for the child to enjoy their hobbies, such as tending a vegetable patch and maintaining special areas for their pets. Staff work with the child’s significant others to support family time that best suits the child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers have reviewed the home’s procedures around welcoming children into the home. They have changed the home’s pre-admission assessment and work collaboratively with the child’s local authority. However, because no children have moved into the home, it has not been possible to review if the changes are effective in addressing this previously raised shortfall.

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

The support offered by staff assists the child to feel safe and know they have trusted adults to talk to. The child said they feel confident to raise any concerns with staff and make a complaint if they need to.

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

Staff understand the child’s associated risks and offer support to help the child understand about stranger danger and safe use of mobile phones and the internet. Currently, the child living in the home does not go missing. If this was to happen, staff are clear on the actions that they would need to take. Due to a reduction of safeguarding concerns, there are fewer safeguarding restrictions placed on the child. The child now has a mobile phone and can access free time in the community. The Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 4 support offered by staff has meant that the child’s local authority is exploring removal of a restrictive court order.

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

Staff use de-escalation and therapeutic approaches to support the child during emotionally difficult times. This has helped the child to understand their behaviour and has led to a reduction in incidents. Staff have not needed to physically hold the child to keep them safe. Staff avoid the use of consequences and use rewards and incentives to support positive behaviours. This approach supports the child’s understanding of the reasons behind some of their behaviours and how best to manage them.

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

Staff are aware of actions to take when children make allegations. Leaders and managers have a recruitment system in place to help prevent unsuitable people from working in the home. Risk assessments and plans are detailed and help staff to understand actions that they should take to meet the child’s needs and reduce risks. However, there are gaps in records of specific areas of risk. This can be confusing for staff and hinders management oversight when considering the severity of certain risks.

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good

The home currently has no permanent, suitably experienced, and qualified registered manager. The responsible individual offers management support, and the provider is actively recruiting to the manager’s post. However, the absence of a registered manager has negatively affected the home’s leadership and management.

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good

There has been a delay carrying out an investigation into a child’s concerns regarding staff practice. This has meant that the child has not been listened to and there has been delay in leaders and managers taking suitable actions to ensure the child’s well- being. The responsible individual took appropriate actions once they became aware of the concerns. However, gaps in records mean that it is not clear if all relevant concerns have been shared with the local authority designated officer and Ofsted.

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good

Training is progressed in line with the home’s procedures, and staff access additional resources to help them understand children’s individual needs. However, there are gaps in the support that one member of staff has received to develop the skills and knowledge they need to carry out their role. Furthermore, all staff have not had suggested support in line with the home’s location risk assessment. All staff have not consistently had the opportunity to have a timely review of development in line with the home’s probation procedures.

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good

The home has management monitoring and reviewing systems in place. However, they have failed to highlight shortfalls. The responsible individual has carried out a review of the quality of care provided for children. However, this has not fully considered the opinions of children and significant others, such as their parents, placing authority and staff, when reviewing the child’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 5 Staff said they feel supported. They have regular supervision sessions and monthly team meetings. This provides staff with the opportunity to have individual and group reflection on children’s needs and staff development. Leaders and managers have challenged staff practice. They have ensured that staff access additional support to clarify and develop their understanding around professional boundaries and conduct.

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good

The responsible individual ensures that the home is a safe place and maintains the environment to an appropriate and comfortable standard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(c)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s complaints are consistently responded to in a timely manner and that information is shared with relevant parties. All staff must be supported to have the skills and knowledge they need to carry out their roles and receive timely probation reviews.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that: the review of the quality of care includes the opinions of children, their 2 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 7 parents, placing authority and staff; records of all risk assessments have clear and updated information to inform management oversight when considering the severity of certain risks.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has been restated. 31 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) (2)(a)(b)) 2 August 2024

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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: 2750251 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Helm Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 103, Business First, Group First House, 12A Meadway, Padiham, Burnley BB12 7NG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rachel Greenwood

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Inspector

Gina Lightfoot, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2750251 9 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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