Children's home run by Within Reach Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 1 Registered provider: Within Reach Services 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 managed by a private provider. The home provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2022, when this home was registered.

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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

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: 2668747 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The positive and trusting relationships staff have with the child that lives at this home have helped them make good progress from a difficult starting point. The child said that they feel happy living in the home and that they can talk to staff about how they are feeling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before moving to this home, the child had not been supported to participate in structured education for a significant period of time. The manager has worked proactively with the virtual school to ensure that an appropriate education provision is provided. Staff communicate effectively with the child’s education placement to ensure they have the best opportunity to succeed and achieve in their education. As a result, the child has made excellent progress in this area; they are now attending a specialist education setting regularly and is working towards qualifications in mathematics and English.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When the child is not attending education, staff support them to take part in educational activities at home. Staff also support the child well in developing their self- care and independence skills through activities such as budgeting, cooking and shopping. This is sometimes done in a flexible and creative way. For example, the child recently organised a rounders tournament for their home and for children and staff from other homes in the organisation. This included them managing a budget for the event, finding and booking the field and planning and shopping for a barbecue afterwards.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support the child to take part in a range of activities and opportunities. For example, they enjoy attending regular boxing lessons and going fishing with staff. Staff regularly take photos of the child’s activities and memorable experiences and collect these in albums with additional information written alongside.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. However, not all staff are aware of and follow the organisation’s policy relating to smoking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Due to the complexity of the child’s needs, deprivation of liberty safeguards are in place. The manager is clear that any restrictions in the home should be at the lowest level needed to keep the child safe. Staff work with the child to help them understand why restrictions are in place and what they need to achieve for restrictions to reduce.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Restrictions that are in place are generally reviewed at regular multi-agency meetings. However, some restrictions to the home environment, such as the use of plastic plates and certain foods being locked away, do not have clear timescales and mechanisms for their review. Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 4

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

This home specialises in caring for children who have additional social, emotional and mental health difficulties, and the needs of the child living in this home are complex.

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

Clear guidance is in place for staff on how to best support the child. Staff understand and follow the child’s support plans and protocols that are in place to keep them safe. The child said they feel happy and safe living in the home and that they feel confident staff understand them and know how to help them when they are finding things difficult.

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

Multi-agency working is well used at this home. Managers seek advice and guidance from specialist services on how to manage and reduce risks. These strategies are reviewed in regular multi-agency meetings. However, there is disagreement between professionals on how to best support the child during the most serious incidents. Concerns were raised by professionals about this and reviewed during the inspection. The manager has appropriately provided some challenge to professionals working with the child. However, challenge and escalation procedures have not been used as robustly as they could to ensure that disagreements about how to support the child are resolved promptly.

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

Staff know the child well and can recognise the signs that they are becoming upset or unsettled. This allows staff to distract or support the child to calm down before a situation escalates. As a result, over the past four months, serious incidents when the child or others have been at risk of harm have reduced. However, due to the complexity of the child’s needs, when incidents do take place, they are usually significant and potentially high risk.

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

Restraint is used in appropriate circumstances and to prevent serious harm. Restraint and physical intervention strategies are regularly reviewed by managers to ensure they remain appropriate, proportionate and effective. However, when staff members are not able to use restraint due to their own personal circumstances, managers have not yet ensured that clear guidance on how to support the child in these circumstances is in place.

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

Good-quality discussions take place with the child after incidents, with staff sensitively exploring issues with them. Staff support the child to learn from incidents and to better understand the risks. For example, when an incident took place which involved a fire being started, staff contacted the local fire service for specialist advice and support. The child is now regularly attending work experience at a local fire station and has completed fire safety courses, which have been positive experiences for them. The child has also developed a fire safety training session with staff, and a plan is in place for them to deliver this training to new staff joining the organisation as part of their induction. Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a dedicated and resilient manager. She has worked to address previous shortfalls in practice and has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the previous inspection, managers have taken action to ensure there are now fewer changes to the staff team supporting the child. This has meant that staff have had the time and opportunity to build strong relationships with the child and provide them with more effective and consistent support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff take pride in the child’s progress and achievements. They feel well supported by managers and their colleagues and enjoy working in this home. Staff receive training that is specific to the needs of the child living in the home. Managers respond to the changing needs of the child and work to source additional support and specialist training for staff as needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Efficient monitoring systems are in place, which the manager uses to track the child’s progress and to identify significant patterns and trends. In-depth discussions and reflection take place with staff following incidents, and learning from these is used to improve and further develop practice. Team meetings and supervisions are used effectively to address practice issues, reinforce expectations and share good practice. However, following the most serious incidents, management oversight is not as robust as it could be to explore what learning can be taken from these situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When there are concerns or complaints about staff practice, these are taken seriously and investigated promptly. The manager is a strong advocate for the child. When there are concerns about the practice of external professionals, she is quick to escalate these to ensure that the child receives appropriate support and responses. Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 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 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

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

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that the review and oversight of significant incidents are suitably robust and that consideration is given to how the strategies used and staff practice could be improved. 26 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 26 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 7 seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the reasons for any restriction in the home environment are recorded clearly and that timescales and mechanisms for review are specified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that any changes to staff roles on shift are clearly recorded and communicated to all staff, including actions that should be taken during times a child is in need of more intensive staff support. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)  The registered person should ensure that all staff are aware of and following policies regarding smoking at work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)

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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: 2668747 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Within Reach Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hazlewoods, Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham GL50 3AT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Trevor Ridgewell

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Inspector

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2668747 9 regulates 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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