Children's Home run by Amicus Residential Care Ltd in Reading

Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 1 SC059221 Registered provider: Causeway Care Homes 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 small home is privately owned and provides care for up to three children aged between 12 and 16 years on admission, who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home is located on the edges of a large town, with easy access to a range of independent shops, places of worship and public transport networks.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2023 Full Good 05/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/10/2022 Full Inadequate 16/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are comfortable at the home and enjoy positive relationships with the staff. They find the home a safe and relaxing place to live and commented that it is preferable to other settings where they have lived. Staff understand the importance of keeping in contact with parents and partner agencies. Parents compliment staff about how well they keep them informed and respect their parental responsibilities. Staff ensure that children know who all the visitors to the home are and what their roles are.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they are listened to and that the staff understand them. Children’s meetings provide a space for children to share their views about what they would like at the home and demonstrate how their ideas affect change, such as moving pocket money day to Friday. Memory books provide a permanent reminder of the fun they have had with their family, friends and others at the home. Photos show how they have engaged in activities that had been requested at children’s meetings. Children are supported to see family and friends to help support their relationships and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have registered school placements, but at times they struggle to attend as programmed. Staff help them to overcome barriers to education and liaise closely with educational professionals to source appropriate education and training. Those children who are moving into post-16 education are considering their courses for the next year and meet with mentors to help support them to consider their future steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to prepare for independence through learning key life and social skills and an understanding of budgeting for food, rent and utilities. The staff advocate vociferously for the children to ensure that they have moves into supported accommodation that will meet their needs. Many children who have moved on remain in contact with the staff at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn about emotional and physical well-being, and they are encouraged to attend health appointments as needed. They have memberships to the local gym, and staff help them to understand nutritious and healthy, balanced diets. Children say they like the food and it is usually freshly made by the staff.

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

Children are confident and say they are safe at the home. Staff know each child’s vulnerabilities and help them to understand when they are at risk. Children have good relationships with staff, who they trust and know that they want to keep them safe. Children complete a range of online courses to help them understand risks, including risks relating to exploitation, drugs and smoking. They also learn about healthy and positive relationships. Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 4 Staff know how to respond if they are worried about the safety of a child, including reporting concerns to the local authority designated officer (LADO). On one occasion, there was a delay in reporting an allegation about a member of staff’s conduct to the LADO. However, the child was not at risk because of the delay, as all other agencies had been informed and appropriate action had been taken at the home.

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

When children go missing from home, staff take responsibility to try and locate them, call them and look in the local area. The children understand why the staff need to know where they are and accept that staff will call them and are doing this for their safety. Staff have strong links with specialist police officers, who are complementary of the joint working with staff and response to children who are missing.

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

Staff understand the children’s histories and how these may have an impact on some of their actions and behaviour. They understand that behaviour is a form of communication and support children to express themselves in other ways. Staff’s positive working relationships with the youth offending service mean that there is consistency in supporting children to keep safe and reduce the risk of offending in the future.

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

Children are protected from avoidable risk through regular maintenance of the home and testing of the fire safety systems. They know what to do in an emergency. Plans and risk assessments are updated when needed and risk reduction strategies are reviewed and implemented.

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

Some staff have been allowed to work in the home prior to their Disclosure and Barring Service checks being returned. However, children were not at risk during this time, as these staff were not left unsupervised with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a change in registered manager and the organisation running the home since the last inspection. The current registered manager has an excellent working knowledge of the home as the former deputy manager. She is calm in her role, leading by example for the rest of the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have consistent staff caring for them. Staff are well supported by the registered manager and feel their views are respected in supervision sessions and team meetings. Staff have the training they need to meet the children’s needs and have recently attended training in the home’s therapeutic model of care. They have a good understanding of this model of care and have adapted their practice in response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a thorough understanding of each child’s progress and areas for further support and development. Children’s plans are updated at least monthly to reflect any changes in children’s presentation, skills or needs. This allows space for reflection on progress, as all staff are involved in adding details to the plans. This ensures that children have prompt additional support in areas where they may need extra help. Joint Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 5 working is a strength at the home. Additionally, the manager actively challenges partner agencies if they are falling below the expectations for the support children need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an excellent understanding of the areas that require further development at the home and is actively improving the home environment and the practice for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements set at the last inspection have been met. Children’s individual sessions have structure and follow what was agreed to be covered in the last session. Children’s views on areas they would like further help with are included. However, the lack of detail in some of the reports means that it is not always clear that staff have shown professional curiosity with the children, when in practice it is evident that they have. Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the designated officer in the local authority is informed of relevant concerns without delay. 13 September 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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 13 September 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 7 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; 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)(a)(b)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the content and quality of individual sessions demonstrate detailed content of the discussion.

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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, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)) 13 September 2024

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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: SC059221 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Causeway Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 118B Oxford Road, Reading RG1 7NQ

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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Cassie Martin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC059221 9 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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