Children's Home run by Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd in West Northamptonshire

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 1 Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 19 January 2024. At the time of inspection, the appointed manager had applied to register with Ofsted. They were present throughout this inspection. However, since the inspection the appointed manager has withdrawn their application to register with Ofsted with immediate effect.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of inspection, there were three children living in the home. Two children were spoken to, and their views were sought and contributed to this inspection.

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Inspection date: 10 September 2024

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 10 September 2024

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 2 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 3

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 There are increased concerns regarding fire safety within the home.  There is a limited understanding of children’s risks relating to substance misuse, episodes of going missing from home and exploitation.  Care records do not accurately reflect children’s day-day lived experiences.  There is limited and inconsistent management oversight of significant incidents, safeguarding concerns, childcare and staff practice.  Children are not being cared for in line with the agreed staffing ratios as outlined by children’s placing authorities.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s care and progress are being negatively affected by the serious and widespread concerns identified with the help and protection of children and the effectiveness of leaders and managers.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff are unable to engage children in their education effectively. One child’s engagement with education is not consistent and the other two children are awaiting college placements. Children described doing very little day to day. Children do not have structured daily routines. Staff do not implement consistent routines and boundaries.

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Findings from the inspection

Children’s sleep routines are poor. Children are often awake in the evening and during the night. There is a higher occurrence of incidents during these times. These incidents include aggression towards staff, episodes of going missing and substance misuse. Ofsted has received repeated complaints relating to noise disturbance and antisocial behaviour.

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Findings from the inspection

Some staff are trying to build relationships with children. Children said that some staff are ‘alright’, however they struggle with staff changes. Children shared their frustrations about the lack of progress in their individual care plans. Some children felt that staff were not doing anything to help them. One child said that they had asked for help from staff with a specific task for several months, but this had not been completed.

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Findings from the inspection

There are significant concerns about the safety of children in this home.

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Findings from the inspection

Some children are known to be at risk of exploitation, and they are accessing drugs in the local area. Despite this, staff are not taking effective action to prevent illegal substances from being brought into the home. For example, a room search was not completed for one child, even though staff had seen the child being given money and drugs in the community earlier that day. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 4 Some staff are fearful of challenging children’s behaviour because they worry about being verbally abused or physically harmed by the children. This has resulted in staff not consistently responding to children’s behaviour to keep them safe. Risks of staff being hurt by children have been exacerbated because senior leaders are not ensuring that children’s staffing ratios are being adhered to as outlined by children’s local authorities.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager and staff have limited understanding of children’s risks relating to substance misuse and exploitation risks. There is a lack of professional curiosity on the part of staff and poor management oversight of incidents.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff are not completing records of incidents in a timely manner, with some incidents not being recorded. One child’s missing incident was not recorded by staff until eight days after the event. Significant incidents are not being consistently notified to Ofsted.

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Findings from the inspection

Although there is a high risk of children going missing, children’s missing incidents are poorly understood, recorded, or responded to by staff or senior leaders. For example, one child went missing three times in one night.

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Findings from the inspection

Missing incidents regularly occur during the night when staffing ratios are not at the agreed level in line with children’s individual care plans. Two children should be supported by staff on a two-to-one staffing ratio. However, only three members of staff work at night. Staff are unable to effectively supervise children and address disruptive behaviour , leading to episodes of going missing.

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Findings from the inspection

Health and safety checks, including bedroom checks, are not being completed within the home’s expected timescales. Window restrictors are regularly broken and not replaced promptly. This is despite children being known to leave the home via their bedroom windows to go missing. The manager lacks oversight and does not know how long window restrictors have been broken for.

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Findings from the inspection

There are numerous repairs needed throughout the home and it is unclear when damage has occurred. Some fire doors are broken and there is no timescale for these being repaired.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff do not prevent or intervene when children are involved in fire-setting behaviours. There have been two separate incidents during which the children have set fires in the house and garden. On one occasion, staff did not intervene to prevent a fire set by the children despite being present. In another incident, neither the staff nor the manager had knowledge as to how the fire happened. This was despite the presence of a burnt parasol in the back garden.

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Findings from the inspection

Children are known to smoke in their bedrooms and staff are not removing fire- lighting equipment from children’s bedrooms. Children are not supported by staff to complete regular fire drills; this is despite regulation 25 being raised as a requirement at the last inspection. At the point of inspection, the fire alarm was Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 5 disabled, and it was unclear as to why this was the case. Following the inspection, the fire service completed an assessment of the property. However, the fire service was unable to access children’s bedrooms to adequately assess fire risks.

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Findings from the inspection

There has been no registered manager since 19 January 2024. An acting manager was in role at point of inspection; however, this person withdrew their application with immediate effect following the inspection. Consequently, the children’s home now has no manager to drive forward the necessary improvements that are needed in this home.

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Findings from the inspection

The evaluation of incidents is weak and lacks critical scrutiny of the care and support that children receive. Reflective debriefs with staff and children do not always take place and there is a lack of professional curiosity on the part of the manager. Lessons to be learned to improve staff practice are not identified.

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Findings from the inspection

Leaders and managers have not provided consistent oversight of incidents that children have been involved in. At times, management oversight of incidents has been significantly delayed. When the manager is absent from work, the responsible individual is not providing adequate cover or taking accountability for children’s care and safety. This practice does not protect children from harm.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager is new to role and is not being supported effectively by senior leaders to undertake her role effectively. Staff were positive about the manager in terms of support that was offered to them. Furthermore, feedback from one professional working with a child was positive.

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Findings from the inspection

There is a pattern of requirements repeatedly not being met and risks for children remaining ongoing. Leaders and managers have failed to demonstrate that they can take sufficient action to improve the quality of care for children and ensure they are safe. This is demonstrated through the continuous shortfalls in the quality of care, protection of children, and leadership and management. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 6

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/04/2023 Full Inadequate 19/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 7

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child's behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child's relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child's behaviour, in accordance with the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child's behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child's age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child's age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 8 help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child's respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children's previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x) (xi))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to steps being taken to ensure that staff have training and confidence in how to respond to incidents of confrontation and/or violent behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to staff having training in contextual safeguarding and able to support children to understand such risks. 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; 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 9 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to steps being taken to train staff to be professionally curious regarding incidents in which children have been placed at significant risk of harm. This includes implementing a policy to ensure that incidents are reported, recorded and reviewed in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to steps being taken to implement procedures whereby staff are able to access children’s bedrooms regularly to ensure they are safe and in a good state of repair. This includes a policy that details when staff should access a child’s bedroom or conduct room searches.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to the need to maintain a good standard of condition and state of repair within the home and to ensure that the repairs are made, particularly when this relates to children’s safety.

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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 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 10 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to leaders and managers developing procedures to ensure there is consistent and timely oversight of all aspects of children’s care which also provides professional scrutiny.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due date

make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention; and 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 11 ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire.

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the need for fire safety equipment, including alarms, to be in full working order and for staff to understand how to use these.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that all fire doors are in full working order and in good state of repair.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to there being clear records of drills completed at the home and the fire risk assessment completed by a suitably qualified person.

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Requirement Due date

Room searches should be implemented where there is a risk to children’s safety. A responsible individual must—

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to the responsible individual providing regular support and oversight to the home to help development and improvement of the standards in the home. 20 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

the person is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and

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Requirement Due date

the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home; and 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 12 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the person in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)(i), a person has the appropriate experience and qualification if the person has—

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Requirement Due date

within the last 5 years, worked for at least 2 years in a position relevant to the residential care of children;

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Requirement Due date

worked for at least one year in a role requiring the supervision and management of staff working in a care role; and

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Requirement Due date

the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 5 Diploma”); or a qualification which the registered provider considers to be equivalent to the Level 5 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a person who starts managing a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 3 years after the date on which that person started managing a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a person who was managing a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2017.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider may defer the relevant date if the person—

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Requirement Due date

does not manage, or has not managed, a home for a prolonged period; or manages, or has managed, a home on a part-time basis.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii) (3)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 13 a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all staff are registered on the diploma and completing this to timescale. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 14 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child— is instigated; or

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 20 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36).

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to ensuring that all children’s records are available and accessible to staff or relevant professionals. 20 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

that staff help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; 20 October 2024 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 15 help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to children having good daily routines and attending education regularly. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 16

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children & Adolescents Placement Provisions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barratt House, Office G3a, Kingsthorpe Road, Northampton NN2 6EZ

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Inspectors

Chloe Harvey, Social Care Inspector Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2625585 17 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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