Children's Home run by Formations Care Services Limited in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 1 Registered provider: Formations Care Services Ltd

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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 owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection. It became registered in April 2024.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children currently live at the home. Another child, who moved in when the home was first registered, moved to another provision due to safeguarding concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a warm welcome when they arrive at the home and are supported when it is time for them to move on. Staff manage these processes well, ensuring that children get the help they need during these important transitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children first move into the home, they benefit from the manager obtaining the fullest information about their needs. Staff work diligently to get to know the children and their families, and to identify their needs and preferences. Immediate contact is also made with other professionals who are involved in children’s care. Staff ensure that they understand children’s care plans and implement these without delay. This means that, although children have only been at the home for a short period of time, they have settled in well and the actions of staff are having an impact on their care and progress. As a result, children are already making educational progress, and their emotional and physical health needs are being met to a good standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s punctuality and attendance at school have improved since coming to live at the home. An overdue eyesight test was organised, and dental checks have also been quickly arranged. Results for blood tests were followed up, and prescriptions secured for minor ailments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enthusiastically take advantage of the opportunities offered to them. One child is undertaking voluntary work, and another child likes to bake cakes to share with neighbours. This helps children to get to know the people and resources in their local community, as well as enhancing their social development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are enjoying several ‘first time’ experiences, such as learning to swim, getting new bicycles, and going on holiday to the seaside. Children also participate in a full programme of activities, including arts and crafts, walking, going to the fair and playing board games.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s friends and family are welcome at the home. School friends sometimes sleep over, and family members come to the home and cook traditional meals with their children. This helps to normalise contact arrangements and reinforces their cultural heritage. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 3 Children enjoy spending time with the adults who look after them, and they are proud to introduce staff to others as ‘my carers’. One professional noted that, in comparison to a previous placement, it was ‘lovely to see how happy and settled’ the child was.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they feel safe living here. Overall, safeguarding measures are effective in protecting children from harm within the home and in the community. Staff create an environment where risk is minimised as much as possible, especially when balancing children’s need for greater independence.

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improvement to be good

When there is a serious concern about a child’s well-being and staff are unable to meet their needs, the manager takes effective action. She liaises with the child’s placing local authority and ensures that decisions are made quickly and in the child’s best interests.

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improvement to be good

Children feel valued and listened to. They can speak to any member of staff if they are worried about something. On one occasion when a child expressed their low feelings, the potential risk to the child was not properly evaluated. This had no impact on the child’s well-being as advice was sought and acted on at the time. However, the subsequent response reflects a level of confusion around the procedures when dealing with information of this kind. Consequently, the matter was not appropriately escalated and the usual safeguarding measures, such as convening a strategy meeting and reviewing the child’s risk assessment, were not implemented. This means that opportunities to further explore the child’s concerns and well-being were delayed.

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improvement to be good

Children develop warm, caring relationships with the adults who look after them. They feel secure and have a sense of belonging and attachment to the home. As a result, children rarely feel the need to go missing from the home. Behaviour management strategies are effective, based on positive regard, clear expectations, and consistency of care. This helps children to make the right choices. Children respect this approach and are happy to comply with the rules that are in place for their protection.

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improvement to be good

On the rare occasions where physical holds are necessary to protect children, these are carried out with sensitivity and a caring approach. One parent thanked staff for keeping their child safe during a particularly challenging incident.

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improvement to be good

Although compliant with the regulations, on one occasion, the recording of a physical hold did not fully reflect the decision not to intervene at an earlier point or explain the actions of other professionals. This would help to demonstrate that the actions of staff were reasonable and justified.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a safe environment. There are regular checks on the home’s health and safety requirements, including medication and fire drills. For example, on admission, Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 4 children who are new to the home take part in an emergency evacuation to ensure they know what to do in the event of a fire.

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improvement to be good

The home’s location risk assessment is comprehensive. However, when a new risk in the community emerged, the document was not updated to reflect this change. A recommendation is raised to ensure that the provider remains alert to any emerging concerns in the locality.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This was the home’s first inspection. Within a short space of time, the manager and staff have created a warm, calm and welcoming home for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager brings a wealth of experience and expertise in running children’s homes. She is successful in creating a culture of high aspiration for the quality of care and support that children receive. The manager provides staff with the foundation they need to fulfil this ambition through regular supervision, extensive training and qualification pathways.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are looked after by caring professionals who genuinely aspire to make a positive difference to the lives of children. Staff speak positively about the managers and feel supported and valued. They said that management support is readily available ‘any time of the day or night’. They appreciate the visible presence of management and feel that a strong team has been developed in a short space of time. As a result, staff morale and team working are strong.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication with the people who are important to children is a strength of the home. Partnership working is effective and ensures that children get the support they need from other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Consistent monitoring ensures that the manager has a good understanding of the children’s starting points and their accomplishments since arriving at the home. The independent visitor’s report makes a valuable contribution to the manager’s oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that Ofsted is notified about serious incidents. However, the quality of the information provided in these notifications is sometimes poor, lacking clarity in the description of events, context and actions taken. On one occasion, there was a delay in notifying the regulator about a notifiable incident. This had no impact on the care of children but created delay in satisfying the regulator that such incidents have been responded to in an appropriate and timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider took immediate action to address the shortfalls identified in this report. Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 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 that staff—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that any cause for concern is appropriately evaluated and escalated if required. 22 September 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. Specifically, ensure that recording of any restraint justifies the actions taken by staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the review of premises includes the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. Specifically, ensure that the location risk assessment is updated when new risks in the community are identified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64 paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. Specifically, ensure that the quality of the information is improved so that the fullest information is provided to the regulator (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64 paragraph 15.1) Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 6

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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: 2775218 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Formations Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Formations Care Services, 2 St. Pauls Road, Shipley Bradford BD18 3EP

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Victoria Crabtree-Phillips

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Inspector

Stella Henderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2775218 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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