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

Inspection report for children's home: 2539305 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

This home provides care and support for one child who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties. It is one of several homes provided by a private organisation operating in this area.

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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 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: 4 September 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: 2539305 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2023 Full Good 12/01/2023 Full Good 13/10/2021 Full Good 03/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2539305 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to have trusting relationships with the adults who care for them. Staff talk to the children about a range of sensitive issues and take time to understand the uniqueness of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s individual needs and plans are child focused. Children are supported to maintain healthy routines and sleep patterns. Staff encourage children with their developing independence and involve them in shopping, cooking, housework and DIY.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported and encouraged with a range of social and recreational activities. The child who lives in the home has designed the garden and grown a range of fruit and vegetables, which also supports an educational activity at school. Staff understand the importance of education and support children to attend school. However, not enough is being done to challenge the wider network for children who are on part-time timetables.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to ensuring that children enjoy regular, meaningful time with their family. When this is not possible, staff take time to help children to understand why decisions have been made. Family members are welcomed into the home and staff support with the arrangements for children to see their loved ones. Staff have built trusting relationships with family members, which has helped to develop a consistent network of trusted adults around the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is homely and individualised for the child. There are photos and pictures on the wall that celebrate memories and special occasions. The child’s bedroom is personalised to their tastes. There are shared spaces in the home for eating together, relaxing and gaming. The home needs some repairs due to damage and there is a plan to rectify this. Urgent repairs were carried out at the time of inspection but not all the repairs have been completed, which negatively affects the overall appearance of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not receiving enough support with their emotional and mental health needs. There are gaps in service provision and leaders and managers have not done enough to challenge the wider network to address these shortfalls.

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

Safeguarding concerns are well managed. Action taken to address any issues is robust and timely. When children go missing from home, staff are persistent in their attempts to locate them and ensure that family and relevant professionals are kept up to date. When children return home, they are warmly welcomed back and offered food and nurture. Inspection report for children's home: 2539305 4 Restraint is used only as a last resort, and there have been very few incidents. Where restraint has been used, the actions of staff are proportionate to ensure the safety of the child and those around them. Restraint records are clearly written, with management oversight, and there are discussions held with the child and staff. Learning from these incidents is used to inform practice to decrease the need for restraint in future incidents.

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

Allegations and complaints are responded to in a timely manner and thoroughly investigated. The children and individuals involved are supported throughout and the outcome is clearly communicated.

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

There are several plans used to help support staff to reduce risk for the children. These plans are comprehensive but, at times, repetitive. Staff were not able to confidently apply the actions to reduce risk in different scenarios. There is not a consistent multi- agency presence to support staff in times of crisis, and leaders and managers have not done enough to challenge this.

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

Staff use a variety of de-escalation techniques to manage children’s distress. Staff are not confident in explaining which model they use. Plans and assessments designed to support staff to safeguard the children are not always consistently followed.

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

Staff do not always enforce boundaries for acceptable behaviour towards others and this may cause confusion for the children about how to behave in other situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a passionate and caring manager who places high value on creating a positive environment for the children and staff. Staff know the children well and talk passionately about their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that there is effective oversight of practice and uses learning from incidents to improve standards of care further. Staff supervision takes place regularly and is used to support staff development and to reflect on practice for improved outcomes. Staff report that they enjoy their role and feel supported by leaders and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is adequately staffed to care for the children. Leaders and managers fill vacancies by following a robust safer recruitment process. New members of staff receive comprehensive training over a six-month probationary period. Leaders and managers ensure that staff are up to date with mandatory training and organise bespoke training to support staff to respond to the individual needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and reflective practice that is child focused and led by clinical specialists. Staff explore different approaches to help children to manage their emotions and behaviours, which supports children to understand their behaviours and develop positive ways to manage their emotions. Inspection report for children's home: 2539305 5 Leaders and managers understand the importance of building relationships with children’s families and the multi-agency network. Professional feedback is positive about staff and their care of the children. One parent talked about the trust they have in staff and how the manager has addressed their concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have not always effectively challenged the wider network when there are gaps in services or decisions made about care planning. At times, this has impacted on the children by causing them anxiety. Inspection report for children's home: 2539305 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. 29 November 2024

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Recommendations

 Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive and provide appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Staff must meet children's basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should also seek to meet the child's basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. Doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15., paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. Children should be supported to develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Positive Inspection report for children's home: 2539305 7 behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. The development of safe, stable and secure relationships with staff in the home should be central to the ethos of the home and support the development of secure attachments that, where appropriate, persist over time. Staff should understand factors that affect children's motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour through the use of positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 39, paragraphs 8.11 and 8.13)

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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: 2539305 8

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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: 2539305 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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