Children's Home run by Child First Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 1 Registered provider: Child First Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to five children aged between eight and 18 who experience social and emotional difficulties. There were five children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Children refer to staff caring for them as adults and so they are referred to as such throughout this report.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2024.

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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: 28 November 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from positive relationships with the adults who care for them. The adults work set weekly shifts. This means children know who will be caring for them. This provides children with additional comfort and security. Children engage well with each other, and the adults are responsive to them and their needs. Children are relaxed and comfortable in their surroundings and with the adults taking care of them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is spacious and well maintained. It is warm and welcoming and has a homely feel. There are several photos of children displayed around the home, which promotes self-worth and feelings of inclusivity. Children’s bedrooms are personalised to their likes and preferences, and these reflect their individuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported and encouraged to spend time in the local community. The children enjoy varied activities and clubs. This helps build children’s confidence, skills and social experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults support the children to maintain positive relationships with family members and others who are important to them. Children have normal family experiences, such as sleepovers and birthday parties with friends, which promote socialisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults respond to any health needs to ensure these are appropriately met. Children are encouraged to eat a healthy, balanced diet. They are included in meal planning and are actively involved in the preparation and serving of food. One child is supported to cook twice a week to develop skills for adulthood in preparation for the transition to independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s access to and engagement with education is variable. One child has been supported recently to sit and pass their GCSEs. Other children’s attendance fluctuates. When children have experienced several school exclusions, adults have missed opportunities to support them to regain their confidence in education. This has the potential for continued impact on their attendance and attainment. One child has secured themselves local part-time employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care plan for one child clearly outlines strategies for adults to use when the child is displaying symptoms of anxiety and stress. However, adults were not consistently referring to and following this.

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

The adults understand the children’s individual vulnerabilities. The manager ensures that there are clear plans outlining how to keep the children safe, and these are regularly reviewed and updated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 4 Complaints seldom occur. However, when children have raised any issues, these have been responded to quickly, with a focus on mediation and restoration. The one external complaint received since the last inspection was well managed.

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

The use of physical interventions is low, and these are only used as a last resort to ensure children’s safety. Adults are appropriately trained to manage difficult situations. Incidents of physical intervention are well recorded. The manager ensures that both adults and children are debriefed following any incidents.

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

Children generally get on well together. The few incidents of bullying that have occurred have been well managed in line with policy. Children are given ample opportunities to discuss and explore any worries or feelings.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. However, one child leaves the home as a strategy when they are feeling upset. This is a behaviour that is understood by adults, and there is a clear plan of action for when this does occur. However, there is no clear strategy for adults to take to reduce the likelihood of the child going missing.

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

The manager ensures that any safeguarding concerns are managed and responded to appropriately. The manager appropriately reports incidents of concern to the relevant external professionals, such as the local authority designated officer and Ofsted.

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

However, the manager does not consistently monitor behavioural incidents to assess any patterns of behaviour of cumulative events.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains good operational oversight through routine monitoring practices. The quality of care is reviewed regularly. The manager understands the identified areas for development alongside the strengths of the home and uses this to drive improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are complimentary about the adults who work at the home and the support they provide for the children. They report that children are settled and making progress. The manager and adults develop positive working relationships with partner professionals, demonstrating effective communication and information-sharing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults feel well supported through regular team meetings and supervision. Reflective practice sessions, which are facilitated by a clinical psychologist, support ongoing professional reflection and development. This supports the service’s learning culture.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has clear expectations around training. There is a progressive plan for new starters, with effective induction processes in place. Adults are supported to progress and develop within the company. Senior members of the team have been afforded the Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 5 opportunity to access advanced courses to strengthen their knowledge and skills in working to the home’s model of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are some inconsistencies in adults’ responses and recording. In the main, these take account of children’s individual circumstances. However, there are occasions when the language used in children’s records is not reflective of the overarching culture of the home. This has the potential to impact on how children receive these messages now and in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children are not accessing full-time education, they are supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitably structured activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should ensure that adults support children with strategies to manage and reduce any risks when they go missing from home. Adults should support children to understand how to ask for help to stay safe and that the home is an environment that supports this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)  The registered person should ensure that adults understand and can meet each child’s needs in line with their responsibilities. The registered person themselves will need to have a high level of understanding of the needs of the children in their care. In

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Recommendations

particular, adults should respond to children in line with their care plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)  The registered person should ensure that adults are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Adults should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way. Information about the child should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should assess each case individually, taking into account any patterns of behaviour or unusual behaviour that may indicate an increased risk to the child. Homes should also consider the frequency of incidents and judge whether their cumulative effect makes a notification appropriate, even if in isolation each event

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Recommendations

would not warrant this. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.11)

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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: 2716876 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Child First Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 62 The Street, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3RN

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Inspectors

Cassie Martin, Social Care Inspector (Lead) Tash Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2716876 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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