Children's Home run by Aegis 247 Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 1 Registered provider: AEGIS 24/7 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home in February. A new manager has been in post with oversight of the home since April. The manager’s registration with Ofsted is in progress.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2023 Full Good 11/04/2022 Full Good 05/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at the home has made some progress because of the care they receive. Staff place value on education, and the child was able to attend college after a significant period out of mainstream education. More recently, the child has disengaged. However, staff continue to make efforts to encourage the child’s progress in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff at the home ensure that the child’s health needs are met. They are registered with local health services and staff have sought specialist health advice as required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has trusted relationships with some adults in the home. This has meant that the child has been able to share worries with staff and seek support when they have felt at risk in the community. However, the relationships with some staff have been broken and the child is no longer happy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child knows how to make a complaint. Following a recent complaint, the child was spoken to by the responsible individual and has been kept up to date with the progress of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Regular “All About Me” meetings take place where the child can share their views about life in the home and make choices around meals and activities. This makes the child feel valued and that their views are important. The child does not always participate in the meetings. However, staff continue to make attempts to engage the child. The child is a great cook and is encouraged to make meals and go shopping with staff. This helps to develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the child’s triggers and the most effective ways to communicate with the child. This is not successful every time as the child does not always want to participate, but staff continue to make efforts to communicate with the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are making attempts to implement boundaries around routines and bedtimes. This is not successful, because the child has disengaged in recent weeks and is not responding to staff’s attempts to establish routines, which have been ineffective. As a result, the provider has spoken to the placing authority about ending the placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time has increased in frequency in line with the child’s wishes and feelings. Staff at the home have advocated on their behalf to achieve this. Family members have visited the home, and the child has been able to attend key family events due to the support provided by staff. This ensures that the child spends time with their family and is integral to the child’s identity and to promoting their sense of that identity.

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 4 Staff understand the current risks to the child and have implemented measures to keep them safe. However, there are limitations to staff being able to increase safety in some areas of care because of the constraints of their delegated parental responsibility agreement. The manager and responsible individual have raised their concerns with the placing local authority and have challenged decisions where appropriate.

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

Measures are in place around internet use, such as parental controls. However, the child continues to have online access via a mobile device, so the measures are not effective. The manager and responsible individual understand the possible risks this presents to the child and have consistently shared this view with wider professionals.

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

Going missing from home is a concern for the child living at the home. When the child has gone missing from the home, staff have been proactive, looking in places the child is known to visit and contacting relevant professionals and the police. The child has a missing-from-home protocol and staff follow the statutory guidance for children who go missing. When the child is found, return-home interviews are carried out. This coordinated approach reinforces to the child that the staff care about them.

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

There is evidence through key-work sessions that staff are challenging discriminatory behaviours, for example around racism and sexuality. While this has had limited success, this encourages the child to listen to alternative views and treat others with respect.

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

When allegations about staff and the manager have been made, they have been acted on and appropriate referrals have been made to the local authority designated officer. Information has also been shared with the social worker. Plans are put in place to keep the child safe while investigations are ongoing. The local authority designated officer shared that their experience of working with the home is good and the responsible individual takes their responsibilities in this area seriously.

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

Staff are trying to instil boundaries within the home to increase the child’s safety. On some recent occasions, this has led to confrontations and staff have been unable to diffuse situations in a timely manner and incidents have been significantly prolonged. While there has been verbal reflection, there is no evidence of this in records, and it has not resulted in change. The model of care that staff have started to use still needs to be consistently embedded in practice.

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

The members of the management team understand the current risks to the child and have actively challenged decisions made by other professionals where appropriate.

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

Prompt action is taken by the management team in relation to complaints and allegations. Investigations are carried out and placing and host local authorities are engaged, as necessary.

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

Staff spoken to during the inspection have shared positive feedback about their experiences of working at the home and the support they receive from the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 5 Records reflect the child’s everyday life and the work staff have completed with them. Staff understand the child’s history and can link this to their vulnerabilities. On some occasions, language is used which is emotive and is not helpful to the child. The management team were able to reflect on this and shared plans to address this.

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

There are some gaps in staff supervision. The manager has recognised this and has implemented a supervision matrix from June 2024. In some records, there is a lack of focus on the child’s experiences. This is a missed opportunity for reflection.

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

Staff have completed all mandatory training. There are gaps in more specialist insight linked to the child’s specific vulnerabilities. These gaps could have been bridged through training to enhance practice.

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

There have been occasions when there have been delays in Ofsted being notified of serious incidents. This means that the regulator cannot maintain timely oversight of significant events.

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

A review of the quality of care provided to the child has not been completed to cover the most recent six months. As a result, there has been no evaluation of the past six months or areas identified for improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 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, 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(xi)) 2 October 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 2 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and 2 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 7 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 2 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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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 quality of care provided for children;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a 31 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 8 result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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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 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that information about the child is always recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2630701 9

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Beverley Jackson

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Inspectors

Johanna Wilson, Social Care Inspector Parveen Hussain, Social Care Regulatory Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2630701 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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