Children's Home run by The Cuckfield Care Consultancy Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 1 SC066466 Registered provider: The Cuckfield Care Consultancy Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home is registered to care for up to six children. The home’s statement of purpose states that medium- to long-term placements are provided for vulnerable children with emotional, behavioural and psychological difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were five children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

This home currently has had no registered manager since 31 March 2024.

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This monitoring visit

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the progress being made since the previous inspection of the home, when it was judged to be inadequate. In addition, the visit aimed to determine whether the requirements of the compliance notice have been met.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last inspection, one child has left the home, leaving five children living there. For the child who has left, managers worked with the local authority, and advocated effectively in the child’s best interests to enable the child to move in a positive way. The child was able to spend time with friends and staff, before being helped to move into their new home.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have responded positively to the previous inspection and embraced the process of implementing positive change in the home. They have worked hard to address requirements and have engaged with improvement partners from the local authority and have sourced a new independent person to aid them on their improvement journey.

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This monitoring visit

Children spoke positively about living in the home. They commented that staff were now spending more time with them, helping them with difficult tasks such as Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 2 enrolment at college. One of the children spoke more positively about future prospects and aspirations, having successfully enrolled at a new college recently.

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This monitoring visit

Children have started to receive better support to live healthier lives. For some children, staff have helped them to overcome barriers to accepting support from substance cessation services, while another child has started to engage better with mental health services. This is important progress since the last inspection, as this also helps children to become safer.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have reviewed previous concerns relating to recruitment processes and been able to clearly demonstrate how they have addressed potential concerns about suitability, and their decision-making processes when appointing new staff to work in the home.

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This monitoring visit

There have been no incidents involving the use of physical intervention since the last inspection. On occasion where consequences have been used, this was appropriate to the situation and was agreed with the child as an opportunity to reflect and learn.

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This monitoring visit

Staff spoke positively about changes made since the last inspection. They clearly understood the need for improvement and the home’s current focus. They spoke about further training they have received, which has helped to further their understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Staff are receiving regular supervision sessions. While the supervision process has generally improved to enable staff to reflect on their practice, there is insufficient focus on safeguarding practice in these discussions. In addition, the manager has not received supervision to support them to reflect on their practice or the culture of the home.

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This monitoring visit

When children go missing, staff continue to take action to encourage and help children to return. They share information with relevant agencies and have recently worked with the transport police to educate children on how to stay safe and how to seek help if they need it. Practice has improved in speaking with children when they return to try and ascertain where they have been and what has happened while the child was missing. However, this improved practice is not always consistently applied.

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This monitoring visit

Staff have a clear understanding of their responsibilities to keep children safe. When there have been concerns about the safety or welfare of children, staff have generally taken effective action. However, on two occasions staff have not taken opportunities to intervene and take actions to keep children safe from avoidable incidents. In addition, it is unclear whether appropriate agencies, including social workers, have always been informed of concerns about children.

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This monitoring visit

Managers remain committed to delivering good care for children and spoke enthusiastically about the work done to respond to previous requirements. Managers Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 3 are now more aware of shortfalls in the home, though not all of them. Effective monitoring arrangements for managers are not well established, which is partly caused by a lack of clarity on systems being used to record information. This lack of effective oversight has resulted in some administrative shortfalls, such as risk assessments not being updated, as well as one child having no recorded discussions with staff, which managers had expected to occur weekly.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have been able to rectify some of the areas and requirements raised in the previous inspection and meet the requirements noted in the compliance notice. However not all requirements have been met. As a result, some of these requirements are restated. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/07/2024 Full Inadequate 03/05/2023 Full Good 28/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 5

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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 with 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;

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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 ensure that staff—

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)) 19 September

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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 that staff—

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; 19 September Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 6 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vi)(b))

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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

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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is a positive culture of safeguarding in the home, which at the heart of it demonstrates professional curiosity.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that effective systems and processes are established to enable them to have effective oversight of the home and make improvements when these are identified. 19 September

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 19 September Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are provided with supervision that enables them to reflect on their own practices, including the safeguarding culture of the home. 19 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and

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Requirement Due date

the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that following a child being missing from the home, all reasonable effort is made to understand the circumstances to them going missing and what can be done to try and prevent recurrence. 19 September Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 8 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

Within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate.

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Requirement Due date

Within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 19 September

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Cuckfield Care Consultancy Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ashburnham, Cuckfield Road, Ansty, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 5AG

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Inspector

Jay Shekleton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC066466 10 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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Inspector

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