Children's Home run by Truly Care Services in Nottingham

Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 1 Registered provider: Truly Care Services

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides short breaks for one child with learning disabilities or emotional and/or behavioural difficulties at any one time. This is the first inspection of the home since it was registered.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child using the short-breaks service at the time of the inspection.

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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 applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has been having short breaks at the home for the past three months. The child has been welcomed in a planned manner. Before the child started coming to the home for short breaks, staff spent time getting to know them, to ensure there was good information-sharing with external professionals and people of importance to the child. The child’s foster mother said, ‘They really are wonderful, and he just loves going. I feel I can relax knowing he is in safe hands.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Case records are not only meaningful but they have a purpose and reflect the work undertaken with the child by staff. Focused work and key-working sessions with the child help them to develop skills and knowledge in specific areas, for example, online safety and developing their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of education for the child. Due to recent challenges at school, staff from the home are supporting the education staff, sharing their skills and knowledge to support the child to continue to learn and achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to the child when they express a wish to undertake a particular activity, locally or further afield. The child is supported by staff to do a range of activities. This enables him to have different experiences that promote his social inclusion and has given him opportunities to have fun and make friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to develop their independent living skills. Time is taken to repeat tasks to enable the child to learn and retain information. Progress is tracked and recorded and achievements are celebrated and praised. Staff understand the importance of the child learning skills to enable them to be more independent as they become older.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has developed positive relationships with staff and the manager, and the child feels they can talk to staff. They know that they will be listened to, no matter what the issue. Staff spend time with the child and demonstrate genuine warmth, understanding and interest in all areas of the child’s life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is not well personalised to children’s needs. The manager is working on plans to make the home a warmer and more welcoming environment. Although this work has started, some areas of the home need redecorating. The child’s room does not reflect their interests and personality and the manager understands the importance of this.

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

The child requires care and attention all the time, and three members of staff are always available to him. Staff understand this high level of supervision mitigates against many risk factors. However, they are not complacent and have a good understanding of the child’s vulnerabilities. Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 3 The child’s individual risk assessments are of good quality. Risk management and support plans identify all known risks and provide detailed guidance to staff on keeping the child safe. They provide staff with the direction they need to manage identified risks and vulnerabilities. These are regularly reviewed and updated.

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

Staff have not had to use physical intervention to manage the child’s behaviour. Staff are skilled in observing behaviours, which means they can intervene so that situations do not escalate. Should there be an incident, staff support the child to explore their feelings about what happened in a way that they will understand. This helps the child feel safe, and staff gain a greater understanding of the child. The manager also ensures that he has oversight of all incidents and determines if there can be any learning from them.

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

The staff are attuned to the needs of the child. Incidents do not escalate and become unmanageable. The child trusts the staff and knows that staff care about him. There is a calm atmosphere in the home and the child responds positively to this and the praise he receives.

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

There have been no incidents of the child going missing from this home. Managers and staff work closely with the police and community support officers. They understand the need to always ensure close supervision of the child, both in the home and in the community.

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

Staff recruitment procedures are robust and detailed. Such procedures are led by a human resources officer. They provide detailed oversight of all new staff and support the registered manager to address any concerns or issues which may arise.

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

The manager has completed a location risk assessment. To complete this, he has canvassed the views of the local police and other professionals. However, the assessment fails to reflect the risk relating to the main road at the front of the home. This risk must be considered when reviewing the needs and risks of children who receive short breaks at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced, dedicated manager who is committed to improving the quality of care for children. They have a clear vision for the home and have shown a real commitment to the child in their care, the home and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff benefit from the manager’s leadership and the guidance provided to them in their care practice. He has developed a child-centred, inclusive, respectful and supportive culture in the home, with positive role modelling that helps children to feel safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home and staff retention is good. There is a very small team of staff, which offers consistency to the child. Staff are united in the way that they care for the child and are supportive of each other. Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 4 Staff skills and knowledge are of a good standard, tailored to meet the individual complex needs of children. This results in a competent workforce that delivers a good quality of care. There is an emphasis on reflective practice in staff supervision, helping staff to learn and develop their confidence and skills in order to provide consistent care and support each child’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say managers are approachable and listen to suggestions about how the home can be developed. Managers ensure that the staff have regular opportunities to get together in team meetings and handover discussions. This has created a culture of ambition and accountability throughout the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The progress made by the child is clear. Staff adapt their practices to ensure the child grows in confidence and ability. Staff speak with pride of the achievements of the child and understand his needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems are not currently in place to ensure maintenance issues are quickly responded to. As a result, some tasks have not been completed in a timely manner. For example, two fire alarms were identified as faulty during a weekly check. However, this had not been communicated to the manager and he had not identified this in the checks. The manager had not identified that two actions from the fire risk assessment had been completed. These issues were rectified during the inspection. Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 5

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that the required maintenance works are completed, including the replacement of glass around the front door, which is currently boarded. 1 July 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager having effective systems in place to ensure maintenance tasks are recorded and communicated to ensure the required works can be completed. 1 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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: 2743611 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Truly Care Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Olive House, Blake Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire NG19 9NT

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Chloe Harvey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2743611 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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