Children's home run by Devon County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 1 Registered provider: Devon County Council

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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 managed by a local authority and registered to provide care for up to three children, primarily as a short-break service. The children may have a physical and/or learning disability and/or sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were staying for their short break.

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Information about this children’s home

An experienced and qualified registered manager manages this home.

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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: 29 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: 2530021 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2023 Full Good 26/07/2022 Full Good 09/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their short breaks and have fun in this home. Children benefit from a good range of activities that support their needs and promote their learning and development. During the inspection, children were observed to explore the home with ease. This indicates that they feel safe in this home. Parents spoke positively about their children’s experiences. They said that their children really look forward to their stays and enjoy their time here. They are happy that their children are provided with opportunities that they may not usually have access to. One parent said that their child really enjoyed having a bubble bath and another child looked forward to going out for a drive in the minibus. These are things that they would not usually be able to do at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a stable team of staff who know them well. Staff communicate with the children well and encourage them to take part in activities that they enjoy. They work hard to ensure that children are well supported and remain safe. During the inspection, one member of staff came to the home at short notice to help take a child safely home when there were problems with their usual transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in this home. Their care is managed very well, and the adults ensure that children are cared for in a way that maintains their privacy and dignity. Children are encouraged to achieve their ‘ambitious outcomes’ by doing things that they would not usually wish to do. One child would regularly refuse to go out. They were encouraged to go to unfamiliar places and enjoyed visits to a local airfield to watch the aeroplanes. They really enjoyed this activity and even sat outside of the car to watch the aeroplanes. At the end of the visit, they had such a fun time, they did not want to leave.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Members of staff were observed to be responsive to the children during their stays. When one child wanted to play with balls, they led the adult by the hand to show what they wanted to do and the adult then followed this lead. When this adult tried to move away and do some cleaning, the child was particularly good at taking them by the hand once again and asking them to play. The adult once again responded to this positively and played with the child. The child was visibly happy and smiling in response to the positive attention that they received.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported by staff, who have access to detailed information about them in their support plans. These plans help staff to know the best ways to support children. These plans provide staff with important information about children’s needs, communication styles and routines. Parents said that there is positive communication with them about their children’s stays. They said that all the staff are supportive of them and their children; they consider their children are happy and well cared for during their stays. The strong relationships that the team have formed with one child and their family meant that they were able to support the child to move to their new home with ease, now that they are an adult. Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 4 The home environment is being developed to make this more homely for children. During the inspection, a decorator was painting the walls in the home. Some new

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

furniture has been ordered and a new bucket swing is being purchased. Staff have raised some concerns about the home needing ongoing repairs and that fire doors need to be replaced. This is being addressed by the managers, who continue to make improvements to the home.

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

Safeguarding is managed well in this home. Staff understand the vulnerability of the children that they care for and place children’s needs at the centre of their practice. They take action to ensure children remain safe. Although there have been some incidents with children, these have been managed well.

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

Staff have strong relationships with children, and this helps to keep them safe. They support children well to communicate how they are feeling. The adults are in tune with the children and can recognise non-verbal cues when they might be unwell or unhappy. Staff act quickly to recognise children’s potential triggers so they can intervene and de- escalate situations effectively.

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

Physical interventions have been used on several occasions, but these are only used to keep children and staff safe. Positive learning and reflection have been taken from these incidents to learn what needs to be in place for children’s future stays. Staff monitor children to observe whether the child has sustained any bruising or injuries, and they are curious about how this could have occurred. The adults take swift action when any safeguarding concerns are identified.

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

There have been some medication errors since the last inspection. This included a higher than usual number of medication errors in the summer. The majority of these are recording or administration errors. To date, there has been no impact on children identified from these errors. When one child did miss their medication dose, the adults took positive action to speak to health professionals about this. The child did not experience any adverse effects from this.

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

The manager reviews all medication errors and completes regular audits of medication practice. This supports the manager and staff to learn from these experiences. Supervision is provided to staff to help improve practice and further training and support are offered to staff as and when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths of this home and the areas for development. They are ambitious for the children, the staff and the home. The registered manager is very experienced and highly regarded by staff, other professionals and senior leaders. She is regularly involved in the children’s day-to-day care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 5 The home has a stable staff team and there is only one vacancy for a support worker. The manager has employed agency staff on some occasions, but they are always on shift with staff who are more familiar to the children. This enables children to receive good levels of care from familiar adults and this helps them to feel safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff indicated that they enjoy working in this home. They have regular supervision and access to good levels of training. They spoke positively about new training that has been identified to support them in caring for the children. Regular team meetings are held, and these are well attended. This helps to improve practice in this home. Staff said that they feel well supported by their managers. However, some staff expressed worries about not having their appraisals completed in a timely fashion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has undertaken monthly reviews of practice in this home, and this supports positive levels of reflection and learning. She has good oversight of the arrangements in the home. The manager knows what is working well in this home, and areas that need further development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has supported staff to record information about children in an appropriate way and this progress is evident in children’s records. There are positive levels of management oversight in children’s records to ensure that conversations between staff and other professionals are recorded clearly. When the manager has identified concerns about medication practice, appropriate plans are put in place to investigate this. Supervision is held with staff to explore these concerns and further support is provided to staff when this is needed. Children’s evacuation plans need to be further updated, as they do not accurately reflect the current situation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 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 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; and

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home provides a homely, domestic environment. 23 October 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should review the evacuation plans to ensure that all children are able to leave the home safely in an emergency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 7

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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: 2530021 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Devon County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Chief Executive’s Directorate, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QD

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Inspector

Sarah Sheffield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2530021 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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