Children's home run by Florinee Homes

Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 1 Registered provider: Florinee Homes 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 privately owned home offers care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2021.

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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: 29 January 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2024 Full Good 18/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection. Two children have moved in and two children have moved out since the last inspection. One child spoke to the inspector during the inspection, and one child was away from the home on holiday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have built good relationships with the staff. When asked what they like about the home, one child said, ‘The staff – they really care about children.’ When asked who they would speak to if they had any worries or concerns, the child was able to identify staff members they would talk to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in education. Staff understand the importance of education and encourage children to persevere with their education when they face challenges.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in fun activities that they enjoy and talk positively about these. Children are also supported to develop age-appropriate independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive personalised care. Their bedrooms are decorated to their taste and liking. The children also influence the decoration of the home. There are pictures of staff and children around the home, creating a warm and homely feel. The home also has pets that were requested by the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of children’s health needs. They work closely with external agencies to support children’s health needs and support children to attend their health appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from professionals is positive. One social worker said that they were happy with the care provided to children. Another social worker said they were happy with the progress their child is making.

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

Staff have mandatory safeguarding training. They have a clear understanding of the home’s whistle-blowing policy. They know how to escalate concerns appropriately and understand their child protection responsibilities.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and the risks that they may be exposed to. There are systems in place for staff to monitor children’s online activities.

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

External professionals spoke positively about the staff and manager’s approach to safeguarding. A professional said, ‘The staff are very good at safeguarding children. I Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 4 can’t fault them on anything.’ Another professional said, ‘Staff do absolutely everything they can to safeguard children.’

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

The children’s guide is child-friendly and gives children a sense of what it is like living at the home. The guide also contains information to help children understand who to speak to if they are worried or need support outside the home. Children also know how to make a complaint if they need to.

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

There have been several missing-from-care incidents. Staff respond quickly and appropriately when children go missing. However, managers do not always ensure that children are offered return home interviews. This means that opportunities may be missed to understand why children go missing and to help them reduce incidents and the risks posed to them.

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

Restraints are used only when necessary, and incidents are managed well by staff. However, following restraints, debriefs with staff do not always happen promptly. This could leave staff feeling unsupported and reduces the potential for management oversight.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured that safer recruitment checks are always adhered to. Two staff members did not have appropriate pre-employment checks completed before they started working in the home. Managers had not attempted to verify the staff member’s reasons for leaving a previous role that involved working with vulnerable children. Managers were unaware that they were required to do this.

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

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2021. She is suitably experienced and working towards a relevant qualification. The manager was present during this inspection.

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

Leaders and managers’ systems for monitoring and responding to the general maintenance of the home are not always effective.

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

Leaders and managers have not responded to recommendations and actions highlighted in the home’s fire risk assessment, despite this being conducted six months ago. Some of these actions were rectified once identified during the inspection.

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

Leaders and managers have not always considered children’s risks before placing them at the home. One child’s plans identified a high risk of going missing from care. The child moved in and subsequently engaged in risk-taking behaviours and missing- from-care incidents with another child. This resulted in both children having to move.

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

The manager’s quality of care review does not always include feedback from staff, families or professionals. This limits the quality, depth and value of the review. Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 5 Some staff hold a relevant qualification. Those who do not are working towards one. However, there are some staff who have not completed their qualification in the required time frame.

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

Staff receive regular one-to-one supervision sessions and annual appraisals. The staff are positive about the home. They are enthusiastic and energised. Staff said that they are supported by management.

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

Staff benefit from monthly reflective meetings. Team meetings encourage discussion and provide staff with safeguarding scenarios to develop their understanding of keeping children safe. Staff benefit from consultations with the home’s clinical consultant.

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

Feedback from external professionals is positive. A social worker said that the communication with the manager was good and they had a very good working relationship with them. Another professional said, ‘The staff and management are very proactive.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 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 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.

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must only accept children into the home when they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, and when they have fully considered the impact on the existing group of children. 9 September

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Requirement Due date

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

The requirements are that— 9 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 7 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that if a person has previously worked in a position involving children or vulnerable adults, they verify so far as reasonably practicable the reason why the employment or position ended.

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Requirement Due date

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

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or 31 January Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 8 in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff complete their relevant qualifications within the required time frames.

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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. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)) 9 September

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that matters identified in the fire risk assessment are rectified without delay. 9 September

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

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(b) (4)(a) (5)) 9 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 9 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. They should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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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: 2655174 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Florinee Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 13, Swan Court, Forder Way, Cygnet Park, Hampton, Peterborough PE7 8GX

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Inspector

Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2655174 11 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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Inspector

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