Children's Home run by Invested Childcare Ltd in Hartlepool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2749314 1 Registered provider: Invested Childcare Limited

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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 owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in January 2024. This is the first inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2749314 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop trusting relationships with the adults who care for them. The warm and nurturing approach by staff helps the children to feel cared for. Staff invest their time and energy in helping children to feel supported and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented, bright and spacious. Each child has their own bedroom that is personalised to their liking. A range of communal rooms enables children to have enjoyable experiences with staff and the other children living at the home. Communal areas are enriched with pictures of the children. This helps children to feel settled and provides a homely environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals speak highly about the staff and commented that communication is good. The home is also praised by professionals for their ability to build positive relationships with children. A family member spoke positively about communicating with the home and about their child being happy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the children’s education through their collaborative work with education professionals. When children face barriers to attending school and engaging in their learning, staff support them with educational activities at home. This helps children to continue to learn and maintain an appropriate daily routine.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to have meaningful family time. Staff support these visits to ensure that children enjoy the time with those who are important to them. Maintaining these relationships helps children to remain connected to their families, ensuring that they are still part of their lives.

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

Children’s risk assessments and care plans are detailed and individualised to each child. The assessments consider each risk posed to children and gives clear guidance to staff on how to mitigate that risk. This helps staff to support children and keep them as safe as possible.

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

Staff have regular conversations and key-work sessions with children to focus on their individual needs and risks. This helps children to understand more about subjects such as safe relationships. This gives children the knowledge they need to make safer decisions.

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

Some children are vulnerable to going missing from care. When this has happened, staff respond appropriately to help the children return home safely. This includes staff searching for a child and escalating the incident to the police when this is needed. Staff take a nurturing approach when welcoming children home, ensuring that they are safe and well. This helps children to feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2749314 3 The manager completes safer recruitment checks to ensure that all new staff are appropriately vetted prior to working in the home. This helps to ensure that the adults working in the home are suitable to do so.

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

Children know how to complain and are encouraged to share their views. The manager ensures that any concerns about staff’s practice are taken seriously and the children’s views are central to completing the investigation. However, children are not always provided with an outcome. This may have an impact on their confidence to raise further worries or concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is not currently at work, and the home is managed by the deputy manager in the interim period. Due to the length of time the registered manager is expected to be absent, the interim manager is in the process of registering with Ofsted. This ensures that there are stable arrangements in place to oversee the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager is committed to providing the best care for children and speaks positively about each child. He knows the children well. His regular presence in the home has helped children to build a trusting and meaningful relationships with him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from a consistent and stable staff team, allowing children to build trusting relationships with adults. Staff have experience caring for children and have either passed or are working towards the required qualification. They also benefit from a range of training and development opportunities. This give assurances that staff are being provided with the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the children to a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager. The manager maintains good oversight of the staff’s practice and development needs through regular, practice-related supervisions. These reflective conversations provide staff with an opportunity to discuss the individual needs of each child, their performance and areas of continued development. This supports staff to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One child moved from the home in negative circumstances. The manager recognised that they were no longer able to keep the child safe. This was raised with the local authority who made the decision to move the child with very little notice. Staff informed the child of their new home through their bedroom door. Consequently, the child moved out without the opportunity to prepare to leave their home. This experience would not have reassured the child that they were valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2749314 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)) 15 November 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the outcome of an investigation regarding a complaint or allegation is shared with the child who made the complaint or allegation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)

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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: 2749314 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Invested Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Acklam Hall, Hall Gardens, Middlesbrough TS5 7BJ

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Inspector

Kerry Chater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2749314 6 regulates and inspects 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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