Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1256059 1 Registered provider: Homes2Inspire 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 run by a private company that is owned by a national charity.

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Information about this children’s home

It is registered to provide care for up to five children with emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a registered manager.

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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

Date of last inspection: 31 October 2023

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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: 1256059 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2023 Full Good 18/10/2022 Full Good 26/01/2022 Full Good 19/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1256059 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff ensure that children are provided with a well-furnished and safe home. It is decorated and maintained to a good standard. Children say they like living in the home. They are encouraged to contribute and participate in decisions made to create a family home. Following consultation with children, staff and children made changes to one of the rooms. This is now a games room, which has been a success.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are suitably furnished, and children are supported to personalise their bedrooms. There is a large, enclosed garden providing children with space to play and engage in gardening projects.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they can talk to staff and confide in them. The manager and staff use a variety of natural and creative methods to encourage and support children to express their wishes and feelings. As a result, children can contribute to some of the day-to-day decisions regarding their care. This promotes children’s ability to invest in the home because they feel listened to and that their voices matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff are proactive in their encouragement and support of children to access and engage with their education. One child has been successfully supported to increase the hours in school. Others have been supported to apply for college and apprenticeship places.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with a range of opportunities to develop their independence and life skills. Consequently, children are motivated, which has led to children being successful in securing and attending a part-time job. Another child has been proactive in seeking a newspaper delivery job. This means children develop their independence, life and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good arrangements are in place to ensure that children’s physical and emotional needs are met. All children are registered with universal health services and attend routine appointments. Children’s health and emotional needs are monitored and reviewed as required. As a result, overall children are in good health and receive support for their emotional health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to maintain their links with their families. There is good communication with parents and carers. One family member said their child has made progress and they like living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move on from the home experience continued support through invitations for meals back at the home and practical support. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256059 4

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

Managers and staff know the children well and understand their risks and vulnerabilities. There are good and strong risk assessments that guide the staff care practice and these are regularly reviewed.

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

The manager has ensured a proactive response to an unsettled period in the home, which resulted in an increase of incidents of children going missing from care. Older children have spoken to staff and the manager about being in a relationship. These children have been supported to develop their understanding of healthy relationships through individual key-work sessions and discussion. The manager ensured that the supervision of children was increased.

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

The manager has developed strong links with partner agencies, especially with the local authority and safeguarding agencies. The manager uses feedback from these agencies and works collaboratively with them to ensure that children receive the care and protection they need. One professional said, ‘Staff have worked tirelessly to keep children safe.’ Another said, ‘Staff are very proactive in their communication and children are given the right care and support.’

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour through positive reinforcement and restorative care practice. As a result, children are supported to develop their ability to reflect and gain an understanding of reasons for their behaviour. Consequently, the use of physical intervention is rare when managing children’s behaviour.

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

Children are supported to read and understand their plans. Staff encourage and support children to attend meetings held to review their plans. This provides children with the opportunity to not only understand their care journey but also the decisions made about their current and future plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates a high level of commitment and dedication to the care and development of the children, staff and the home. She and the staff are successful in providing a family environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses a range of tools to enable her to keep a good oversight of the home. This also ensures the home is managed well in her absence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is responsive and proactive in her management style. She understands the strengths and areas for development. She has been reflective and taken swift action during the unsettled period to ensure that children were safeguarded and played a key role in the team around the children. She has taken steps to further develop the admission processes and to make assessments rigorous to ensure they admit children they can care for and help them to make progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 1256059 5 The staff team has remained stable and staff are committed to the children. Staff receive regular and good-quality one-to-one supervision and attend regular team meetings. Staff speak highly of the manager. They said they feel valued and are encouraged and supported to contribute to the day-to-day running and development of the home. Staff are provided with support and training to enable them to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reports an excellent level of support from her manager. This is also supplemented with strong peer support from managers of other homes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for children and staff. She has been successful in developing good links in the local community. Children are actively involved in fun activities to raise money for local and national charities. As a result, children have a sense of belonging and are seen as valuable members of the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are making progress with their education, social, independence and life skills. Children are actively involved in making the home a place where they like living.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child's assessed needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 56, paragraph 11.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 1256059 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: 1256059 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes2Inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Cherelle Robinson

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Inspector

Angela Duffus-Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1256059 8 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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