Children's Home run by South West Childcare Services in Plymouth

Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 1 Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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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 and is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or a learning disability. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home and one child had recently moved out after living here for almost three years.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified manager in post.

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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

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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 is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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good

Date of last inspection: 22 November 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: 1235576 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/11/2023 Full Good 07/02/2023 Full Good 18/11/2021 Full Good 16/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 3

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress in this home, but more could be done to ensure their welfare is fully promoted. The overall judgement is directly impacted on by the shortfalls reported in how well children are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leadership and management.

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improvement to be good

The child’s bedroom was found to be in need of some repairs and decoration. Not enough had been done by leaders and managers to ensure that the child had a clean and well-maintained bedroom to sleep in.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always ensure that children have well-structured and healthy routines that include sleep and access to screen time. There is sometimes a lack of planning around day-to-day activities, which leads to the child being given too much autonomy over what happens in the home each day. Despite the lack of plans, staff try hard to support children with a range of recreational activities, inside and outside of the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always ensure that a healthy lifestyle is promoted and do not offer enough support around healthy lifestyle choices. The child’s health needs are not being fully met, and they are not receiving the help they need. Leaders and managers are not doing enough to address this shortfall.

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improvement to be good

The educational plan for the child currently living in the home does not meet their needs, and they are not achieving to their full potential. There has not been enough challenge from leaders and managers to the wider professional network.

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improvement to be good

The child said that they ‘like living in the home’ and that they ‘want to stay’. Staff take time to understand children’s needs and build trusting relationships. Professional feedback is positive about the support of staff and the progress made by the children they look after.

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improvement to be good

Moves in and out of the home are well considered and individual for each child. Managers ensure that children are able to meet staff, are visited and are able to visit the home before moving in. This helps children to build relationships with the staff before children move in. Moves out of the home are planned and involve a similar transition plan for the child to their new home. Staff keep in touch with children who have left, and one child was able join in with activities put on by staff after they had moved on. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 4

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improvement to be good

Staff are not doing enough to keep children as safe as they should be. The child currently living in the home is not at immediate risk of harm, but not enough is being done to prevent harm or respond to known risks. Leaders and managers do not always ensure effective oversight, and there is a lack of learning.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always following safeguarding procedures, and this left some safeguarding concerns unaddressed. There is a lack of understanding about contextual safeguarding, and not enough action was taken by staff to safeguard the child. There are several plans that describe risk and ways to reduce harm, but these plans are not up to date or relevant to the child’s individual needs.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers are not consistent in ensuring that safeguarding professionals and the regulator are notified of all significant events. There has not been enough effective oversight of incidents, which has led to some safeguarding concerns being missed.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have taken immediate action to address some of the shortfalls in safeguarding. Action was taken during the inspection to ensure that all concerns were retrospectively reported to safeguarding professionals as required.

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improvement to be good

Staff are responsive to changing situations within the home and adopt a calm approach when managing distress. Incidents are well managed by staff, who use a number of de-escalation techniques to avoid further heightened behaviours. Restraint has not been used.

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improvement to be good

Allegations are managed appropriately, and a proportionate response is taken to concerns raised about practice. Complaints are managed well and investigated, with appropriate responses given. Safer recruitment is robust and followed for all newly recruited staff.

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good

Leaders and managers have not taken sufficient action to monitor what is happening in the home and the impact of this on children’s experiences. Leaders and managers do not always use learning from incidents, complaints or feedback to inform and improve practice. There is a lack of critical challenge to accurately understand how the home is performing.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff are given appropriate guidance on managing behaviours, including the use of consequences and rewards. This has left staff confused about how to implement strategies, which has impacted on the child’s understanding of appropriate behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 5 Some of the language used by staff in records is labelling and not child-focused. Leaders and managers have not done enough to address these practice concerns.

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good

Leaders and managers ensure that they discuss any serious incident with staff following their occurrence. However, these discussions often lack reflection and actions to follow up and improve individual practice.

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good

Leaders and managers have not done enough to challenge the wider professional network around the child when there have been gaps in planning or decision-making. This has resulted in the child not having a clear plan for their care.

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good

The home is managed by a permanent and experienced registered manager who has a good knowledge of the home, the staff team and the children they look after. Staff feel supported by leaders and managers and are passionate about the work they do. Leaders and managers ensure that there are enough staff to care for the children, and agency staff are not used.

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good

Supervision and team meetings take place regularly but lack challenge or reflection on practice. There are some good examples of reflective practice being used, but this is not consistent. There are plans to make better use of the clinical practitioners to support reflection, but these plans are in the early stages.

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good

Leaders and managers have acknowledged the gaps and shortfalls and took immediate action during the inspection to address some of the concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s need;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that there is effective challenge to placing authorities when there are gaps in services or care plans are not in place. 27 September

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare; 27 September Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 7 treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets the child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking into account the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(ix)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider must ensure that children are provided with a suitable environment which is homely and personalised. In, addition the registered provider must ensure that staff take time to understand the children’s specific needs and follow the care outlined in the home’s statement of purpose.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 13 September Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 8 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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the homes child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the homes day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to effectively protect each child from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that safeguarding procedures are fully understood and followed by staff. In addition, the registered person must ensure that there is robust management oversight over all safeguarding incidents.

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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 that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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 and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; 27 September Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 9 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that there is robust oversight of the care provided to include effective policies. In addition, the registered person should ensure that there are systems in place to monitor and improve practice.

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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: 1235576 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Stacey Pellow, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 11 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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