Children's Home run by First 4 Children Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 1 Registered provider: First 4 Children Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home has been registered with Ofsted since 10 March 2023. The home provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a newly appointed manager in place who is currently in the process of registering 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 requires improvement to be good

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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: 15 November 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: 2711236 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/11/2023 Full Good 22/08/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved in and out of the home in a short space of time. Leaders and managers did not fully consider the risks in the local area when deciding on this child’s suitability to live in the home. Children said they felt ‘scared’ when the other child was living in the home, although both children said they feel much happier now and are enjoying living in the home again. However, the overall experiences of children have been affected by the failure to appropriately assess risks in advance of them moving to the home and other shortfalls relating to the help and protection of children.

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improvement to be good

Children have full-time education placements and usually attend and enjoy going to school. However, during the period when three children lived in the home there was a deterioration in children’s attendance and progress. Despite this, a teacher said, ‘Staff have always been supportive of the school and children.’

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improvement to be good

The home is comfortable, homely and well maintained. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms with a choice of decorative features and other items. There are photographs placed around the home of children’s memories during their time in the home. This supports children to feel valued and have a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children’s physical health needs are met. Children are registered with local health services and attend appointments when needed. In addition, there is an external therapist who provides weekly support. The therapist works alongside the manager and staff, providing advice and guidance to support children with their emotions. Children are also offered weekly sessions, which remain available to children whether they choose to attend or not. This approach means children’s physical and emotional health improves over time.

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improvement to be good

Children’s interests, hobbies and talents are encouraged and supported by staff. All children attend activities of their choice. Staff regularly capture these memories and achievements in photographs and put these on display around the home. One child said, ‘I have been on loads of activities.’

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not always effectively assess or manage risks for children. When there has been evidence of risks about fire setting, managers have not fully assessed and planned for this. This has the potential to leave children and others exposed to risk of harm. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 4 Staff do not consistently follow children’s plans. For example, children have been left unsupervised, which is not in line with their plan. As a result of this lack of supervision, a child was able to take money from the office before going missing and alleging they had used the money to purchase a knife. The lack of understanding about the child’s risks left the child vulnerable and at potential risk of harm. The manager’s response to this significant shortfall was appropriate.

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improvement to be good

There have been several incidents of children being missing from home. This has included two children being missing together overnight and being exposed to significant risks. Despite this, staff’s responses to children going missing are positive. They understand the protocols and actively follow children when they leave the home, and inform and work alongside police to ensure children are located as quickly as possible.

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improvement to be good

Staff use a variety of de-escalation strategies to help children manage their big emotions. However, on occasions, staff have needed to use physical interventions to keep children and others safe. Restraints are proportionate and have been recorded in a timely manner. Additionally, managers have ensured that staff and children are consulted with afterwards, meaning they have opportunity for reflection.

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improvement to be good

Consequences are rarely used. When they are, they are proportionate to children’s actions and usually restorative in nature. Natural consequences are used to help educate children around the impact of their actions on themselves and others. This means children benefit from a therapeutic and nurturing approach.

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improvement to be good

New staff have been safely recruited. Recruitment of staff members is robust. This ensures that only adults who are safe to work with children are employed in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection there has been a change in management. The previous manager left the home on 15 March 2024. A new manager has since been appointed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers have a range of monitoring systems in place that highlight some areas of improvement. However, these are not always effective. While some shortfalls and practice concerns have been actioned by managers, there are areas that have not, such as the consideration of further risk following fire concerns in a child’s bedroom or the effective assessment of the risk within the locality of the home and children’s presenting behaviours of risk. These shortfalls have impacted on the overall experiences for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

While the manager has oversight of individual incidents, there is insufficient evidence of understanding and insight around children’s full experiences of living at the home. There are occasions when the managers evaluation of incidents could have been more reflective than they were to recognise that the escalation in the child’s risk-taking behaviour was due to them feeling unsafe. Despite this, the manager connects with other professionals to discuss plans for stability. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 5 There are some gaps in record-keeping. The manager could not provide evidence of addressing an issue where a member of staff raised a concern about lack of support from a colleague. Furthermore, there was no evidence or record of searches in relation to a child who posed a fire risk, despite the manager saying this was part of the routine when a child returned from an episode of going missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has gone through an unsettled and challenging period in relation to staff turnover. A high number of staff have left and started since the last inspection. There has been a dependency on the use of temporary staff to cover gaps. However, a core group of staff have remained in place, which has provided some level of consistency for children. The manager has also completed shifts in the home at times to help cover shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff speak positively about working in the home and the support they receive from the manager and responsible individual. Staff acknowledge it has been a difficult period and there has been an impact on them and children. However, staff receive regular supervision and feel this is helpful and supportive of their emotional well-being and development in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive a wide range of training. Training is delivered in line with the needs of the children. Additionally, leaders and managers have recognised the importance and value of good-quality training. As a result, they have introduced a new induction plan for staff, which includes a range of face-to-face training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have taken positive steps to reflect on recent experiences. They have acknowledged the shortfalls and are applying learning. The manager and responsible individual both say that their intention is to not admit any further children for the foreseeable future, allowing time for children and staff to settle. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that children’s risks are suitably assessed against any risks in the local area prior to moving into the home. 15 August 2024

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff fully understand children’s risks, considering information within children’s plans and guidance from leaders, particularly when lone working. 15 August 2024

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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. 15 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that any strategies implemented for the protection of children are effectively recorded and evidenced. This relates to concerns around fire risks.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring an effective review of any incident, restraint and missing records. 15 August 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. This specifically relates to ensuring that there is evidence of records in relation to concerns in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 8 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: 2711236 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First 4 Children Ltd

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Mulvaney

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Inspector

Carl Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2711236 10 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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