Children's home run by Homes2Inspire Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private company that is owned and operated by a national charity. It provides care for up to two children. The home cares for children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified.

p.1

Information about this children's home

Two children were living at the home during this inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 13 September 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/09/2023 Full Good 19/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is very well presented. It is clean, well organised and comfortably furnished throughout. Children are encouraged to contribute to the décor of the home and their bedrooms. There are framed photographs of children and their families in their bedrooms and around the home. The garden is well maintained, providing a safe area for children to play and socialise.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is good planning to ensure that children’s experiences of moving into and leaving the home are positive. Plans are agreed with key external agencies when planning admissions and discharges. If plans are not in the best interests of children, these are appropriately challenged by managers. As a result, plans for children’s admission to the home are focused on minimising the emotional impact on the child and promoting a positive introduction into the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they like the home and have adults who they can talk to and confide in. They said that they feel comfortable in their home. The staff interact with the children in a warm and affectionate manner. The staff speak positively and knowledgeably about the children, and they understand their likes, dislikes, and interests. Managers ensure that children are provided with child-friendly information about the care they can expect to receive. The children are supported to access independent advocate and child-focused health service support, should this be required.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a good range of activities, and their interests are promoted. Activities provide opportunities for children to socialise and engage in sports. They are supported with developing and maintaining peer relationships. Children are encouraged to have friends who visit them in the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff encourage and support children to access and engage in their education. There is a proactive approach in working with schools and other providers of education and vocational training. Arrangements are made for children to access alternative education when mainstream provision is unable to meet their needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good arrangements are in place to promote children’s physical and emotional health and well-being. Children are supported to access universal and specialised mental health services to ensure they receive the help they need.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain their relationships with family and friends. Staff transport children and actively support children’s time with their family, to promote positive experiences. An external professional said, ‘The manager goes above and beyond.’ This statement was supported by an example of a child going on holiday with their family. The child was fully supported and, as a result, the child had a positive time with their family. Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 4

p.3

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

The manager and staff know the children very well. They have developed effective relationships with external professionals. There is good collaboration with these agencies to keep the children safe. A professional said that the managers and staff have been very successful in providing a child with their first stable home over the last two years. Prior to moving to the home, the child had experienced a great deal of disruption in their life. Due to the stability that the child is now experiencing, they have made progress with their emotional health and well-being. Consequently, their risks and vulnerabilities have decreased.

p.4

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

Children are supported to understand their care plans and encouraged to contribute to the plans for their day-to-day routines. They are helped to understand their risks and vulnerabilities. The managers are key members of the multi-agency team around the child and are active contributors in multi-agency meetings and forums that are focused on identifying and developing plans to reduce risks.

p.4

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

Children have individual behaviour management support plans. These plans identify children’s risks, vulnerabilities and support needs when they are unable to manage their emotions. They are regularly updated and their risks and needs are adjusted accordingly. This information is regularly shared with key safeguarding professionals, who report that systems and communication are robust to provide children with the help they need and safeguard them.

p.4

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

Incidents of children going missing from care have reduced. When children do go missing, they receive a good coordinated response. Children are encouraged and supported to return home by staff. There are robust measures in place to differentiate missing and unauthorised absence, with measures in place for staff to keep in contact with children.

p.4

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

Restorative measures are used to support children’s behaviours, rather than sanctions. When sanctions are used, they are appropriate and proportionate, and children are encouraged to talk about and reflect on incidents. The use of physical intervention is rare.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager was absent at the time of this inspection, and so the deputy manager and responsible individual were present. Managers and staff provide children with a family home and care and support to promote their progress and meet their identified outcomes as set out in the children’s relevant plans.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff are good advocates for children. They challenge other agencies when they believe that services are not meeting the children’s needs. For example, they were proactive in raising concerns about proposed plans for a child’s admission to the Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 5 home. As a result, the plans were changed to better meet the needs of the child. Managers have made improvements to their escalation processes if dissatisfied with responses from other agencies. The managers also support children to complain if they wish.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they enjoy working at the home, and some said that they: ‘loved working at the home’. They have developed good relationships with the children and enjoy spending time with them. They said that they are well supported by managers and receive regular training to ensure that their knowledge and skills are up to date.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff meet regularly for team meetings, and staff also receive individual and professional supervision. This means that staff can raise any issues they may have and discuss their development needs and their care practice with the children. Some recordings of supervision notes and summaries of actions are incomplete. Also, the date of supervision is not always consistently recorded.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective systems are in place to ensure that the recruitment of new staff to the home is safe. Regular reviews of staff are undertaken to ensure their continued suitability to care for children. Temporary agency staff are required to work in the home to fill gaps in staffing because of vacancies. Managers try to use the same agency staff to promote consistency of care for children. Managers are proactive and have robust staff performance criteria. This means that appropriate action is taken to support staff and address any conduct or staff performance if these are below expectation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good working arrangements with external professionals who work with the children and parents. Professionals stated that, overall, children are safe, settled and making progress. Managers and staff support the progress of children’s care plans because they understand how important these are to ensure that children make the required progress to meet their needs and to be safe. Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 6

p.5

Recommendations

 It is good practice for a note of the content and outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept, and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 61, paragraph 13.4)

p.6

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: 2686745 7

p.6

Children's home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Ltd

p.7

Children's home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

p.7

Children's home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Earnshaw

p.7

Inspectors

Angela Duffus-Palmer, Social Care Inspector Kayleigh Spinks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2686745 8 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.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8