Children's Home run by Direct Care Children’s Homes Ltd in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 1 Registered provider: Direct Care Childrens Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. They were both seen and spoken to by inspectors. One child moved out of the home at the end of July and was also spoken to as part of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 17 June 2024. The deputy manager has been appointed to the manager’s position and is in the process of completing their application to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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requires improvement to be 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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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 September 2023

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 3

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improvement to be good

Children living in the home say they feel safe. However, the child who recently moved out had less positive experiences and said they did not always feel safe. Relationships between children are not always positive and there have been concerns around bullying. There have been four occasions where one child has physically harmed another. This led to a period of time when they did not speak and avoided being in each other’s company. Staff and children commented on the negative atmosphere this created in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy spending time with staff. Staff speak with children about important aspects of their life, such as friendships, sexual health and safety. Children pursue their own varied interests, including football, chess and learning new languages. Children spend time chatting with staff in the dining room or enjoy time in their rooms. Both children are active, and leading healthy lifestyles. Important health care appointments have taken place.

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improvement to be good

One child attends school and enjoys this. The other child attends an alternative education provision, supporting them to learn in an environment linked to their interests. The child who recently left the home was not receiving education, however they had secured a part time job. Staff support children to develop age-appropriate independence, through washing clothes, cooking, and keeping their bedrooms clean.

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improvement to be good

Children share concerns or worries with staff and have made complaints. Managers listen to these concerns and provide responses to children. One child does not feel their concerns were properly listened to or taken seriously.

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improvement to be good

Parents are positive about the support for their children. Professionals say their children make progress. While professionals say they can get in touch with staff, information sharing is not always consistent.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding is not always well recognised or understood. Serious incidents have occurred and not been recognised as a safeguarding concern. While action has been taken, it is not always clear what has been done and why. Because not all concerns are recognised, at least two significant events have not been notified to Ofsted as required.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not understand children’s online activity sufficiently well. A parental control system is in place, which helps to prevent children being exposed to harmful content through their searches. However, there is a lack of understanding about children’s online world. Staff do not know the games children play online, who with, or what the associated risks with those games are. Staff have spoken with children about online Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 4 safety. However, without knowing how children use their time online, this cannot be targeted to the most important areas.

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improvement to be good

One child has been missing from home. This child has now moved. When the child did go missing, staff would initially complete a search of the local area. However, after this initial search, attempts to locate the child were limited to messaging and calling their phone. There is no rationale provided for the decision to not physically search further. Management oversight shows curiosity about who the child has been with and where, but this is limited to a paper review. This curiosity does not translate into action for staff and as such little is known about the child’s experiences. Consideration of the risk to the child, such as sexual exploitation, are simplistic and under-developed.

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improvement to be good

Staff allow one child, who is 15, to travel alone to visit their friend, who lives over 100 miles away from the home. Staff have not visited to satisfy themselves of the suitability of arrangements and have not clearly identified the potential risks associated with this visit or the journey. As such, risks relating to potential exploitation are not explored.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical intervention appropriately when necessary to support children to be safe. However, staff have been unable to stop children physically harming each other. Management oversight does not evaluate incidents effectively in order to identify actions for staff to help them better support children. Staff impose consequences for children when there have been incidents in the home. Consequences imposed include loss or reduction of free time, financial deductions, and loss of specific activities. Consequences are inconsistently applied, a concern that is raised by children. In addition, their use does not fit with the therapeutic approaches taken by the home. While individual consequences are reviewed, there is poor understanding or consideration of their use collectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has experienced a period of uncertainty and change. The registered manager left at short notice when senior leaders determined that the arrangements of one manager across two homes were ineffective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior managers have not been sufficiently present in the home. As such, they have not had suitable oversight of the home to properly understand children’s experiences or know how the home is performing. Senior leaders do not accurately know the strengths and weaknesses of the provision, or the staff who work there. Senior management oversight is overly focused on the review of documents. Management oversight fails to focus on the impact of staff action and understand how they can better support children to achieve positive outcomes. As such, they do not identify the contradictions in staff practice and how the consequence-based approach taken in the home does not support the practice models in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Following an inspection of another home in the organisation, senior leaders commissioned a review of this home. In response to this review, an action plan has been developed that includes both homes. The actions specific to this home overly focuses on Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 5 policies, procedures and processes, to the detriment of meaningful and tangible actions to support staff. The plan does not outline who will do what and by when. Arrangements to review the plan are not robust. As a result of the review, the organisation recognises that there is significant work to do to understand the roles and responsibilities of managers at all levels.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff say they feel supported by their managers. They receive regular supervision meetings when they discuss the support they need and the children’s progress. However, there is minimal reflection or discussion when concerns are shared. A new model of care is being used. Staff have been informed of changes, and training for an interim solution is identified. However, staff have not yet received training or advice about how that model is to be delivered to ensure consistency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Concerns, patterns and trends in the home have been flagged through visits from the independent person. However, managers have not taken enough action to properly understand the concerns raised and address the issues. Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 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

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 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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into 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)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 27 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 7 In particular, ensure that a full and thorough review of the home is completed in order to understand how it is performing, and that care is delivered in line with the statement of purpose. In addition, ensure that staff have training in order to understand and deliver the model of care in the home. In addition, ensure that management oversight includes consideration of the impact of staff action, as well as consideration of learning that can be shared with staff to improve their practice.

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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;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there are risk assessments in place for children which accurately consider the relevant risks and the potential impact, and identify ways that staff can mitigate or reduce risks. In addition, ensure it is clear what action is taken and why when children are missing from home. 27 September 2024

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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— 27 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 8 that staff—

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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

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

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(ix)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff have the skill and training to effectively support children and their relationships with each other, to prevent harm. In addition, ensure that staff promote a positive environment and have the skill to reduce conflict and animosity between children. In addition, ensure that staff understand the purpose of consequences used, and how these fit with the homes ethos and will help the children to develop their understanding.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that safeguarding concerns are correctly identified, and that where appropriate, notifications are made to Ofsted. 30 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 9

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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: 2662567 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Direct Care Childrens Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 4, Paxton Business Centre, Whittle Road, Salisbury SP2 7YR

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Inspectors

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Helen Cushnie, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2662567 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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