Children's Home run by Empower Residentials Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 1 Registered provider: Empower Residentials 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 home can provide care for two children who may have emotional and social needs or learning difficulties. At the time of inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This child has trusted relationships with the adults around them and this means that the child has a sense of belonging and permanence. After a long period of referring to the home by its name, the child now refers to it as their ‘home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults have had specific training to be able to understand the child’s needs and wants. Resources such as daily planners help the child to understand their daily routine and which adults are going to be in the home to help them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This child has been out of formal education for a long period. This has been challenged by the home. Extra funding has been provided to access alternative education. An extensive package including tutoring, outdoor education and sporting activities has been put into place. This has enabled this child to progress. The child’s days have been as full as a school day would be, and very few sessions have been missed. Progress reports describe this child’s ‘noteworthy growing interest’ in learning and their physical progress at swimming, for example.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is an abundance of activities on offer and days are fun filled and busy. Adults regularly take the child for hikes and bike rides, and the child has also had the opportunity to experience holidays away.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Meals are home cooked and nutritious, with home-grown tomatoes and strawberries from the garden being included. This child has had a growth spurt, and there is no doubt that the child’s healthy diet and activities have helped them to develop physically.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Sexual health is well promoted. The adults have worked with the child to support the child to understand the changes in their body and what healthy relationships look like. Developing friendships has been tricky. However, support has been given to ensure that time spent with family happens and is safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a real sense that this is the child’s home with photos, certificates of their achievements and ‘treasures’ on display. There are locks on many doors which detract from the otherwise very homely feel. This was raised during the inspection and the manager immediately removed some of the locks that were not needed.

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

The trusted relationships that the child has with the adults has meant that the number of serious incidents has significantly reduced, particularly since the beginning of this year.

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

Complaints made by the child have been taken seriously and responded to appropriately. A letter written to the child from a senior leader helped the child to understand the outcome. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 4 The adults in the home understand the risks of the child going missing. Detailed plans are in place with clear guidance to the adults about what to do if this happens. There has only been one occasion since the last inspection when the child has gone out of sight. This was for less than twenty minutes in total and was well managed. Adults support the child to take some risks. When the child does walk away to be alone, they are able to go for short distances with staff following.

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

A deprivation of liberty order is in place and the adults work creatively alongside the child’s social worker to reduce restrictions on the child. Sharp objects are locked away securely. However, some objects do not need to be locked away and there is no clear explanation for this.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted, and incentives are used to help encourage the child. The adults provide nurturing responses when there have been difficulties. Physical interventions have been used, although the number of these has reduced significantly since the start of this year. Interventions have been used appropriately to ensure the child’s safety, particularly around traffic. Adults have also worked with the child on developing their road safety awareness to help reduce the need for future interventions.

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

A medication error occurred, and the child was not given their daily medication. There was no physical impact on the child, and this was quickly highlighted by the manager. A more robust system was created quickly with adults receiving further training. Medication storage is appropriate. Photos of the medication packaging help the adults to have a better system in place.

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

Investigations into allegations of harm are appropriately reported. Guidance is given to the adults about how to manage these concerns. The manager has developed a chronology to help to understand any patterns that occur and responses are given to the child quickly. A good working relationship with the child’s social worker helps so that information is shared quickly to ensure the child’s safety.

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

Robust recruitment processes are in place, meaning that leaders can make suitable decisions about the adults that are employed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home has really benefited from the appointment of a permanent manager who has high aspirations for her team and the child. There have been difficulties with retaining adults to work here, but there is now a core team that knows this child well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust systems in place for monitoring care and can spot patterns and track incidents. Reflection about incidents has helped the manager to think about trouble spots and times when incidents might happen. The team is able to think about how to prevent situations and how to support the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training has been well attended and specific training to support this child has been put in place. A more detailed induction has been brought in for the newer members of staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 5 The manager has developed plans that give adults suggested responses to the child. This means that the child receives more consistent messages and care from the adults around them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Language used in records, at times, does not describe the behaviours that are happening. The manager is aware of this, and attempts have been made to make the child’s records clearer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision happens regularly and this provides opportunities for the adults to think about the child’s needs. The use of ‘what if’ scenarios help the adults to prepare for potential situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from the adults in in the home and external professionals is overwhelmingly positive and highlights the progress that the child has made. Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, consideration should be given to how the child’s deprivation of liberty order is applied, and the rationale for locking away various sharp objects should be clear. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that the language used in records should reflect the experiences of the child and should be able to be understood by the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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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: 2694810 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Empower Residentials Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Prockters Farm, West Monkton, Taunton, Somerset TA2 8QN

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Inspector

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2694810 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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Inspector

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